The quest perfect hive

116 S the quest for the perfect hive The hive rested on legs that were 1½" longer in the back than in the front, giving the entire hive a slight forward slope. This would help drain rainwater off the top of the hive and away from the entrance, preventing it from flowing into the hive. The base also had a screened opening for ventilation, which could be closed off with blocks that were pushed in below the bottom and secured with a sliding panel.

The unique dimensions of Langstroth’s hive have been the subject of much speculation. It has been suggested that Langstroth simply followed Bevan’s dimensions for 18" by 18" bars, or he used a champagne box as the original hive (Crane 1999).

Brown (1994) suggested that Langstroth simply cut the standard 18" by 12" glass pane in half to make the 18" by 6" glass sides for the sides of his shallow hive body. By 1853, Langstroth’s hives were no longer made of glass, and the internal measurements, 18 5⁄16" by 14 5⁄16", were standardized for wood construction and to allow for wood shrinkage.

It is clear that Langstroth applied the bee space concept to his hive design, but he did not invent the term. In A Practical Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-bee, Langstroth (1859) never referred to “bee space,” nor did he detail its significance. It is illustrated in his hive plans, but the reader would have had to use a ruler to measure the scale drawings in order to find that the space surrounding the frames was 3/8" to ½". This omission was probably due to Langstroth’s fear of patent infringement. He wrote, “The reader will bear in mind, that those only who have purchased the patent right—Ministers of the Gospel excepted— can legally use these hives.”

The term “bee space” seems to have been introduced by James Heddon in 1885. On page 78 of his pamphlet “Success in beeculture,” Heddon attributed the idea to Langstroth: “The underside of our Honey Board has an even surface, and when placed on the hive, rests bee space [sic] above the tops of the movable frames, because they rest 3/8 of an inch below the top edge of the