The box hive is a beehive shaped like a Langstroth hive but it pays no attention to bee space and therefore can be longer, taller and wider. Because of this, the bees would build wild (also called brace and bridge) comb. They couldn't be inspected without destroying the comb and honey could not be harvested without killing the entire colony. After the invention of the Langstroth hive in 1851, box hives became obsolete and lost favor with many beekeepers.