Quote Originally Posted by Julian View Post
I know Tom Seeley has referred to the ideal capacity of a new site being 40 litres and that this is a constant with bate hive construction but does anyone know the origin of this figure?
I think it's probably because René, the world famous swarm catcher down here, buys his wine in 40 litre containers and then wants to recycle them.

Actually i'm going to contest this 40 litre business. Perhaps it's an average like the typical size house or soething like that. But surely it must depend on such things as type of bee, locality, time of year, importance of nectar flow, etc.? My talking with long time beekeepers gives the rough rule: big bait hives attract big swarms and little bait hives attract little swarms.