HIVES, EVOLUTION OF 
457 
dent that Huber invented some of the prin¬ 
cipal features of our movable-comb hives. 
The Heddon and Bingham hives are on the 
movable-comb plan. See Hives. 
About 1819 Robert Kerr of Stewarton, 
Scotland, invented a bar hive of consider¬ 
able merit, shown in Fig. 4. This hive was 
used very successfully, and is still in use, 
but with movable frames instead of mere 
bars. It was still further improved by 
Howatson, also of Scotland, about 18S5. 
Here we have the tiering principle clearly 
comprehended; and had this author and 
inventor grasped the idea of movable-comb 
frames instead of bars he would have in¬ 
vented a hive on the Heddon principle. 
Prokopovitsch, a Russian, about 1830, 
invented and made in large numbers a 
matter of fact, according’ to his own state¬ 
ments, he used bars until 1855, when he was 
persuaded by Baron Berlepsch to use mov¬ 
able frames, which had just been intro¬ 
duced from America. (See Dzierzon; also 
Dzierzon Theory.) Dzierzon’s bar combs 
were removed by using a long knife to cut 
the attachments from the back of the hive 
one by one; for, to reaeh the comb at the 
front of the hive, all the other combs had 
first to be removed. His hive was far in¬ 
ferior to those already mentioned. When 
Fig. 4.—The Stewarton hive, 1819 ; shallow- 
bar hive with glass strips between bars. 
—From Cheshire. 
i^1 
Fig. 5.—Prokopovitsch’s hive, 1830 .—From Framiere. 
movable-comb hive of great merit. See 
Fig. 5. In his own apiaries, of which he 
had many, were over 3000 of these hives in 
actual use. His pupils (for he established 
a school of beekeeping) had many more 
in use. 
It may be noted that his surplus frames 
bear considerable resemblance to our bee¬ 
way sections, and that his hives were dove¬ 
tailed. Prokopovitsch was certainly a bee¬ 
keeper of remarkable abilities. He em¬ 
ployed means and methods far ahead of his 
time. 
It has been claimed by some writers that 
Dzierzon of Germany invented movable 
frames in 1845; but it is evident he has no 
claim whatever to this distinction. As a 
he adopted frames he did not change the 
construction of his hives in the least. 
Next came Langstroth with his epoch- 
making movable-comb hive with movable 
roof, which combined the essential require¬ 
ments of a hive. All the combs in the 
Langstroth hive are readily removable 
without the slightest annoyance either to 
the beekeeper or the bees. Langstroth did 
his work so well that he left very little for 
future inventors to do. Many have tried 
to improve his hive, but in most cases the 
so-called improvement has proven to be a 
backward step. The striking feature of the 
Langstroth hive is the provision for a bee- 
space on all sides of the comb. This bee- 
space cannot be less than one-sixth of an 
