Mini Plus Frames

[nantmoel]

Having moved over to the mini plus mating hives last season for rearing queens, I was wondering where others get their ¼ Dadant Frames. Thornes want £3.20 per Frame and Abelo are £9.26 per 6, any help is appreciated.

 

[rolande]

Having moved over to the mini plus mating hives last season for rearing queens, I was wondering where others get their ¼ Dadant Frames. Thornes want £3.20 per Frame and Abelo are £9.26 per 6, any help is appreciated.

And both are different sizes I believe too, although I've not actually seen one of the Thorne's frames but pretty sure they sell the more widespread (in Europe) mini plus, not the lyson one. They used to sell the lyson version but haven't done so for a long time.

 

[Into the lions den]

Did they not come WITH frames? Have a stack of them here we stopped using a couple of seasons back...came with plastic frames..through Swienty. German ones.

Open to offers.....they just don't suit us.

 

[deemann1]

Did they not come WITH frames? Have a stack of them here we stopped using a couple of seasons back...came with plastic frames..through Swienty. German ones.

Open to offers.....they just don't suit us.

Only im accross the sea id buy a good bunch

 

[deemann1]

Having moved over to the mini plus mating hives last season for rearing queens, I was wondering where others get their ¼ Dadant Frames. Thornes want £3.20 per Frame and Abelo are £9.26 per 6, any help is appreciated.

You will get them on German sites

 

[Norton]

Make your own, the plastic and German wooden ones are junk.

 

[deemann1]

Make your own, the plastic and German wooden ones are junk.

I make most my own kit , just couldn't imagine myself making frames ordered 1000 in the sales

 

[Into the lions den]

Only im accross the sea id buy a good bunch

Only half serious about them being for sale. This remains an EFB area...ok so its about the average level in England and Wales but still.....would rather send them for recycling than risk them moving EFB to a new area...even though none was ever KNOWN to be present in them...subclinical you cannot see. Never sell ANY used gear......nor do I buy it.

 

[nantmoel]

The only difference in the two frames sizes is the 'Lyson' Frame is 8mm longer. I have measured both as I use both, the bees don't seem to mind.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I have a few of the Abelo mini-plus hives. You can hack around a National frame with a saw to make the odd one or two up if you have a mind to. I wouldn't want to make loads of them that way.
As the Abelo side bars don't have a pointy hoffman part on one side to minimise propolis build-up, I use a chisel to modify them or (even in a mini-nuc), the side-bars get heavily propolised.

 

[user 20917]

A Mini plus frame here is half the size of a super frame of Dadant Blatt. They are for sale in Germany. There they use the Hoffman frames.


I produce my own frames. They have the extra advantage that they can be put together and then have the size of a super frame.

 

[nantmoel]

Having fail to find a supplier that will ship to the UK, I have all but decided to make my own. Thanks for the replies.

 

[mbc]

Having moved over to the mini plus mating hives last season for rearing queens, I was wondering where others get their ¼ Dadant Frames. Thornes want £3.20 per Frame and Abelo are £9.26 per 6, any help is appreciated.

I just bight the bullet and get the abelo ones, it does make me cry a bit spending so much of my hard earned money on little bits of wood that aren't that amazing though

 

[rolande]

I just bight the bullet and get the abelo ones, it does make me cry a bit spending so much of my hard earned money on little bits of wood that aren't that amazing though

Did you have any of the early lyson ones with plastic sides and two piece top bars? I thought they were absolute rubbish and was on the brink of getting rid of them in their first season then I realised that comb holding natural cells from good colonies could very easily be trapped between them instead of foundation so they got a 15+ year reprieve!

 

[mbc]

Did you have any of the early lyson ones with plastic sides and two piece top bars? I thought they were absolute rubbish and was on the brink of getting rid of them in their first season then I realised that comb holding natural cells from good colonies could very easily be trapped between them instead of foundation so they got a 15+ year reprieve!
View attachment 30590

Yup, many of them still in service, awful things which bend if you put any tension on the wire, as you say best set up from a cut out from elsewhere.
They're still better than the next cab off the rank (the first wood frames they offered) which were just too tight for a beespace either side, at least what they offer now has correct spacing.

 

[nantmoel]

I clean forgot I had a 3D printer so thought I'd draw and print one just to see the result, here's the 3D design.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I clean forgot I had a 3D printer so thought I'd draw and print one just to see the result, here's the 3D design.

How much does it cost/would you charge for a piece like that? Can you print things a little more intricate?

 

[JamezF]

I clean forgot I had a 3D printer so thought I'd draw and print one just to see the result, here's the 3D design.

Very neat. I must remember that if I'm in a similar position. I've 3d-printed beekeeping bits before, but not frame parts. I guess on a 200mm bed it might be possible to print as many as six at a time?

James

 

[nantmoel]

How much does it cost/would you charge for a piece like that? Can you print things a little more intricate?

They work out at .38p per side bar, or so the program tells me! You can print anything, I have even printed queen cages, complete with sliding tops.

 

[nantmoel]

Very neat. I must remember that if I'm in a similar position. I've 3d-printed beekeeping bits before, but not frame parts. I guess on a 200mm bed it might be possible to print as many as six at a time?

James

I'm not a lover of stack printing, they take just over 2 hours each to print. If you stack them it more than doubles the time needed.