Frank, several years ago a guy did a research report for Bee Culture
on bee space practices of different suppliers.  What he found was no
two alike (as I remember)!  But I don't remember any which had NO
portion of the space below the frame.  I believe the bees consider
the space below the bottom of the bottom frames not to be part of the
"nest" because slatted racks of all dimensions and pollen traps are
not filled with comb.  It is often remarked that if one puts a
shallow frame in a medium super or a medium frame in a deep super,
the bees will attach comb to the bottom of the frame above and fill
the extra space (usually with drone comb).  I think this illustrates
how bees use and respect bee space.  But they don't do the same thing
between the bottom of the bottom frames and the bottom board.  Dan

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