The success of American bee culture in the last twenty years was first attributed by European bee keepers to the honey-producing power of the country; but the most intelligent apiarists who have tried the American methods with the Langstroth hive now recognize that success is principally due to the manipulations that it permits. ("The Hive and Honey Bee," revised, 1888, page 145.) We can predict, and without any fear of mistake, that the principles on which the Langstroth hive is based will be admitted sooner or later by the most progressive bee keepers of the world. ("Revue Internationale d'Apiculture" (Switzerland), September, 1885, edited by Edouard Bertrand.) [Illustration: Fig. 4.--Langstroth hive with two half-depth supers for surplus honey.] There being no patent on the Langstroth hive, and accurately made hives being obtainable at moderate prices from hive factories in various parts of the country, it is taken for granted that the enterprising beginner will adopt a simple form embodying this principle--the loose-fitting, suspended comb frame--as its main feature. The hive should not only be substantially built, but should have accurate bee-spaces and a close-fitting, rain-proof cover or roof. Factory-made hives, as a rule, best meet these requirements, as both lock joints and halved corners can only be made to advantage by machinery, and the expert hive builder understands, of course, the absolute necessity of great accuracy in bee-spaces, as well as the great desirability of good material and workmanship (figs. 4, 5, and 11). Provision should also be made for winter protection. (See pages 39-41.) [Illustration: Fig. 5.--The Langstroth hive--Dadant-Quinby form--cross section showing construction.] For comb honey, hives permitting the insertion in the brood apartment of any number of frames up to eight, or frequently up to ten, are most in use. In securing extracted honey, those with ten to twelve frames in each story are preferable, and as many stories, one above the other, are employed as the strength of the colony and a given harvest may require. A construction, therefore, which readily admits of expansion and of contraction, as occasion demands, is desirable. Mention should be made of a hive of quite different construction, a prominent feature of which is this ease of contraction and expansion. It is the last hive which the late M. Quinby gave to the public--the Quinby closed-end frame hive (fig. 6). This hive is used with great success by certain American bee keepers of long experience and whose apiaries are among the largest in the world. [Illustration: Fig. 6.--Quinby closed-end frames.] MANAGEMENT IN SWARMING. NATURAL SWARMING.