It is important to have the hive-body large enough to permit a vigorous queen to lay to her maximum capacity, to accommodate her brood nest, together with a sufficient reserve of both pollen and honey in a single chamber. The Dadant hive is based on long experiments by Charles Dadant in an effort to arrive at the correct size. He used hundreds of hives of many sizes when he was convinced that another was better. It is not contended that this particular hive is the nearest possible to perfection. There is evidence to indicate that select breeding is improving the quality of our queens and that even this may be too small in some cases.

One of the most successful beekeepers of the southwest, was found to be using two Jumbo hive-bodies for each colony, where neighboring beekeepers were still depending upon eight-frame Langstroth hives. These big two-story hives made a very favorable showing in that they required a minimum of attention and produced a maximum crop of honey.

The fact that this particular beekeeper had sold a crop for the largest figure, represented in cash, which has been reported from that region, indicated that the system was not without merit.

Mr. Dadant reasoned that twenty-one days must elapse from the time an egg was laid before the young bee would emerge from the cell and thus release it for use again. He wanted to provide room enough for the queen to lay without interruption for the full three weeks without crowding the brood-nest by incoming honey or compelling the bees to store it all in separate compartments.

Where the broodnest is divided as it must be by the use of two hive-bodies, the queen will move upward readily after the one is full but often she refuses to come down again and the beekeeper is put to the. necessity of removing the upper story and replacing it under the other to accomplish this result.

Although the amount of swarming varies greatly in different seasons due to weather conditions, nature of honeyflow and other external conditions, there certainly is less tendency toward swarming in large hives, if supers are given in time to avoid crowding.

Much of grandfather's time was occupied in the hiving of swarms during June and July and he felt that it was never safe for him to leave the place at that season. In an apiary with a hundred colonies or even less, it was commonly thought that someone must be constantly on the job to care for swarms. Although no one claims that swarming is entirely prevented by the use of a large hive, the difference in labor necessary to reduce swarming in small hives to even the same percentage, will pay a good dividend on the cost of the deep frames.

The greatest argument in favor of the deep frames and larger hives is the saving in labor. The author has yet to find a man who, having tried both kinds on a considerable scale, does not admit that one can care for more bees with less labor in the big hives. Labor is an expensive commodity under present conditions and at present prices for honey it is highly important to reduce all costs to the minimum in order to show a profit. The yields per hive are larger with ordinary management. The expert beekeeper can take a small hive and get similar results because he is able to approximate the same conditions by means of extra manipulation, but he does so at added expense represented in labor.

The advantages of the deep frame then are as follows: 1. Less winter loss because of the position of the stores in their natural places above the cluster. 2. Less spring dwindling from lack of pollen surrounding the brood nest. 3. Better building up in spring because of sufficient reserve stores. 4. Stronger colonies because of ample room for brood in one hive-body. 5. Less swarming because of less crowding of the brood chamber. 6. Less labor necessary in the manipulation to prevent swarming. This makes it possible for one man to care for more bees, which results in production at a lower cost per pound. This last advantage means more net profit at the end of the season; business, after all, is measured by the extent of profit which it returns.