> When producing comb honey, an upper entrance is not
> desirable as this will darken the comb from bees walking on it.  My theory
> is that beekeepers have kept lower entrances (and solid bottom boards)
just
> because it has always been done that way.

Additionally, bees will not fill supers or draw comb in supers unless they
are warm.

In some climates and some seasons, this is  not a problem, even with lots of
ventillation.  In our area, though, excess ventillation can cost us a crop
in some seasons, particularly on comb honey, on weak hives, or hives where
the brood chamber is kept down with an excluder.

> On a related subject, Roger Morse used to say that when producing
extracted
> honey one is better off using frames with "ears", or spacers.  He claimed
> that these were added solely for comb honey production, as they save the
> beekeeper a lot of time by providing automatic spacing.  He said that
> straight frames work a lot better in an extractor, but no one
manufacturers
> them solely because beekeepers have always used frames with the spacers!

Actually, few manufacturers make anything but Hoffman frames simply because
anyone can make lots of straight frames at home with a table saw in spare
time -- and the commercial frame mfrs cannot compete.  Making Hoffman bars
is much harder if you do not have the automatic machinery, and they are a
premium frame that the mfrs can make money on, since home industry cannot
compete in that niche.

Many commercial beekeepers, and hobbyists who make their own (cheap), use
the straight end bar.  I have both straight and Hoffman (and Manley) frames
and don't really care, except that they are not interchangeable unless the
box has built-in Stoller-type spacers, or unless we space the straight
frames manually (a drag).

allen
http://www.internode.net/honeybee/diary/