Hi Lloyd & all > In England, Langstroth size is the exception. English hive manufacturers > treasure their 'unique' sizes as they are largely protected from import > competition While I can't speak for the whole of the UK appliance trade, I find that statement a little unusual, as up until the end of the 1990's quite a proportion of UK hives were in fact manufactured under contract in USA by AI Root and others. It is not that Langstroth equipment will not work in UK, as a number of larger outfits do use it, but most of the hives in UK and Ireland are of what we call National size, simply because they were designed around the bee that inhabits them. Many of the hives in Europe are also of similar size to the British one, but are not interchangeable. If however you wish to keep Italianised bees then the British box is too small, but most beekeepers wish to get a honey crop, which is less likely with Italian strains in some parts of UK. Although I no longer manufacture beekeeping equipment, the idea of protectionism did not even enter my head when I did. However in fairness we did manufacture Langstroth and Dadant sized equipment for those 2 or 3 percent of UK beekeepers that used such sizes. While you claim that Langstroth is 'standard' in USA there is very little true 'interchangeability' between manufacturers. http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/lang.html gives some of the variations found in various places, all of which claim to be 'Langstroth Standard' Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman or http://www.dave-cushman.net Short FallBack M/c, Build 6.02/3.1 (stable) -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---