conversion kit national to langstroth

[blackie]

after months of waiting finally got the chance to convert my national nuc to langstroth hive .only 4 more to do and a tbh con to lang after getting in a panic it was a doddle bees wernt interested in me at all just let me do my job i think beekeeping is better if you dont read to many books and just do your stuff that you think is right

 

[SWFC]

Glad to hear all went to plan. Shall look forward to hearing about the tbh conversion.

 

[Norvic_chris]

I'm intrigued -- is there a kit to convert nationals to Langstroths (as the title suggests)? Or is this something you have cleverly devised yourself? What made you make the change? Just curious!

 

[blackie]

HI you can buy a kit but as i am a carpenter i made my own .i changed becouse dont like the look of a national from a joiners point of veiw it looks like a box with bits of timber laminated to it and the langstroth is bigger and has rabbited corners and looks great in field

 

[blackie]

SWFC-as for tbh will let you no it works in my head but will try when hot enough today

 

[oliver90owner]

i think beekeeping is better if you dont read to many books and just do your stuff that you think is right

You may think that, but I disagree. There are far too many coming on here, in a mess, and have not read up on the basics.

A good memory may be there to bite you if/when you do the same.

 

[Polyanwood]

Agree about the books thing.

I find estate agent board and a stanley knife is all you need to convert bees from langstroth to National and back.

 

[Black Comb]

HI you can buy a kit but as i am a carpenter i made my own .i changed becouse dont like the look of a national from a joiners point of veiw it looks like a box with bits of timber laminated to it and the langstroth is bigger and has rabbited corners and looks great in field

These are the brood boxes. What exactly is the conversion kit?

 

[Davidrf]

Can I agree with both views in the interests of balance? Read the books, listen to the contrary views expressed on the forum, then use your own judgement and live with the consequences! If it goes wrong it's not because you made the wrong call- other variables might have been at play, such as unpredictable unseasonal weather.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I find estate agent board and a stanley knife is all you need to convert bees from langstroth to National and back.

How do you do that, and have you got any pictures?

 

[blackie]

3 more successes converting national to langstroth but tbh conversion didnt go so well got a bit messy and wen i had nearly finished ther was no bees fanning so looked in tbh her magesty was running around on the cedar paniced looked around as if i would spot another beekeeper dont no why i was in the middle of nowere you couldnt make it up but its the only way you learn is the hard way

 

[SWFC]

Blackie, I have found most of my beekeeping has worked far better in my mind than in practice! Better luck next time. Keep us posted.

 

[Polyanwood]

How do you do that, and have you got any pictures?

Converting between National and Langstroth and back can use estate agent board or a piece of thin (4mm) ply that you cut to flattened picture frame shape. The idea is that you use this as a frame so that you can safely sit the new box on top of the box with bees in it - without a QX, and wait for the bees to go up - like when you do a Bailey frame change.

Ply is better but I have no jig saw to make the hole in the middle. One I did it with ply by cutting 2 fat L shapes and balanced one box on top of the other, taping them together with gaffer tape so it was safe and bee tight.

To do with estate agent board, draw the footprint of both National and Langstroth on top of each other. Cut out a square about 12" in the middle and trim around the outside so that you have about 3" sticking out all around. Use a couple of sheet of estate agent board and tape them together with gaffer tape to strengthen them.


If you use foundation in the top box you need to feed 1:1 syrup. This method is not perfect - depending on how fat the picture frame is, you get a bit of brace comb in between.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Converting between National and Langstroth and back can use estate agent board or a piece of thin (4mm) ply that you cut to flattened picture frame shape. The idea is that you use this as a frame so that you can safely sit the new box on top of the box with bees in it - without a QX, and wait for the bees to go up - like when you do a Bailey frame change. ...

Thanks.

But, a bit of an 'Oops' on my part because I thought you were talking about converting the frames. Maybe I should have read the thread more carefully.

 

[Norvic_chris]

Thanks for the information. One of the local experts (no comments on that please -- it's just my opinion of him!) who has kept bees for around 50 years was saying that if he started again he'd use Langstroth as it seemed to work very well and was a world standard. But as he's invested in several dozen nationals he wasn't going to change now! But I only have 5 hives so wondered if there was a simple way to convert (if indeed it's worth it anyway) -- I will have to think on it and see whether there's any real advantage.

As for books, love 'em, especially in the winter months, and I can come here for the reality!

 

[Black Comb]

There is a simple way to convert Chris.
All you need is a piece of ply (or correx) with a large hole in the middle.
As you are going from national (bottom bee space) to l/s (top bee space) nail an 8mm (approx) lath around all 4 edges of one side of the ply.
Place this lath side down on top of the national and the l/s box on top. If you ony have l/s foundation put a feed of 1:1 on to encourage them to draw it out.
The queen will eventually move into top box and start laying at which stage you place a queen excluder between the 2 boxes and 3 weeks later can remove the national.

It could be argued the lath is not strictly necessary but i found it meant I did not have to be too fussy about making the hole as large as feasibly possible

 

[Polyanwood]

If I started again I would start on poly Nationals if i wanted to raise bees to sell and poly jumbo Langstroth or Dadant to go for honey. Now I am stuck with all sorts. Even though my experience tells me the bees do a lot better on the poly, I like the smell and the feel of the wood.

 

[drstitson]

still a bit cold to be giving the bees a large box full of foundation.

presume OP is referring to attaching frame convertors to the national frames.

and of course the alternative is to knock up an eke and run the nat frames warm way across the LS box. another box with LS frames can then be added on top later once bottom box is up to speed. or just keep using lS boxes with Nat frames for compatibility with UK equipment.

 

[Polyanwood]

Nice. Significantly more attractive than what I do.

 

[blackie]

quality pics