Abelo 12 frame queen excluder = no bee space

[Andy]

Abelo 12 frame hives are top bee space. I bought the 12 frame queen excluders and didn't realise that they sit inside the bee space on the top of the frames. So now there is no way for bees to navigate over the top of the frames. I'm also finding the frames in the box above are all getting glued to queen excluder so I can't slide them across any more.

What are other people doing? Just using a standard national excluder which will sit on the internal part of the plastic rebate which maintains the bee space? Should I worry about losing the beespace?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Should I worry about losing the beespace?

no

 

[Garry R]

Not completely sure of the arrangement but if the excluder sits flat on the top bars of the frames in the brood box then in effect you do not lose any bee space as the box above it has the bee space below it due ti=o the top space of the brood box - so no problem. The excluder I guess gets stuck to the top bar of the brood frames rather than the bottom bars of the frames above. Make sense?

 

[Andy]

Not completely sure of the arrangement but if the excluder sits flat on the top bars of the frames in the brood box then in effect you do not lose any bee space as the box above it has the bee space below it due ti=o the top space of the brood box - so no problem. The excluder I guess gets stuck to the top bar of the brood frames rather than the bottom bars of the frames above. Make sense?

That’s for bottom bee space. Abelo 12 frame is top bee space. So the excluder fills up the bee space on top resting on the frames. The frames above have a Mm or so gap to the excluder which then gets filled with comb.

 

[Anduril]

Abelo 12 frame hives are top bee space. I bought the 12 frame queen excluders and didn't realise that they sit inside the bee space on the top of the frames. So now there is no way for bees to navigate over the top of the frames. I'm also finding the frames in the box above are all getting glued to queen excluder so I can't slide them across any more.

What are other people doing? Just using a standard national excluder which will sit on the internal part of the plastic rebate which maintains the bee space? Should I worry about losing the beespace?

Saw this 2 weeks ago with a beekeeper who has the 12 frame, but he couldn't get them to fit, I worked it out in 2 seconds. However he told Abelo that he wasn't happy with them, they sent metal framed ones, again he struggled to fit them, 2 seconds later I fitted them, but it means that you have a slight gap between the boxes. Whichever ones you choose they will work. For the problem of sliding the frames across, the procedure you will need to do is, if you have a J hive tool, lift the first end frame out by prising both sides with the J side of your hive tool. Thereafter, use your hive tool to prise both sides up first and then slide the frame across and then follow the procedure for each one. If you have a standard hive tool the same applies.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've run top bee space since I started keeping bees in 2008. Stan made up the cedar boxes that way for me. I was always interested in poly so when Modern Beekeeping introduced their early boxes I tried those. The bee space is shared and while they worked for a while I wasn't that happy with them. RAB came all the way over from Lincolnshire and took them...bless him....sorely missed from the forum.
Then I tried Swienty boxes without the runners
Fast forward a few years and Abelo came on the scene. Their old style brood boxes are cracking bits of kit. The bee space problem is solved by glueing/screwing (ouch....I know Derek would say screws in poly compromise insulation) a plastic eke on top. These boxes fit perfectly with my wooden supers and framed excluders. Stan makes our own wooden UFE floors so that the space underneath is right