super spacing

[slider955i]

will be putting on my 3rd super this weekend but need to ask a question
the spacers i have are the wrong ones for the spacing in my national super , has you know normally get 11 frames in there , with my new spacers the super will accomodate 8 frames but this got me to thinking whether this would be a benefit or not , is it so critical the spacing in a super and would you actually get more honey on less frames perhaps

oooooops forgot to add my existing supers both have 11 frames

thanks

 

[Silly Bee]

Bigger spacing on supers is ok, and was recommended to me to do so.

 

[slider955i]

11 down to 8 do you think that is ok and what are the benefits if any ?

 

[Hivemaker.]

8 spacing is fine if you have some well drawn combs and a good honey flow,but no good with foundation,10 is min with foundation.

Benefits more honey,less frames to extract,less frames needed.
downside,sporadic honey flows = a lot of brace comb if your combs are not well drawn.

 

[Rosti]

The girls tend to draw out frames more quickly if they are loaded as 11's, that said if you are using true Manley frames you can only fit 10 anyway. Are you using hoffmans?

If you add more frames the girls will tend to draw them quicker. If you add less frames (I use 9's once drawn) you get more honey per frame and in theory less contact area per cell, as such extraction is quicker (less frames to handle) and theoretically more efficient.

So drawing frames go for more, optimising honey harvest use less. Either way ensure even spacing - use castelations or similar

 

[Silly Bee]

Plus point is less frames to be extracted.

 

[MuswellMetro]

will be putting on my 3rd super this weekend but need to ask a question
the spacers i have are the wrong ones for the spacing in my national super , has you know normally get 11 frames in there , with my new spacers the super will accomodate 8 frames but this got me to thinking whether this would be a benefit or not , is it so critical the spacing in a super and would you actually get more honey on less frames perhaps

oooooops forgot to add my existing supers both have 11 frames

thanks

your first spacers are brood box spacers not super spacer

the wide super spacers ,iyou use them like this...stagggered to draw then end on fro 8...who told you 11...8 means more honey less wax...11 in brood but 8,9,or 10 in super. for 10 you use wides and narrow spacers mixed every other frame

see widths and link to picture on earlier posts

spacers width etc

wides end on 47mm (8 per box plus space)
wides staggered 35mm ( 11 per box plus space or is it 12 just
wides+everyother Narrow end on 42mm (9 plus space, ten very tight)
Narrow 37mm end on (11 per box plus space)
narrow staggered 29mm (?? 14 per box)
Hoffman 35mm ( 11 per box or a tight 12 per box)


10 castles 42mm
9 castles 46.5 mm
Cushmans 13 castles 32mm (for 4.9mm foundation)
€

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5619&page=3

 

[oliver90owner]

whether this would be a benefit or not

All to do with amount of kit, spare kit and preferences.

Each bee-way reduced is potentially more honey in each frame in the box - think the (impossible) extreme of one frame in the box; in that case there would only be two bee-ways!

Start drawing with as many frames as possible and reduce. Any spare drawn frames are good, if you can avoid the ravages of the dreaded wax moth; they are always handy to have around.

One possible negative point is balancing the extractor if they are of different sizes and you don't uncap to the frame. The rest - the same as previous posters.

I like fewer frames - less to store over winter.

Regards, RAB

 

[slider955i]

your first spacers are brood box spacers not super spacer

the wide super spacers ,iyou use them like this...stagggered to draw then end on fro 8...who told you 11...8 means more honey less wax...11 in brood but 8,9,or 10 in super. for 10 you use wides and narrow spacers mixed every other frame

see widths and link to picture on earlier posts

spacers width etc

wides end on 47mm (8 per box plus space)
wides staggered 35mm ( 11 per box plus space or is it 12 just
wides+everyother Narrow end on 42mm (9 plus space, ten very tight)
Narrow 37mm end on (11 per box plus space)
narrow staggered 29mm (?? 14 per box)
Hoffman 35mm ( 11 per box or a tight 12 per box)


10 castles 42mm
9 castles 46.5 mm
Cushmans 13 castles 32mm (for 4.9mm foundation)
€

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5619&page=3

many thanks it has just clicked with the spacers , i run a team of engineers as well

 

[buzz]

how do you change your spacing?

Can I ask those experienced beeks how they go about changing their frame spacings?

I start on 10 frame castellated spacers but need to reduce this, once the frames are drawn out, to 8 frame spacing for cut comb and to optimise yield per frame prior to extracting.

Other than having extra supers with the various different castellated spacers, the only other way i can see of easily changing the spacing, is to use plain runners and then use a single castellated spacer (first the 10 then later the 8) as a guide to adjust the spacings by eye.

Any thoughts?

 

[oliver90owner]

Exactly, or approximately, as MM on post #7.

RAB

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Close spacing with new foundation. Once capped and then extracted you can increase the spacing by using a different spacer arrangement or put them in a different super with a different castellated spacer. You can then use your 'old' super for new foundation as you increase your stocks and honey gathering capabaility.

 

[tkwinston4]

Out of interest, who would recommend castellated spacers? Reason i ask is because all my second hand hives came with them but i removed them. I currently use plastic spacers. I thought - maybe wrongly or rightly - that castellated spacers seemed more difficult to clean and didn't allow easy manipulation of the frames plus more risk of damaging bees.

All comments welcome.......

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Finding castillated spacers great for the supers - no real manipulation of them required after all and cells can be build further out for that bumper crop. Believe some use them in the BB though which must be a nightmare.

 

[Rosti]

who would recommend castellated spacers?

I would! Great for supers, esp when you are down to 9 frames and want even frame loading for balanced extraction.

 

[tkwinston4]

I would! Great for supers, esp when you are down to 9 frames and want even frame loading for balanced extraction.

Starting to think that maybe i should not have taken them off

 

[Rosti]

Starting to think that maybe i should not have taken them off

I wouldn't beat yourself up - only four pins a side to deal with! Mine come on and off as required because I dont have the luxury of leaving supers idle and have diff colonies at diff degrees of development (dont we all?). Dont bother going as high as 11 frames for drawing though. Draw at 10, manleys self space to this on runners, standard load at 9 using castellations