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Abbé Warré's book
Beekeeping for All:

1. Printed edition

2. free e-book (PDF)

Warré Beekeeping
John Gedde (1647-1697)

Although John Gedde's hive is a frame hive, we include it here because, like Warré's hive, it comprises a stack of boxes and is extended by nadiring, i.e. adding new boxes underneath. Furthermore, the comb building is even less constrained than in Warré's hive in that the frame merely serves the function performed by spales (cross sticks) in a skep.

The octagonal box holds a bushel. It is a maximum of 12" (305 mm) high and its breadth is one third more than its height. The breadth of the sides is 9" (229 mm). The top of each box is covered and there is a 4" (100 mm) square hole in the cover for passage of the bees from one box to the other. The hole is closeable with a sliding cover.

A square frame fits into the box as shown in Fig. 1 (immediately below). This is a projective view into the box from underneath. 

gedde_1.jpg (73400 bytes)

A swarm is introduced to a box or a skep is placed on it on an adapter board and the colony allowed to grow down into the Gedde box.

Fig. 2 (immediately below) shows a single box. Each box has 4 windows fitted with shutters.

gedde_2.jpg (36449 bytes)

Fig. 3 below shows a detail of the internal frame which is secured in the box with screws. When the top box is ready to harvest, the frame with the natural comb and honey is lifted out of the box. Each box is fitted with a pair of handles.

gedde_3.jpg (28421 bytes)

Fig. 4 (below) shows the complete hive.

gedde_4.jpg (46124 bytes)

Sources

Gedde, J. The English apiary or compleat bee-master. Unfolding the whole art and mystery of the management of bees. Being a collection and improvement of what has been written by all authors relating to this subject, as well antient as modern. -- With a new discovery of an excellent method of beehouses, and colonies, to free the owners from the great charge and trouble that attends the swarming of bees, and is much more advantageous than any method hitherto practised ( London, Printed for E. Curll, W. Mears, and T Corbet, in The Strand. 1721

Downloadable from http://www.culturaapicola.com.ar/apuntes/libros/468_Gedde.pdf.

A bound transcript of the whole book (with 'f' character changed to 's' where apropriate) together with a German translation is available in A4 format from Eric Zeissloff, F-67370 Pfulgriesheim, France. Email: eric.zeissloff (at) free.fr.

See http://warre.biobees.com/gedde_transcript.pdf for a transcript from the 3rd. 1677, edition -- 'enlarged, with several objections answered'.