Building Beehives For Dummies by Howland Blackiston

Author:Howland Blackiston [Blackiston, Howland]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781119544432
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2019-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

Illustration by Felix Freudzon, Freudzon Design

Chapter 9

The British National Hive

Illustration by Felix Freudzon, Freudzon Design

Although the Langstroth hive in Chapter 10 is the most popular hive in the United States, the number one hive in the United Kingdom is the British National hive (BNH). That’s been the case for many years.

An advantage of this hive is that the bees build honeycomb into frames that you can remove, inspect, and move about with ease. The brood chamber holds 11 deep frames. Each deep frame has a comb area of roughly 100 square inches per side. In addition, each shallow honey super holds 11 shallow frames with a comb area of roughly 68 square inches per side.

Like the Langstroth, because of its size and expandability, this hive does well in climates similar to that of the UK (namely, where summers are hot and winters can be cold, the average annual temperature is between 45 and 65 degrees, and minimum temperatures fall between 15 and 35 degrees). I love the fact that the roof has four ventilation holes because I strongly believe that good ventilation plays a critical role in keeping colonies healthier and more productive.

Because the BNH is mostly unique to the UK, you may have a devil of a time finding accessories, frames, and foundation outside of the UK. You can always order from UK-based suppliers, but if that means overseas shipping for you, you may want to keep that in mind as you decide whether this is the right hive for you.

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