We do a fair amount of export business, so I have become a little acquainted
with bee hive sizes elsewhere.

In England, Langstroth size is the exception.  English hive manufacturers
treasure their 'unique' sizes as they are largely protected from import
competition for not only hives but all the accompanying equipment such as
queen excluders, tops, bottoms, etc.

In France beekeepers largely use Modified Dadant deeps (more on this later)
for brood boxes and Modified Dadant 'mediums' for supers.

In Australia, NZ, Israel, and most of South America the predominate size is
what we call Langstroth.

With the exception of France, most of the Western European countries on the
continent  and in Scandanavia use what we call Langstroth measurements.  I'm
not sure about Ireland and Scotland, except that they somehow use a fair
amount of Ross Round equipment (which is sized for what we call Langstroth).

On the east and west coasts of the United States Langstroth sizes are pretty
standard.  However, in the midwest a lot of beekeepers use Modified Dadant
equiptment.  I started beekeeping by buying used equipment from an
engineering professor and he also used Modified Dadant.  Some beekeepers
call it the 'best' size for bees...but it is really heavy stuff.

Front to back the measurements are the same as Langstroth.  But the boxes
hold two more frames, and frames for the deeps are 12" wide.  A deep full of
honey will weigh about 110 lbs.  But, with 11 or 12 frames these provide
lots of room to control swarming as well as lots of honey for the winter.  I
understand that those who use these deeps do no reversing and overwinter in
one box.

Modified Dadant supers are also 'jumbo'.  I forget exactly the sizes, but
they also hold 11/12 frames and are almost as wide as Langstroth deeps.  I
recall they hold about 70 lbs of honey.

Finally, here in the US there are a fair number of 7 1/2" supers used on
Langstroth equipment.  I discovered them when I bought out an old timer and
subsequently found out a fair number of commercial beekeepers were using
them.  They hold about 40 lbs of honey, compared to 30 for a standard
'medium' and 50 for a standard deep.

The last I knew (which is pretty recent) Dadant still made frames and
foundation for the Modified Dadant sizes (deeps and supers) as well as for
the 7 1/2" supers.  But they are not advertised in the catalog.  Lots of
suppliers will custom make the Modified Dadant deeps and mediums, but only
 for special order of reasonably large quantities.

I know of someone who is retiring and has better than 1,000 7 1/2" supers
(with drawn comb) for sale.  What I have seen are in really good condition
with good looking comb.  This guy is in Western NY.  Anyone interested can
contact me privately and I will provide contact information.

--
Lloyd Spear
Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections,
Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels.
Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com

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