Ive got 2 WBC hives
All the books state that they accommodate 10 frames which leaves a gap. Is it OK to fill this gap with an eleventh frame or is this a definate no no.
I apologise if this has been asked before but im new to this forum
James
normally you leave a space for a dummy board so you can easily remove frames when they a stuck down like BBBBBBB
the spacing of frames depends on your needs, in a wbc brood 10 +dummy
in BS super its 9.10 or 11
in a BS national brood it is said to be 11 frames (35mm centre) plus dummy but their is nothing to stop you using 12 frames..excepts it is bl**dy difficult to get them out and you'd kill a few bees doing it...and THE GIRLS will remember and take revenge the next time you go in
some use even closer spacing at 32mm when using 4.9mm small cell foundation so as to force the bees to make smaller depth cells,
so in a BS national at 32mm that is 12 frames plus dummy so at that space you could get 13 frames if you repace the dummy...dont try it unless you have mastered normal size cell bees and use 4.9 or 4.7 foundation
Dummy boards:- i use Cushman's design as on his web pages:
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/dummyframe.html
it is a standard straight sided frame with solid bottom rail with hardboard sides rough side out nailed on (or in my case 14x12 hoffmans stripped of the shoulders to make straight sides)
