Top bee space

[The Drone Ranger]

I use the top bee space Smiths and they are big enough for UK (tiddly )
Easier on boot space when you move them


On the downside framed excluders are about £15
The top edge is a bit vulnerable to splitting when assembling
Thornes sell them part assembled for that reason
(Perhaps the wood is not as good as it was)

[Mellifera Crofter]

Sorely tempted to try langstroth, how do they fit with the darker bees?

If you want to change to Langstroth, then I don't think your reason for doing so should be your wish for top bee space. As we've just seen, you can argue for or against either preference with ease. I think what is more important is whether you, as beekeeper, like the shape of the frames and whether the bees like that shape in winter when they're clustered.

I prefer Nationals because the frames are easier to handle: they have long lugs and the relationship between my shoulders and the lugs are just right. With Langstroths my hands are further apart when handling a frame so weight-wise they're more difficult to handle; and when replacing a frame, my hands obscure the lugs so that I can't see whether there are bees in the way. As far as the bees are concerned, a winter cluster, I think, is better contained in a National. In a Langstroth there's all that extra space to the sides that the bees can't get to and that you can't reduce or heat with dummies. (That said, at the moment most of my Langstroth hives are doing well, while I worry about some of my Nationals.)

Kitta

[nemphlar]

I had a couple of nationals at the start but found replacing the unframed Q excluder a nuisance, and moved to the top space smiths i also found knocking up spare kit cheap and easy. Pre varroa a dark queen could fill a single brood box, haven't seen that for a few years.
I like the idea of less frames and more cells if they were able to work out of a langstroth

[snimmo243]

I'm half way through the process of converting my Smiths to commercials (with top Bee space)
Steven

Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk

[nemphlar]

Kitta horses for courses, I personally wouldn't go back to bottom bee space hives, it seems to start with the answer then attempts to justify.
Snimmo Your probably an east coaster in terms of bee types and hives with OSR in your patch, the west probably has smaller brood. Why'd you pick the commercial

[snimmo243]

Hi nemphlar, I am east coast ish (Bathgate)I had been quite happy with smiths but last winter I lost 1 colony to isolation and my remaining colony to a drone laying queen, as I was Bee less over the summer I decided to change over to a larger brood frame in the hope of mitigating some of my issues from last winter. I chose commercial because, an eke can be made converting the Smith to commercial and conversion frames can also be made (credit to Alan Riach for the drawings and crabbitdave for building the ekes) allowing me to convert without the massive outlay of New hives

Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk

[Black Comb]

Well,I also one nat. And the rest are langs.
The Lang. Frames just feel "right" to me. Nice short lugs and just the perfect size
Nats invariably mean double brood, more lifting, more frames to make up and the prospect of squashing more bees.
I think dark bees and standard langs. were made for each other.

[The Drone Ranger]

Here it's oil seed rape territory and in my case hybrid bees
The bees build up fast in spring there will be a fair bit of carniolan in them
But using Smith boxes and Snelgrove boards theres not much lifting to be done
Leastways until a new queen mates and gets going in the top box
Not much bee squashing either
Theres a few people on here doing the same I am sure