frames

[peteinwilts]

Hi Guys

I am building a pair of nationals and have a couple of questions about frames.

How many frames does a national hold??

The National is quite a bit smaller than I expected. Are dummy boards required in such a small hive??

Does anyone have the exact dimensions or drawings for a national frame? I will be buying a few later in the week and want to make sure they fit!

Cheers
Pete

 

[Eyeman]

Hi
National supers holds 12 frames with 'Hoffman' spacers- you can buy castellated runners to adjust the bee space so that the super holds fewer frames. Need to start with 12 frames of foundation first.
National brood holds 12 frames with Hoffman spacers- To make manipulation easier put only 11 frames of foundation plus a dummy frame at one end. When examining the hive take the dummy frame out first as this results in less trauma to the bees and makes it easier to manipulate the remaining frames.
I would recommend contacting a local beekeeper to see if you can join them for an inspection- nothing beats seeing it for yourself.
This is the website for diagrams etc:
http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/newhome.html