What sort of Hive?

The most common type of hive in the UK is the National, in wood or polystyrene. There are other types of hives but we will use a National with two supers.

The most important thing to remember is the frames are not all interchangeable between the various types of hives or between commercial and standard National hives.

We were given two National type hives, but the frames are too big for our standard National hive. Be warned as it could be a costly mistake as your apiary grows.

Incidentally, if you are handy with a saw and router, you can save yourself some money. How? Make your own hives. They are easy to make so long as you can mark and cut accurately. However, you must get a set of plans or take very accurate measurements from an existing hive.

Alternatively, buy a flat pack hive kit and build it yourself. In the UK they are made of Cedar or Pine. Pine being cheaper than Cedar. According to statistics, 80% of new beekeepers give up after 2 years. Therefore, buy pine don’t paint it and you can always use it on your log burner if you become one of the 80%