double brood, 14x12 or one and half, experience please!

[dom955]

I only use nat brood chambers and as some are more prolific than others i dont see the need 4 larger brood chambers as our climate are not suited to long summers and all round honey flows, but each 2 our own. The bigger the brood body the less honey you should get in theory but given a choice i would take 14 by 12 over comercial because they have larger luggs and all parts, ie supers etc are interchangable but wot ever floats your boat i suppose.

 

[barratt_sab]

All ours are on 14x12 (with the odd BS brood from purchased nucs). One point worth considering is the weight of a 14x12 frame full of stores; it's quite heavy. It's not a problem for the bees (so far as I can tell) but worth thinking about for the beek.

I suppose the counter-argument is that with a single 14x12 box you've only got to lift one frame at a time, whereas with a double brood (or one and a half) you've got to lift a whole box full. Maybe I'll stick with my 14x12.