Originally the National Major frame was 16" x 10" with a 17 1/2" top bar, but the top bar was reduced the to 17 3/16" and this frame design and the American style box that Simmins designed to suit it, became the British Standard Commercial Hive, but I do not know what date the adoption of it as a British Standard occurred. (The Commercial was never adopted as B.S., although it is often referred to as "British Standard Commercial", a mistake both Dave Cushman and myself have made!. This may be why some of the older commercial parts are slightly different sizes. R.P.). Sometime around 1889 the 16" x 6" shallow frame was added to the specification for the Commercial hive (it is possible that at that time it was still known as the National Major).

The dimensions given in the drawings below, may not agree, in some of the details, with some manufacturers production, but are those used by Apex Enterprises in their metricated production during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

British Commercial Deep Frame Dimensions

British Commercial Shallow Frame Dimensions

I am unable to correct the above drawing files to remove "Standard". R.P.

Originally written by Dave Cushman. Edited by Roger Patterson.

Page created pre-2011

Page updated 05/12/2022