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True. But there is no National Medium box. So what Tim Rowe did was develop one and called it the Rose (Rowe's) Hive. I have said several times on this forum that it is not the box that matters, but the method of hive management. Many use the same method using medium boxes in USA and Europe and...

A colony is like a town. The population is constantly churning but the town remains. A bit like Trigger's broom.

There are "issues" with the Rose Hive method, but nothing too onerous. If you want to examine all the brood at every inspection, then there are lots of frames to go through. But I don't inspect all the fames every time. The upper box(es) tell you all you need to know most of the time. When...

There is some evidence that the broodless period occurs earlier than Xmas/new year. Late November is when I do my winter OA vape.

You don't know it was youths. It could have been Hell's Grannies!

Curiouser and curiouser.

When I said "earlier", I didn't mean in the spring, rather last week.

Why would you need to melt honey in jars? My customers often prefer set honey.

You could have deployed wasp traps earlier.

Two wooden battens under the sieve...? or https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/honey-strainers/cylindrical-strainer-and-stand/ (I have not used this)

...but it just works!

It would be useful if someone could discover how OA actually kills varroa.

Don't bolt it down to the floor - the legs could fail. Mount the extractor on castors. The movement relieves the stresses on the legs due to imbalance.

As you can see from the photo, they usually draw their own comb from a starter strip before using the foundation.

You can also actually weigh the hive! I'm surprised that most don't. Hefting is what is often taught but is not an accurate or consistent method. I check that the required weight of stores are in the hive before going into winter. I monitor the stores until spring, by regular weighing, and know...

How on earth do they do that without spreading it everywhere?

The legal term is "statutory notifiable"

Mine usually over-winter in two boxes. The upper box will contain mostly honey, the lower will be mostly brood.

Ask Shari Lewis.

Both times that I have done it, it was the swarm queen. She was clipped and I picked her up from the ground in front of the hive. I don't know if they would cluster around another.