In the light of present day knowledge it is difficult to understand why, in all the centuries that men kept bees, no one had recognized the value of a bee space surrounding the frame in which each comb was suspended.

A whole book could be written about the many different kinds of hives in use before the days of Langstroth. The first attempts in this direction had no other object than to supply a cavity in which the bees might build their combs. In the old world skeps were made of straw, and hives were made of earth and baked like an earthen jar or hollow tile. The end was closed with a disk which was often made of wood. This was removed to secure the honey which was cut from the cavity. Numerous variations in these crude hives were used over a long period of time. In Greece the earthen hives were set in cavities in stone walls or even in the recesses of the walls of the house itself.

It is not necessary to look far into the past for such outfits, for in our own country rough boxes, hollow logs, and similar makeshift provision may be found in many neighborhoods even today.

Beekeepers began to appreciate the advantage of having each comb supported with a wooden frame before the close of the eighteenth century, but did not succeed in discovering the correct principle. Della Rocca, whose work was published in 1790, described movable bars, long used by the Greeks, from which the combs were suspended. This was some improvement over the equipment previously used since it permitted the removal of the comb from the hive. Since only the top was supported, it was necessary to cut the sides of the comb loose from the walls of the hive, and it needed great care in handling to prevent its breaking loose from the bar. This hive was improved by Dzierzon, a famous German beekeeper who was responsible for much progress in his country.

It remained for Huber, the Swiss naturalist, to provide a frame to support the comb on all four sides. Instead of hanging these frames inside a hive as we do today, they were fastened together by hinges and moved apart like turning the leaves of a book. This became known as the Huber leaf hive. The closed end standing frame hive long used by Moses Quinby was a modification of the Huber leaf hive, dispensing with the hinges.

In the Old World skeps were made of straw.

Several attempts were made to utilize the frame as devised by Huber in connection with a hive in which it might be placed. All these attempts overlooked the thing necessary to success- the bee space. Frames were made to fit tightly into the box, and as soon as the bees had made use of them they were so propolized as to make it impossible to remove them. The development of the beehive was at this stage when Langstroth began his experiments.

It was in 1838 that Langstroth first had his interest aroused in the field in which he was to become famous. The sight of a large glass globe filled with honey in the comb led him to visit the bees kept in an attic chamber. In a moment his enthusiasm was aroused and before he returned home he bought two colonies of bees in box hives, and his career as a beekeeper had begun.

He soon obtained an improved Huber hive and several bar-hives made according to directions in Bevan's book. After trying vainly to make a practical hive of the Huber leaf hive, he finally decided to use that only for purposes of observation.

In 1848 he moved to Philadelphia where he established an apiary, where he spent much time in experiment. In the Bevan hive which he used, the combs were attached to bars which rested on rabbets just deep enough to receive them. The cover fitted close to the top of these bars and was very firmly fastened down by the bees. It was often difficult to remove the cover even by means of a metallic plate with which to cut it loose.

Langstroth's first improvement of the hive was to deepen the grooves in which the frames rested so as to leave about three-eighths inch space between the frames and the cover. This space prevented much of the propolizing and made the removal of the cover much easier. He also devised an improved bottom board which could be opened or shut to facilitate cutting the combs from the walls from below as well as from above.

In some neighborhoods bees are still kept in sections of hollow logs, called bee gums.

In 1851 he had nearly completed his application for a patent on his improved bar frame hive, with the intention of making a special feature of the bee space between the bars and the cover. He had used it an entire season without thinking that the same principal would serve as well at the ends as at the top. One day he was thinking of the troublesome necessity of cutting the combs from the side walls when suddenly he realized that all he had to do to solve the problem was to build a frame for each combs with a similar bee space on all sides. Once the thought entered his mind it was very clear that he had found the thing for which he had been seeking, and he found difficulty in restraining himself from shouting in the open streets.

That night he spent until a late hour discussing the results of his discovery with his friend, Rev. E. D. Sanders. In his journal under date of October 30, 1851, he drew an outline showing how the frame would hang and stated that by its use the comb could be removed without the necessity of cutting.