No problem!

I agree - I just like the 3/8" gap that the Langstroth frames incorporate for using my beetle blasters so I opted to cut them down. In the future, I will likely cut my own top bars, and all the other pieces too. Thanks for the feedback!

I tried that last year and the bees voted against it LOL. Check out some of my older content from 2020 and you'll see they prefer the Layens - PLUS the frames just "feel right" - very hard to explain, but if you get the chance to handle them you'll understand.

I hear you my friend. More are starting to catch on. I'd say you'd do OK but I think you'll do better in Layens. That's based on my own personal experience. My plan is to divide my 20 frame horizontal Langs in 1/2 with a semi permanent divider and run (2) 8-10 frame colonies out of each one instead of having them trying to fill out 20 extra deep frames. It would probably work for bees in the New England states, but not for me in my area.

@@enjoybeekeeping5612 This go around with bees, I only plan on having a single hive to start and then expand to two--no more. I'm in NYC and will bee keeping my bees on an amazing rooftop garden and can only have max two hive. And I'm decided to go with the Flow Hives, which I already ordered, to make extractions easy on me without all the extra equipment. So now that I have them, I'm going to attempt to modify them. Hey, every since I've been talking about this for a months time, I've finally meeting others that have done the same, even with doubled NUCs; five super deep frames. My heart is telling me its the right thing. The longer frames mimic nature and bees overwinter 100% better and do better overall in every arena according to Dr. Leo (Russian Beekeeper.) I found a wood shop near me so the work begins soon. Here is a video of another beekeeper I have spoken with and he swears by it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iNqGirCHx5ivYKM.html Wish me luck. And thanks for getting back with me.

@@bradgoliphant Brad - very exciting. I'm happy for you and hope you achieve everything you are setting out to do with beekeeping. I hear bees can do really well in the city, so I'm very interested to see how it goes. Keep me posted :)

@@enjoybeekeeping5612 Last response on this topic. Taking a change here--could I hire and pay for you to make me ten Layens frames to fit into a Modified Langstroth (already have) that measure 19" wide and 15.5" long? It would make my day. I'm not a shop guy. Either way I'm fine, but I had to ask. I would pay you for everything, including a tip.

Because Layens hive is more like a bee's natural hive and is intended for multi-year colonies, whereas commercial beekeepers want a hive that is portable and don't care about how long a colony has been around in a particular hive.

I understand where you might be coming from, but in the world of Ag Biz farmers do NOT usually prioritize what is best for the animals, but rather focus on speed and profitability. Since my income is not affected by how easily I can move my hives (which I never do) I build a home that is more like what they would choose in nature - like a cozy tree hollow. I think more farmers are starting to understand this, and hopefully we will continue to see animals being treated more like living creatures than dollar signs on a spread sheet.

To: Can't you just make it a 19 7/8 width frame area.... No. The whole point of Layens and similar hives is that they are MORE narrow in cross-section (to more naturally fit the bee cluster in winter). So the frames of 12-13 inch width fit this idea (including Layens, Warre, etc).

I just got my first extractor - so I'll let you know how they hold up. I expect they'll do just fine since Dr Leo also uses a dowel on some of his frames in the extractor without any problem. I'm going to be making more true Layens frames, but I just wanted to use my existing Lang frames as Layens frames so I cut them down. You could make the 19 7/8 extra deep frames, but after using both sizes I have to say that the Layens frames just "feel right", and bees in the wild typically seek out cavities in trees 12"-14" wide as opposed to wider, so I'm just going with the flow on what they like best.

Enjoy Beekeeping Good to know, I want to build a Layens style hive this winter. I keep wondering if I should go with the small width layens size for go with a Lang width frame. A few KZfaqrs seem to love them (I.e., Bee Boy), I want to find a balance in equipment. I’m heavily into Langstroth already. However, a Layens hive would solve problems in a apiary I have in another state. And they just look so fun and easy to manage. Thanks for your time and the video.

@@eberntson Of course, you can also make Lazutin hive with frames 19 7/8 wide. This will make for even larger hive (like it or leave it). Overall, IF one needs a hive that you only can check once in 2-3 months - a long&deep hive is the way to go. Clearly, the bees can not super themselves as needed. But with the long&deep hives this is a non-issue - you set them up once and go away - the bees will gradually grow sideways as they need to.

I've made both the 19 7/8 frames and Layens. I like how the bees work the Layens better. It might be that the bees local to me prefer a smaller cavity / frame size because they really seem to take to it better. So I'm sticking with Layens based on what I see the bees doing. I recently purchased an extractor that will handle all frame sizes, so I'm looking forward to using it soon.

I build all my Layens frames from scratch. I just so happened to have a few boxes of Langstroth frames that I knew I would not use since I phased out of Langstroth almost completely now. So I just modified them and thought if anyone else is in the same boat, I'd share how to use them rather than have them sit around. I suppose you could always trade them or give them away too.