Subject: Hive Size

From: [email-masked] ("Norman Lunnun")
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 1994 22:41:57 GMT

Does everyone use National Type Hives  ie 11 frames and has anyone had 
anything to do with larger hives? I have heard of commercial ventures 
that use hives that have to be moved with Hiab type lorry mounted cranes.
Norman Lunnun
Doveridge,Derbyshire.UK.

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From: [email-masked] (Malcolm Roe)
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 12:42:08 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] ("Norman Lunnun") writes:
>anything to do with larger hives?

The National hive is more or less unheard of outside the UK.  (I think
it's used in Ireland as well.)  Worldwide, the most common is the
Langstroth.  There are other designs such as the Dadent as well.  I
don't think any other country has such a lack of standardisation as the
UK where, as well as the three designs above, Commercial, Smith and WBC
designs are in use!  I don't have time to go into the advantages and
disadvantages of each of the designs in this reply.  It's not clear
why you are interested in larger hives but if you are using Nationals
now and want a larger brood space without going to double brood boxes
you might like to consider the Commercial hive.  It has more or less
the same dimensions and, like the National, it uses bottom bee space.
This means that you can keep your old roofs, floors, queen excludes and
supers.

> I have heard of commercial ventures 

Even a National with three full supers is too heavy for me to lift and
I usually end up with five or six supers on each hive at the end of the
season.  Migratory beekeepers often put four hives on a pallet.  That's
why they need some form of mechanical handling.

-- 
Malcolm Roe                                Phone  :  +44 1442 345104
Crosfield Electronics Ltd                  Fax    :  +44 1442 232301
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK        E-mail :  [email-masked] 
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