At request of another member i'll summarise a little of the bob smith talk from saturday (wrt brood box at least).
1. make sure brood box is of correct dimensions with correct 8mm bee space at bottom (or top). On BBS the frames should be flush with top of box (and lug ends should be snug to outer walls - add packing fillets (eg coffee stirrers or lolly sticks) if necesssary. watch out for shrinkage during life of the box.
2. Use proper hoffman frames, not plastic ends or converters.
3. check the bottom part of the side bars is narrower by 4mm each side (some are 6mm!)
4. use wide top bars - which again give 8mm between frames
5. use wide (manley) type bottom bars to remove spare space at bottom of frame.
6. ensure frames are constructed square with properly fitted foundation
7. ensure frames are tight against each other in the hive and use a dummy board for ease of inspection.
8. make sure you have proper format QE ie flush on one side and 8mm on other, not the usual 50:50 compromise.
9. he has a set of wooden feeler gauges (two in fact - 1 large and 1 small) for checking bee space!!!!