Quote Originally Posted by Mellifera Crofter View Post
I wish I took more note of your post, Adam. I've just discovered the lack-of-bee-space problem when using two MB brood boxes. The space between the frames is about 5mm. Can a bee squeeze through that?

I'll buy another roof and floor so that I can use the two brood boxes as single-brood hives, and then that's it - no more MB nationals.

Kitta

I've just discovered Dave Cushman's page on bee spaces. It seems bees can use a 5mm gap and because the box is polystyrene, the sides will not shrink, so that 5mm shouldn't reduce - but still, it's perhaps a bit tight.

PPS: I found a pair of callipers. The space between the frames is 4mm so, according to DC, only usable by the smallest of bees.
With my MB hive, I tried to pass a 4 mm drill shank between the top and bottom frames with two brood boxes and it wouldn't go, so the space was less that 4 mm. Between a super and brood box the space was about 12 mm (from memory) wigh is too big. I had painted them before assembly, otherwise I might have returned them. The MB hive would make a good 10 frame "nuc" for over-wintering a colony. My MB hive is now empty. The bees had not done as they were told before-hand - like they do sometimes - so now sit comfortably in an 8-frame nuc. I will give them a stiff talking-to so they behave next year.