Dadant-Blatt hive

[ugcheleuce]

I've read about the Buckfast 12 frame Dadant but can't find actual specs. Brother Adam refers to it several times but does not cover interior measurements.

I suspect it may be this one, published in Dutch in a beekeeping handbook from 1948:

http://www.imkerpedia.nl/wiki/index.php/Tekeningen_van_de_Buckfastkast

The "Buckfast" hive, according to Schotman 1948

Frames:

Topbar length: 483 mm
Frame width: 450
Lug length: 16.5 mm

Brood frame: 285 mm tall
Honey frame: 145 mm tall

Boxes:

Outside width: 505 mm
Outside length: 505 mm
Wall thickness: 20 mm

Inside width: 465 mm
Inside length: 465 mm

Brood box height: 295 mm
Honey box height: 155 mm

Lug rests cut into walls:
10 mm wide, 20 mm deep

AFAICT, frames rested on metal rails or castellated spacers so that the top of the frame was flush with the top of the box (i.e. bottom beespace). The description states that the honey boxes contained 10 frames only, but that would mean frame spacing of 45 mm (not the usual 35 or 38 mm), which I suppose is okay for honey.

 

[Fusion_power]

Those dimensions are exactly what I came up with for the square Dadant hives I will be using. Interior dimensions are 465 X 465 X 295. I am cutting the frame rests 15.5 mm deep and will use top space because it works out better for the type cover I am using. My brood frames are modified with endbars 31.5 mm which is significantly closer spacing than the frames Brother Adam used.

 

[Greggorio]

If I were you to save all the hassle "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".

I live in France as well. I originally looked at getting my hives from a friend in the UK but literally 90% of hives in France are Dadant and the other 10% are Warre's. So trying to make anything compatible would have been a nightmare. Also as stated the French Dadant is different to a modified Dadant so be sure that the Italian Dadant definitely conforms to a modified one otherwise your savings will bite you in the arse in the long run

 

[Bee Bumble]

Agrinova sell Dadant Blatt hives in the UK - may be worth a look.

 

[Poly Hive]

Bucket of water time maybe?

The most common hive in the Uk is the Nat, and if you search there is a post by ITLD when he did his poly research and next if I remember was Lang at 14%.

Now why the massive difference? No particular reason just that the Nat is the common one and so the chances are the beginner finds that his club/mentor/local bee farmer uses them. So self perpetuating.

Given my totally free choice I would pick Poly lang over anything else as all hives are a comprise. I would say though that in my experience of, WBC, Glen, National, Smith, Lang, Modified Dadant, Poly Nat (12 smith frames) (before poly Nat per se) and poly Nat and Poly Lang my vote is for the poly Langstroth purely due to it being the ideal compromise for me in my climate. Oh and the cutcomb form the Lang sup Manley frames is excellent.

PH

 

[Fusion_power]

Here is an update on my experience converting to the square Dadant depth hives. I've now moved 23 colonies into square deep hives with 14 frames. At this point, I can say that there are only two negatives to using them.

1. These hives are very heavy so the average beekeeper would have to pull frames out before moving the brood box. I'm still strong enough and have a good enough back that I can move them.

2. These are definitely not standard, particularly here in the U.S. where almost everything is 10 frame Langstroth.


Everything else about these hives gets down to differences in the way they are managed and is purely for beekeeper convenience. I like having only 14 frames to examine. I love the beautiful large combs the bees build. I'm eagerly looking forward to winter to see how the bees manage in these hives.

 

[must_dash]

Zante,
To close the story, what hives did you choose in the end?

 

[Zante]

Zante,
To close the story, what hives did you choose in the end?

Since the beginning of this thread I moved back to Italy and bought my hives and bees here.

I have two Dadant-Blatt (or Italica Carlini as it's known here) which is pretty much _the_ standard.
If I wanted to try anything else it'd have to be langstroth, and even then I'd have to have them ordered special.

My bees are doing fine in the hives I have though. Getting two supers each, with a chance of three, on their first season when I started in mid-April with two nucs.
Pity I missed the acacia flow, but it'll be there next year, and anyway it helped build all the necessary wax.

 

[must_dash]

Best plan, I bought some bees over on National frames, real pain. Now on 'local' lit and so easy to go to the local agri shop to buy stuff.
The acacia flow in Varese was a disaster (the main flow here), 3 weeks of cold, rain or wind.