Hoffman super vs consolation frames

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Buzz Bee Babe

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As above, as a new Beek, I’m a little confused as ordering hives from different suppliers, gives different options.

So my Question yo you Noble people is. What is better Hoffman frames in a super or spacers. The Hoffman come in packs of eleven and consolation in ten’s? So I’m thinking the bee has less room with Hoffman.

Are there any pro’s and cons to this please?

Thanks for your time

Dougie
 
Castellations come in 9, 10 or 11 slot options. The lower numbers give you fatter combs.
For starting foundation, you are better off sticking to recognised bee spacing in order that they draw the combs neatly. You may get away with nicely drawn comb using 10 slot castellations, most of the time they will cross brace the face of some so I'd advise moving to ten slots once the comb has been drawn.
 
Hoffmann are self spacing and I only use them in the brood box. They are more expensive than frames which need spacers. In the brood box it is important to be able to move frames sideways, along the runner, before lifting so that you do not roll bees. I use castellations in my supers, where the frames can be lifted straight out. Plastic end spacers are a lot of faffing about. What sort of hives are you using, it may affect your choice of frames
 
I have always used 10 slot SN1's in my National supers and even with all foundation never ha d a problem with cross combing. I use 11 DN4's ( Hoffmans) in my National broods, with a dummy board.
 
Hoffmann are self spacing and I only use them in the brood box. They are more expensive than frames which need spacers. In the brood box it is important to be able to move frames sideways, along the runner, before lifting so that you do not roll bees. I use castellations in my supers, where the frames can be lifted straight out. Plastic end spacers are a lot of faffing about. What sort of hives are you using, it may affect your choice of frames

:iagree:

I always use self-spacing Hoffmann frames in the brood boxes and castellations in my supers. Last year (my first year), I used 11 slot castellations while they drew the foundation, as I didn't want difficulties with them building comb untidily. But this year, now that I have supers full of drawn comb, I've switched to 10 slot castellations.

You can put either SN1 or self-spacing frames in the castellations. Although you'd expect SN1 frames to be cheaper, this isn't always the case, so I have a bit of a mixture. For instance STBK sell small packs of super frames & foundation that are some of the cheapest (when you're a beginner and not buying in bulk!), and these are all self-spacing super frames.
 
As above, as a new Beek, I’m a little confused as ordering hives from different suppliers, gives different options.

So my Question yo you Noble people is. What is better Hoffman frames in a super or spacers. The Hoffman come in packs of eleven and consolation in ten’s? So I’m thinking the bee has less room with Hoffman.

Are there any pro’s and cons to this please?

Thanks for your time

Dougie

ALWAYS use Hoffman in the brood chamber.
In the super, use Hoffman to get your foundation started. If, and only if, you want wider spacing in the super, consider spacers. These allow the bees to draw the comb deeper and store more honey on fewer frames (so theoretically cheaper)...but this is really only relevant if you have quite a number of supers. To the beginner with one, or two, hives it is a complete "red herring".
 
So it seems clear that the consensus says to always use Hoffman's in the brood. It then seems a matter of what you fancy for supers. I favour keeping things as simple as possible and sticking to similar kit throughout my beekeeping.
 
Whereas I use plastic spacers on brood and supers. I like them.
To further complicate matters you can get two types of plastic spacers, single space and then wide space, which you can use on supers. You can overlap the wide space to make single space while they draw them out. Then remove some frames and use the wide spacer to let them draw wide comb for more honey with less cappings. Horses for courses. The reason I use plastic spacers is that in the beginning I had loads of frames of different types, the plastic spacers made them all uniform! They are slight wider spaced than Hoffman. You can also use different colours for different things! Old frames can have a red one. Queen cells can have a green one etc. I just like them!
E
 
I have always used 10 slot SN1's in my National supers and even with all foundation never ha d a problem with cross combing. I use 11 DN4's ( Hoffmans) in my National broods, with a dummy board.

Im the same as you drex with my brood frames the wider top bar frames produce less brais comb.
My supers I start with 11 Hoffman and then go down to 10, I don't use castilations I space them by eye. I have an eye for straight lines being a garden designer.
 
Im the same as you drex with my brood frames the wider top bar frames produce less brais comb.
My supers I start with 11 Hoffman and then go down to 10, I don't use castilations I space them by eye. I have an eye for straight lines being a garden designer.

Not a follower of Gaudi then? Perhaps Gertrude Jekyll might be a more appropriate analogy. ;-)
 
You guys, never cease to amaze me.
Always at hand with great advice. It really does make all the difference.

Thank you, each and every one of you.

Dougie
 
If you ever visit Barcelona go and see the Park Güell - might change your mind a little about Gaudi.
I've never left this island of ours yet.. well I went on a pilgrimage with father when I was a teenager to the outer hebrides
And I've been to St Mary's island ( islands of scilly) on holiday with my family in 2007
But that's as far as I've gone.
I would love to go to Austria to see some relatives on my father's side..
Strange mix my family welsh and austrian

Sent from my YAL-L21 using Tapatalk
 
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I use castellations all round, DN1's in the broodbox on 11 spacing, SN1's in the supers on 9,10 or 11 spacings!

I'm off to find my tin hat!!!!!!! :)
 
Throwing one more variation into the mix - 10*manleys in a national super........which is what we use.
Agree on the Hoffman’s for brood...........
This could be another top v bottom bee space debate
 
Each to his own. How do you avoid rolling the bees in the brood box?

It's all a matter of technique, I also operate Hoffmans plus a follow board in my clients hives and find that I roll many more bees removing the board than I ever do working my own hives. People say that cut your fingers on the sharp edges but I use thin nitrile gloves to protect me against the propolis and can't remember the last glove I tore on the castellations.
The nice thing about using castellations is that the space between frames stays consistent no matter how much wax or propolis is deposited by the bees.
I was taught how to use castellations when I started at the teaching apiary and of all the hundreds of new beekeepers who have been trained there I don't know of many that now use anything different.
The difference in cost is significant (20% ish) but it's a pity that they only produce 14x12 in Hoffman spacings as I have them on castellations as well.
 

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