Well having also invested in a number of 14x12s I'm going to stick with them but I'm not as sold on them, compared to double brood, as I perhaps once was. As with everything in beekeeping its a compromise of some convenience for slightly less flexibility. It is though pretty straightforward to go from a national to 14x12 even if you just drop the frames in and deal with the resulting comb while you switch the frames. I honestly can't remember how I switched mine over.
Hi there I've made a 14x10 brood to try this year as I wasn't too keen on the 14x12 size for handling but only time will tell
change over from standard brood box to 14x12
Classic way is to place a 14x12box of frames of foundation over a.queen excluder during a good honey flow!
This will be drawn and filled with honey with the advantage that the resultant combs will be lovely and straight.
Once extracted(the gravity method if you don't possess a suitable extractor) Remove queen excluder replace wet 14x12 and the bees will move up el-rapido
Job done painlessly
WW
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thanks v much everyone for all the advice on changing to 14x12 brood boxes ,will have a go when colonies up to strength, andy
Larger Brood Boxes - Options
I have come across quite a few beekeepers who have converted to 14 x 12 and hear 2 slight objections to the 14 x 12 frame. One is that the bees struggle to draw out the full depth and two that the frame is rather unwieldy to handle (a bit deep). There is an alternative slightly "off standard" method of increasing brood box size -the 14 x 10. Frames can be made up using standard BS top and bottom bars and Commercial 16 x 10 side bars. Foundation has to be "clipped" from Commercial 16 x 10. A standard BS brood box can be adapted to suit simply by screwing a 38mm (1.5") eke onto the bottom. The bees draw 10" deep frames well and the 14 x 10 is nice to handle. A suggestion.
Originally Posted by andy
change over from standard brood box to 14x12
I haven't found a problem with 14x12s! I neither find them unwieldy nor do my bees have trouble drawing foundation,this they do with ease including adding drone cells along the bottom bars!
In my previous post I did suggest placing foundation above a QX during a honey flow to facilitate straight comb!
I did this with BS boxes ,not because of any 'difficulty but rather because bees presented with foundation for which they don't have an immediate use for mess around, draw in random patches chew holes through it ETC.
Like children they need meaningful occupation or they become mischievous
WW
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Most of the objections I hear about 14x12s come from people who don't, and have never, used them.
The frames are heavier than a national, they're going to be, they're a fair bit bigger; as is a full hive as a result.
The bees don't always draw combs right to the bottom if the frame, but that doesn't bother me in the slightest it has no bearing on the stability of the comb in a wired frame either with or without foundation, though freshly drawn foundationless comb is a little more fragile until a few cycles of brood have been through it, but if you aren't waving a comb about then I've never considered it a problem. Where 14x12s can be unwieldy is any double brood manipulation, especially once supers are involved, they get high, and heavy, pretty quick.
In the tropical south I do have a couple of colonies where the brood box still isn't big enough but these I simply don't raise queens from.
A single brood system sacrifices flexibility for simplicity I feel. Lots of people insist I can't demaree or snelgrove with 14x12s despite never being able to explain why this might be so I feel obliged to give it a go this year.
It's not a perfect hive by any means, I've yet to find one that is, but by and large I'm happy with the 14x12. The biggest single drawback I see to them, if you want a single brood box management style, is that very few extractors aimed at hobbyist Beekeepers, I hesitate to call them budget, will take a 14x12 frame.
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