> As Brother Adam used a square box, how did he orient the frames? The warm way or the cold way?


Never thought about this one, Robert, so I went back to look. Although I could not find any explicit  description of frame orientation,  I found a passage in <i>Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey</i> that suggests he oriented the warm way in winter. On pages 55-6:


> "The high humidity in winter...is one of the great problems of our climate...A slight through ventilation of the brood chamber seems to offer the most satisfactory results. A draught must be clearly avoided. We have secured the best results by placing a 1/8 inch thick strip of wood between the crown board and the brood chamber, over the lugs of the frames in the front and back, allowing the moisture to escape by the slight opening thus formed on both sides of the brood chamber. At this point, the moisture is carried away without exposing the cluster to a direct draught."


I don't believe he could have made the last statement if the frames were oriented "the cold way."


However, knowing a picture is worth 1000 words, I did a Google search on "Brother Adam Hive" in search of some photographic evidence of his practice. Believe it or not, I found the attached picture on a home brewer's website:


http://www.elspethpayne.com/2012/11/09/gods-of-mead-have-you-met-brother-adam/


The picture clearly shows a cold-way orientation.


So, this begs the further question, as Brother Adam was ever the pragmatic economist, did he use the square conformation to his advantage by simply rotating the box 90 degrees in preparation for winter? That way he could run the cool way during the active season, and the warm way in winter.


Just a thought. Others here surely know better than I.


S


Skillman, NJ

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