Designed and developed by Capt. E J Tredwell in the mid 20th century.   Capt. Tredwell was the County Bee Instructor for Hampshire.  In his experience beekeepers who used traditional vertical hives did not adequately and regularly inspect their bees for swarming signs and behaviour.  
The struggle to remove the top supers and queen excluders, that may be propolised together, often meant by the time the beekeeper got into the brood body bees were very active.  The task of looking for queen cells is often hurried and not thorough – and many will give up before a proper inspection has taken place.
He designed and developed the Westley Hive.  It contained 33 BS brood frames in a single row.  The three internal lids meant the middle lid can be lifted and straight away you are in the brood nest to begin the inspection.
The main entrance was in the centre but an additional, closeable, opening was included at one end.  This additional opening allowed artificial swarming to be conducted in the same hive.  
If queen cells are found, then five frames are moved to the end with the smaller entrance.  The frames should contain at least one good queen cell, brood and stores.  A solid division board divides these frames from the main nest and the old queen, ensuring no queen cells remain.  The two nests on either side of the board think they have swarmed because there are many fewer bees.  In time the queen cell hatches and the virgin queen is mated.  Once it is clear she is laying well then the old queen can be killed and the colony reunited, or the colony removed to a new hive.
Another significant advantage is that there is no decision to make over one brood, two broods, a brood and a half……  The queen lays in the centre and honey is gathered on the end frames.
References
Smith, D, 2012, The Westley Hive. Bee World, 89:2, pp. 42-42.

We were impressed with the simplicity of design and advantages of the Westley hive, but we have made some improvements to the original design. 

• The complete hive is now made in British cedar with a sloping roof that is opened and supported on gas struts.  Two toggle fasteners hold the roof securely in place.
• In addition to the main central entrance there are two closeable entrances at either end.  The hive also comes with two solid division boards and a vertical clearer board with metal rhombus escape.
• The middle top board has a hole for feeding.  Woodchip insulated quilts are included for additional insulation.  The frames are self-spacing DN4 and are suspended on stainless steel runners.   
• Finally, as an added extra you can purchase a Westley Hive stand, also made from English Cedar.

The hive comes ready assembled and can be purchased empty, complete with 33 assembled DN4 frames with premier wired foundation or 33 flat packed DN4 frames and premier wired foundation.

Buy the hive and stand together and save £15.

The hive can be collected from any of our branches or sent securely on an oversized pallet.

You can see the original Thorne made Westley Hive in our museum in Lincolnshire.  Made from plywood in the 1960s and used by Les Thorne in our own apiaries, this hive contained the short- lugged Smith frames and had a felt covered roof.