5 fun facts about bees and Andover

Miscellany Mondays

#1 The Langstroth Bee Hive, the most commonly-used style of honey beehive in North American, was invented in Andover.

#2 Inventor of the Langstroth Hive, Reverend Lorenzo Langstroth, was a minister at Andover’s South Church and a resident of the Amos Blanchard House, the History Center’s home at 97 Main Street.

#3 Langstroth patented his revolutionary new beehive in 1852.

#4 Honey bees returned to the Blanchard House in April 2020 when two Langstroth Hives were installed in the backyard.

#5 Bees from the new hives will help pollinate plants in the Andover Community Garden plots in the Blanchard house backyard.

Reverend Langstroth designed the vertically modular beehive that is commonly used today. Within the box, frames are hung vertically to hold the hive’s brood of bees and honey. Bees enter the hive from an opening in the bottom which helps protect the hive from the weather. Frames holding honeycomb are easily removed, allowing the beekeeper to manage the hive effectively. Langstroth’s innovation was correctly identifying the optimum gap between frames.

Rev. Lorenzo Langstroth

The Langstroth Hive, illustration from Langstroth on the hive and honey bee, revised, and completed by Chas. Dadant and son, page 167

Bees at the History Center

Queen bee

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