![]() A pertinent question to ask the seller would be – what happened to the bees? Old hives are cheaper but, again, the beekeeper should be aware that disease could be lurking in old hives. New hives are more expensive but they come disease-free and with a longer life-expectancy. Hives are available new or second-hand or can be made relatively easily and cheaply by all but the accident-prone or manually inept but be aware of the beespace. It is possible to operate using National brood boxes and Commercial supers – that way you have the best of both worlds but it would be inadvisable to have both National and Commercial brood boxes on the go – sooner or later that becomes a nuisance. Which is the best hive for this climate is a debate for the pub. The frames also have very small lugs to you need the grip of a rock-climber to haul a full frame up and out. They have very small handholds which are difficult to grip so you end up having to twist the hive and grab it from underneath. They are a very heavy hive when full but they are easy to make. The name somehow suggests you’ll get more honey – not the case, in bad year the bees will put all the honey in the brood chamber. If you were to use a Commercial hive with these bees you could end up with all the honey in the brood chamber. The small size makes the National hive the better bet for the Native Irish bee. ![]() This photo was taken midsummer (obviously) so they have been split over Snelgrove boards and supered but you can imagine how far down the brood box such a roof comes and the insulation it provides to the sides of the brood box when the supers are off. Two of the hives in the photo above have deep roofs. The recessed wall on two sides also means they are almost a double wall hive if you use a deep roof in the winter. The construction of the hives means they have a very good handhold to lift them with and the frames have a long lug which makes them easy to grip. National hives are slightly smaller and much lighter to handle but they are more difficult to build. In this country the two main types of hive in use are the National and the Commercial. Not all hive parts are interchangeable and you’ll end up in a right mucking fuddle. Choosing which type of hive to use is like getting married – get it right from the start and stick to it if you go messing about later, it will come back to bite you and you’ll regret it.
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