Hoggr20
New Bee
Does anyone know who may be selling pre assembled frames in the sales?
Pre assembled frames in Sales
- Thread starter Hoggr20
- Start date
Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:
Boston Bees
Bumblebee
Paynes did last winter (they were 10 for £26 or so) so I guess maybe again this year.
No doubt others will too.
No doubt others will too.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2017
- Messages
- 1,125
- Reaction score
- 238
- Location
- N. Ireland
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 30+
The only ones I've seen are here:
SN4 Pre-wired National SN4 Frames, First Grade, Pack of 10
DN4 Pre-wired National DN4 Frames, First Grade, Pack of 10
SN4 Pre-wired National SN4 Frames, First Grade, Pack of 10
DN4 Pre-wired National DN4 Frames, First Grade, Pack of 10
- Joined
- May 24, 2020
- Messages
- 2,812
- Reaction score
- 3,506
- Location
- Hampshire
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 20-ish
Just double check with them that they actually come assembled. Over the summer they advertised some as assembled thirds free with the wax... However they then decided the quality wasn't good enough even with the caveats they'd said so shipped out first quality flat packed ones.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2011
- Messages
- 2,725
- Reaction score
- 1,507
- Location
- Various
- Hive Type
- Smith
- Number of Hives
- >4000
.Pre assembled frames. If they state prewired then they cannot be anything other than assembled.
We bring these in in large loads...7 trucks last year for ourselves and others. They are mostly made with beautiful knot free lime wood. The pictures on Patricks site look as if they have a very similar origin although his are three wire and ours are four. They will be a very nice frame to use and if you value your labour at all then I cannot quite get buying anything else. NOT an offer to sell as we do trade amounts only (there are pictures of some of them arriving on my twitter feed), but would thoroughly recommend trying them, and Patricks look very good. Only concern from the pictures is that it is not immediately apparent if the topbar is grooved. This makes waxing and rewaxing a very simple process as the top of the sheet is engaged into the frame...no groove and the top edge of the sheet can flop over when it softens in the warmth of the cluster. Some makers supply that way and I had to job lot 17 pallets off to a beekeeper at cost just to get rid of them when they arrived that way in error.
Unless you are happy to do trimming remember to try to order the correct size of wax..they use a slightly smaller sheet size and it is best left a cell or two short at the bottom allowing the bees to attach it themselves...make for a flatter stronger comb with no 'bellying' that can happen with prewired foundation in traditional UK pattern frames.
Went over to these types of frame years ago...even drilled all out traditional ones and converted them (with hindsight a bonfire would have been a better investment) and would *never* go back. The rest of the serious beekeeping world caught on to these generations ago.
As usual we are mired in tradition here and our frames...all the parts (many of them very skinny and vulnerable..like DN/SN 1 bottom bars) and grooves to clean, wedge bars to remove/nail/renail, the prewired foundation, the dead time swallowed up doing assembly, cleaning, repairs, long lugs. The rest of the world find the it all rather peculiar.
Try them. Once you get used to them I doubt you will go back. If you can buy first quality frames and assemble them, and fit the foundation for close to Patricks price for prewired you are doing very well indeed. Also allow for the price difference between wired and unwired foundation. When you think of how dead simple and fast rewaxing is it turns into a no brainer.
However....................the old way can be a great 'I'm too busy' strategy for avoiding doing tasks on your 'not preferred' stack.
We bring these in in large loads...7 trucks last year for ourselves and others. They are mostly made with beautiful knot free lime wood. The pictures on Patricks site look as if they have a very similar origin although his are three wire and ours are four. They will be a very nice frame to use and if you value your labour at all then I cannot quite get buying anything else. NOT an offer to sell as we do trade amounts only (there are pictures of some of them arriving on my twitter feed), but would thoroughly recommend trying them, and Patricks look very good. Only concern from the pictures is that it is not immediately apparent if the topbar is grooved. This makes waxing and rewaxing a very simple process as the top of the sheet is engaged into the frame...no groove and the top edge of the sheet can flop over when it softens in the warmth of the cluster. Some makers supply that way and I had to job lot 17 pallets off to a beekeeper at cost just to get rid of them when they arrived that way in error.
Unless you are happy to do trimming remember to try to order the correct size of wax..they use a slightly smaller sheet size and it is best left a cell or two short at the bottom allowing the bees to attach it themselves...make for a flatter stronger comb with no 'bellying' that can happen with prewired foundation in traditional UK pattern frames.
Went over to these types of frame years ago...even drilled all out traditional ones and converted them (with hindsight a bonfire would have been a better investment) and would *never* go back. The rest of the serious beekeeping world caught on to these generations ago.
As usual we are mired in tradition here and our frames...all the parts (many of them very skinny and vulnerable..like DN/SN 1 bottom bars) and grooves to clean, wedge bars to remove/nail/renail, the prewired foundation, the dead time swallowed up doing assembly, cleaning, repairs, long lugs. The rest of the world find the it all rather peculiar.
Try them. Once you get used to them I doubt you will go back. If you can buy first quality frames and assemble them, and fit the foundation for close to Patricks price for prewired you are doing very well indeed. Also allow for the price difference between wired and unwired foundation. When you think of how dead simple and fast rewaxing is it turns into a no brainer.
However....................the old way can be a great 'I'm too busy' strategy for avoiding doing tasks on your 'not preferred' stack.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2021
- Messages
- 2,306
- Reaction score
- 2,179
Pre-wired is also an excellent choice if you intend to let the bees make their own comb without using full sheets of foundation. Considering the time and hassle involved in drilling or punching side bars, fitting ferrules and then wiring, those frames and prices are a bargain.
