The immortal leader of our craft, L. L. Langstroth whose invention of the movable frame made honey production a commercial possibility, wrote: - "A good swarm of bees in a good season, placed in a small hive, may be compared to a powerful team of horses harnessed to a baby wagon or a noble fall of water wasted in turning a petty water wheel. " It took the beekeeping fraternity a long time to catch up with Father Langstroth and to appreciate the wisdom of his teaching. It is only of late that a general understanding of the behavior of bees has resulted in a really rational system of management. There is still plenty of disagreement as to the size and style of hive, but very general agreement as to the necessity of plenty of room for brood rearing prior to the honey flow. The disagreement now is only as to details of how it shall be secured.

Many years ago Charles Dadant wrote, "We should manage our bees as we do our domestic animals, and give them as much space as necessary to obtain the best results. What would we think of a farmer who would build a barn without first considering the number of animals and the amount of feed which he intended to shelter in it? "

At the time at which he wrote, the size of the hives in common use had little relationship to the needs of a strong colony of bees. Although small hives are still in common use, additional stories are now given to provide room for normal colony activities.

With the subject of "advantages of deep frames" a long chain of memories is revived. One thinks of the small hives which grandfather used in the eighties and compares the small crop of honey which he was able to harvest with the crops which efficient beekeepers are getting today. One thinks of his own early experience in trying to produce comb honey with single story eight-frame Langstroth hives and the large number of swarms and small number of filled supers which resulted. One remembers his struggles to secure a living for his family with a few bees and poor equipment and the later change to ten-frame hives. With Italian bees, good combs and two-story ten-frame hives the results were much better.

It recalls early meetings with C. P. Dadant at the

Iowa Beekeeper's Convention and then a visit to his apiaries in Illinois. One remembers, especially, how considerate he was of cock-sure opinions, and yet how warmly he defended the merits of the large hives. His argument was always to cite the comparative results which he had obtained by using the large and small hives in large numbers side by side under the same conditions.

What a variety of things come to mind when we recall a subject on which we formerly gave serious attention over an extended period of time! Among them was a visit to E. L. Hofmann at Janesville, Minnesota many years ago, which was followed by a visit to extensive honey producers in Ontario. Among them was F. W. Krouse. Like Mr. Dadant, both Hofmann and Krouse were enthusiastic advocates of large hives.

It was at the Hofmann apiaries that the author first became impressed with the fact that by the common system it would be impossible to care for as many bees as he managed. More bees with less labor appeared to be his slogan. Krouse pointed to a particular apiary where he had divided the bees between the two kind of hives. About half of them were in Langstroth and the others in a hive similar to the present Modified Dadant, which must have been the one long known as Jumbo. Pointing to the Langstroth hives, Krouse remarked that he had more swarms from a hundred Langstroth hives than from several hundred colonies in the large hives.

He agreed with Dadant as to the extra labor necessary to manage bees in Langstroth hives.

Returning from that trip the author made a special order for 75 hives of the length of Langstroth hives and depth of the Dadant with frames spaced 1 1/2 inches, similar to the Modified Dadant hive which has since been placed on the market.

This little story of the evolution of a large hive advocate is merely by way of showing that conversion was a rather slow and painful process. It was not accomplished quickly or without long consideration. Since that time there has been a similar change in many other beekeepers, who have finally come to realize that there might be something in the deep frame, beside the enthusiasm of its ardent advocates.