<P> BS Improved National </P> <P> Also known as the British National, National, or Modified National, this hive is based on square boxes (460mm side), with a 225mm standard / brood box, and shallow 150mm supers typically used for honey . The construction of the boxes is relatively complicated (eight pieces), but strong, and with easy - to - hold handles . The boxes take frames of 432mm length, with a relatively long lug (38mm) and a comb width of 355mm . </P> <P> Commercial hives have the same cross-sectional dimensions as a National hive (460mm x 460mm), but deeper brood box (267mm / 10.5 ") and supers . The internal structure of the boxes is also simpler, resulting in wider frames (406mm / 16") with shorter handles or lugs . The brood box is picked up using small hand holds cut into the external wall of the hive . Supers have this same feature, which some find difficult to use when the super is full of honey . Some beekeepers therefore use National supers on top of a Commercial brood box . </P> <P> The WBC, invented by and named after William Broughton Carr in 1890, is a double - walled hive with an external housing that splays out towards the bottom of each frame covering a standard box shape hive inside . The WBC is in many respects the' classic' hive as represented in pictures and paintings, but despite the extra level of insulation for the bees offered by its double - walled design, many beekeepers avoid it, owing to the inconvenience of having to remove the external layer before the hive can be examined . </P>

What do you call a collection of bee hives