The positives of double brood for me are ease of splitting (for whatever reason), rarely having to feed, all the brood parts are identical and usually I can do a comb change once the bees are properly active by removing the bottom box (which is rarely in use at that point) and putting a fresh box of foundation on top, then repeating the process for the next season. These bees are on 14x12 frames which are suitable for a standard 14x12 brood box or WBC 14x12 brood box.

This means we can anchor the wood closer to help stop twisting with the shrinking and expanding of the timber cladding. I have tried to force the colony to work upstairs straight away by putting the queen on foundation only above the excluder. Not only have we improved the overall design, we have added a number of useful features which will distinguish our box from others available on the market. Top bars are 7/8 wide, Hoffman self spacing sidebars are 1 3/8 wide at top tapering to 1 1/16 at the bottom. Our new feeder design also features a removable plug, which can provide access to fondant placed inside the feeder.

This gives the hives great durability, able to withstand hive tools and the usual beehive inspections. All the miscellaneous kit that I own is mostly from ABELO too, and I’ve never had an issue with anything. All in all I am happy with my decision and will continue down the 14 x 12 route I am even using them on some converted Smiths hives and find the shorter lugs no problem at all. The cladding on this shed is Pressure Treated (Tanalised) 25mm (planed to to a 20mm finish) specially designed rebated shiplap. This will not affect the structural integrity of the product – this is natural and is not covered by a guarantee.

I started out with nationals, decided the above and just bought the conversion ekes (masiemores are better, they go on the bottom of a standard National rather than Thorne's which go on the top so you have to take the runners off) on the basis that if I didn't get on with 14x12s I could always go back. There are other reasons which I'm not experienced enough to comment on but make sense to me such as helping expansion and lower likelyhood to swarm. Our 14” x 12” National frames are used in British National brood boxes and come in packs of 10, assembled and pre-wired with foundation embedded.Its insulation properties also makes it ideal for beehives as less bees are required to maintain the heat required for effective brood rearing, helps improve overwintering successes and giving you an earlier spring buildup.