To-day in every well-regulated apiary the brood-chamber is furnished with the movable hanging frames for the support of the combs, which were invented by Langstroth a half-century ago, or by some modification of these frames. It was the invention of these frames that made the science of modern bee-keeping possible. A large part of the manipulations of the hive is dependent upon the ability to remove the combs from the hive separately. Two of these frames, one empty and one containing a sheet of foundation, are shown in Plate XII. These are of one of the newer styles, known as the Hoffman self-spacing frames. In these frames the upper part of the end-bars are wide, so that, when the frames are in contact, there is room for a bee-way between the combs; the lower part of the end-bars are narrower, so that the bees can pass freely around the ends of the frames.
In the old days, and at present in some apiaries where home-made frames are used, the spacing between the frames has to be done by eye or rather by finger; the thickness of the tip of the finger between two frames being necessary to afford a bee-way. But with the new frames in the market to-day this is done away with, as they are arranged to space themselves, thus relieving the novice of much anxiety and some embarrassment in deciding whether his finger is as thick as that of the average apiarist. Also in these newer frames a little staple at each end of the top sets each frame exactly right in relation to the ends of the hive.
