> I was recently in the UK and had the opportunity to work some bees and found this set up most curious. One small holder did mention the native honeybee builds a smaller cavity, but I would think there is great influence of Italian and other stocks. 

If you were in the UK this spring then a what you saw was almost unprecedented.  We had virtually no winter losses after a very benign and prolonged autumn last year followed by an extremely mild winter.  This produced massive colonies by late April and the amount of swarming has been unbelievable.

We normally keep on top of swarm control fairly easily, but this year the combination of huge colonies and increasingly bad weather though April and May has seen us struggling.  Even colonies with 2013 queens have swarmed - most unusual.

Yes, the influence of other races is not helpful (understatement of the year!!!).

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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