> apart from a swarm how they may transfer the bees from
> a national [UK hive type] to the Dadant [USA hive type].

Well, the difference in exterior dimensions is:

            National    Dadant   Dadant-Metric
            --------    -------  -------------
Length  460 mm      19 7/8" (504.825 mm)
Width           460 mm      16 1/4" (412.75 mm)
Height  225 mm      9 5/8"  (244.475 mm)

Which is pretty close.

So, I'd guess that one could:

a) Shake bees from the first National comb.

b) Cut the comb from the National frame
   using a Dadant frame as a template,
   insert into the Dadant frame, and slide
   2 or 3 tight loops of string over the
   entire frame to hold the comb within the
   frame for the bees to attach to the new frame.

c) Shake bees from additional National Frames
   into the Dadant hive, and keep cutting
   comb and placing it into the new frames.

The bees will soon attach the comb to the new
frames, and will do a surprising job of making
a mechanically strong bond (if and only if your
strings are tight enough to hold the comb in
good alignment) between comb and frame.

...but I have not tried this, so a comparison of
frame sizes may be a good idea to get a better idea
of exactly where to cut.

I have made some very rough-looking cuts with a
bread knife from "wild" colonies that needed removing
from houses and barns and tied them haphazardly into
frames, and I have been impressed at the speed and
quality of the bees "repair work".


                jim

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