YES... even new beekeepers over here find it hard to get their head around our frame types and sizes ... once you have worked it out and know what you are going to use .. it's OK.
I found the list and dimensions of frames in the Thornes catalogue very handy in my early days
I remember dipping into a beekeeping book before I went on my first courses - it may as well have been written in Chinese with all the terminology & acronyms!
How do you guys remove frames as in how do you use the hive tool?
I use a J tool and first use it sideways like a can opener to break the propolis seal between lugs & frame runners and then gently lever out the frames with J end.
I have dummy boards at the end of the brood box and runners in the brood box - the dummy board usually comes out very easily and then the next few frames are levered horizontally to create space where the brood is likely to start and then using the J tool lift and lever the next frame I want to inspect out. And so on .. the supers with castellations - just use the j tool or one of my other hive tools to lever against the adjacent frame on each lug and lift them out.
C Wynne Jones still sell the hoffman converter clips. They were selling them yesterday at the WBKA show for £3.50 a bag but they are £8.50 /100 on their website. I just tack a piece of rounded wooden beading on each side and that seems to work. I like the idea of the uphostery tacks. Much less fiddly. I might give that a go. Presumably 1 on each side of every frame where the hoffman bars would be?
