> It was the best piece of furniture in the house!  
> HoneyCare Africa-provided Langstroth hive

This tale sounds more than a little apocryphal, as no one participates in
the program without regular contact from the honeycare rep, who has to
gather up the honey supers and extract, so that combs are not destroyed by
"crush and strain", and honey is kept clean.  A portion of that honey is
collected to pay for the Langstroth gear, so no frames means no extraction,
which means no "payment".   So I'd guess that this person has decided to not
participate, and the hive will soon be given to someone else who does.

That said, Africa has a lock on the "unintended consequences" market, so one
has to look at the larger picture and admit that not every hive is going to
be "in service" all the time, moreso with bees that tend to abscond to avoid
the dry season.  And cheating.  There are always cheaters.  ( Don't get me
started about my wife and Scrabble... at a buck a point, she comes up with
words only found in the massive 20-Volume  Oxford English Dictionary with
its own lighted magnifying glass that you're gonna need to read... )

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