National to Commercial adapter?

[itma]

I am considering converting from national brood boxes to either 14 x 12 or commercial which leads me to wondering if there are any advantage/disadvantage of 14 x 12 over commercial.

14x12 is simply a deeper national.
Everything else is exactly the same. The brood box is deeper/taller and brood frames have longer sidebars and get deeper foundation - that's all. (Strictly speaking, the brood frames should have the wider (like DN5 rather than DN4) top bars - but this is actually not essential.)
During conversion national brood frames can be left in the box and 'worked to the outside'.


Commercial is a different hive that happens to have the same external dimensions.
It has short lugs and wider (as well as deeper) foundation/frames.
So conversion to commercial frames is either a Bailey change or a shook swarm (definitely a bit late in the year for those games!)
National floors, roofs and QXs are interoperable with commercial.
Some even use national supers on commercial brood boxes ...

 

[MuswellMetro]

I am considering converting from national brood boxes to either 14 x 12 or commercial which leads me to wondering if there are any advantage/disadvantage of 14 x 12 over commercial.

I will have work both 14x12 and commercial this year and both have their merits

size of brood, about equall brood size though commercial seems more comparable in shape with a the concept of the rugby ball brood, but by June and full biuld up, no difference

ease of handling, 14x12 are rather cumbersome as thats a lot of wax to wave about, commercials are lighter but one more frame to inspect

lugs, ok that's the main difference if you have been bought up on holding the long lug of a national, then commerical seem fiddlely and impossible, i hold the hoffman side on a commercial rather than a lug but on one italian colony. I have to change my disposable gloves after inspecting as you then get covered in propolis, similar bees in a 14x12, well ok until they proplis the long lugs to the brood chamber so more likely to break than a comercial

national/commercial supers, no real difference other than a comcerial is heavier full however i used all national supers as i had them


and as i tried polyhive 14x12, it is a shame you cannot get poly commercial and rember transfer to a 14x12 is just a quick national frame into the 14x12 and let them biuld wild comb under it until due fr replacement, if you are careful on inspections