This hive is what everyone thinks of when talking about beehives. Its the pretty cottage style usually painted white and known as the classic beehive. The reality of this hive is that it is double-walled and can offer great protection in adverse weather, especially if you keep your hive in a cold damp windy environment.
The down side is it has a smaller brood in comparison to most hives, only holding ten deep BS national frames - although you can adapt to a 14" x 12" brood. If you have this type of hive it is recommended that it be south facing to ensure it has sunlight for as long as possible to encourage the bees to fly, it can remain cold inside otherwise, making the bees reluctant to emerge.
This hive comes with a floor with legs (a varroa mesh floor is extra), three lifts, one with a porch (lifts are the outer panels) and a metal gable roof with cone bee escapes. The inner has a brood body, slotted steel queen excluder, two supers and a crown/clearing board with two bee escapes. The brood holds ten DN1 frames with spacers and the supers, each with eight frames with castellated spacers, all come with wax foundation.
The frames are the same sizes as the BS National hive. The ever-popular 14" x 12" brood body is also produced for the WBC hive. However an extra lift will be required if a 14" x 12" brood body is utilised.
All these hives are made from FSC sustainable Cedar, if you wish to use preservatives use an insecticide free wood preserver, you can also use Linseed Oil.
FSC Cedar, does not require treatment, you can leave it as it is although it will grey if you do not use a preservative. Cedar is ideal for the British climate as it is light, tough, aromatic and aesthetic.
WBC Hive - Further Information External dimension of lifts 21 ½" square
External dimension of brood body and super 17 3⁄4" x 16 ¼"
Brood body depth 8 7⁄8"
14" x 12" brood body depth 12 ½"
Super depth 5 7⁄8"
The brood area is 2,000 square inches.
Number of worker cells - 45,000
Bottom Bee Space
Frame sizes Top Bars 17" long
Bottom bars 14" long
Deep side bars 8 ½" long
14" x 12" side bars 12" long
Shallow side bars 5 ½" long
Foundation sizes Deep 13 7⁄16" x 8"
14" x 12" 13 7⁄16" x 11 ½"
Shallow 13 7⁄16" x 5"
How many frames in each box 10 Hoffman (self-spacing) frames in either a brood body or super. Although it is possible to fit in 11 frames, it is easier for manipulation to use 10 frames and a dummy board.
10 frames on narrow ends in the brood body
9 Manley frames in the super
8 or 10 frames on castellated spacers in the super
8 frames on wide ends in the super
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