Most of my hive boxes are the standard OATH design which makes it quite a simple task for matching up boxes for splitting but occasionally I’ll make an odd shaped box that I need to get a colony in to. I could transfer a colony in but I find that a bit messy and you’re just transferring a colony from one box to another so you still only have one colony. Another option is to do Budding which can be slow and has to be monitored. I prefer to split in to the new box so you end up with two colonies and I find this method very simple and easy as it behaves like a normal split.
To get two different shaped or sized boxes to join up together I use adapter plates. This involves cutting a piece of plywood that sits between both odd shaped boxes removing any gaps which provides security for the colony. This is quite a simple procedure that could be used on just about any two different sized boxes.
Once the new box is ready to be split, it’s just a normal split and the odd shaped boxes can be paired up again with it’s matching partner.
Example 1. OATH vs Octagonal Box
Example 2. OATH vs Narrow Tall Pillar Box
