Which frames

[Poly Hive]

Want to share your thoughts?

PH

 

[Haughton Honey]

Personally, I use Manley frames in my supers - especially as next year I will solely be producing cut comb and will (hopefully) not have to extract in the traditional sense of the term!

 

[MrB]

Want to share your thoughts?

PH

PH
if it was my thoughts you were asking about then i have decided to go for Hoffman frames for the brood and castelated SN1 in my super.

 

[oliver90owner]

Entirely your choice and I would not want to impose my views, but I have used castellated supers and I have discarded them. The very action of having to remove them vertically was the main thing I found a pain. OK when nice and clean, but later - a pain. Also, you must use the appropriate number of frames every time. No chance of spreading the frames a little.....I extract radially and only ocasionally do I trim the frame comb back, level with the woodwork.

I reckon most beeks use Hoffmans or some other self-spacing frame in the brood, after trying the rest, so that is a good choice, dependent on the actual spacing you decide on, for your bees.

I mostly squeeeze in the extra frame, but I do recognise the benefit of a dummy, instead of that extra frame, when it comes to ease of manipulation. I use one sometimes - usually with a smaller-than-full box, while expanding and then it gets left in(somewhere to keep it?).

Regards, RAB

Regards, RAB

 

[MrB]

o9o
Thanks, appreciate your views.
as i am new to beekeeping (or will be when i get some bees) i have been undecided what to go for, so i will try castellated and when i put a second super on i might try Manley.

 

[Poly Hive]

Mr B?

Castellated will become a pain.

If you can find some one with a castellated super then have a play with it.
Same applies to a Manley one.

In fairness I have met a bee farmer who (to be honest) astonished me by saying he used Castellation.

Personally I prefer Manley in my supers, and WPC they are the bizz for CC, and Hoffman in the broods.

PH

 

[MrB]

PH.
Thanks for your views, i have also had views against Manley so i guess if i try both then i can make a more educated decision later.

 

[MrB]

Mr B?

Castellated will become a pain.

If you can find some one with a castellated super then have a play with it.
Same applies to a Manley one.

In fairness I have met a bee farmer who (to be honest) astonished me by saying he used Castellation.

Personally I prefer Manley in my supers, and

WPC they are the bizz for CC,

?? sorry, newbee. u will need to decode!

 

[MrB]

Hmm messed up on the quotes there

 

[Poly Hive]

White Park Cattle is thinking of going the route I am now down which is Cut Comb only.

Extraction kit is a shape to cut round, a sharp knife, and cut comb containers.

And to give one nice thick combs to use, funnily enough, Manley frames are the way to go.

Actually to be fair here, my preference for Manley is arguably largely as half my frames on the heather were for cut comb. Heather CC being worth serious money. I am looking for a heather site on the Derby moors as moving the bees up there is possibly worth some £5k. Note the possibly.

I like a return off my efforts.

PH

 

[MrB]

Ah ha!
I am with it now

 

[Hawklord]

This is my first year and I decided to go with Manley's as understood they were easier to uncap and less messing about with altering spacing. The draw back I can see is they get quite heavily propolised so care must be exercised when prying them apart. When prying frames apart it's best if the hive tool is put between the side bar of the frame and the hive wall, rather than the end of the frame top bar. I have been looking at Stamfordham's web site and it seems Manley's are now available with a chamfered side bar, so I might give them a go at some point. I am using Hoffman's in the brood and like them as if the frames are kept pushed up tight there is no extra comb built between. The Association's Apiary Manager puts 10 Hoffman's in the brood chamber with a dummy board, and then spaces them out evenly across the brood chamber, consequently the bees build a lot of extra comb. Another guy I bumped into swears by castellations in the brood chamber, but he didn't elaborate any further.

 

[Haughton Honey]

This is my first year and I decided to go with Manley's as understood they were easier to uncap and less messing about with altering spacing. The draw back I can see is they get quite heavily propolised so care must be exercised when prying them apart. When prying frames apart it's best if the hive tool is put between the side bar of the frame and the hive wall, rather than the end of the frame top bar. I have been looking at Stamfordham's web site and it seems Manley's are now available with a chamfered side bar, so I might give them a go at some point. I am using Hoffman's in the brood and like them as if the frames are kept pushed up tight there is no extra comb built between. The Association's Apiary Manager puts 10 Hoffman's in the brood chamber with a dummy board, and then spaces them out evenly across the brood chamber, consequently the bees build a lot of extra comb. Another guy I bumped into swears by castellations in the brood chamber, but he didn't elaborate any further.

I agree with this. I too keep my DN4 frames (10 or 11) tight in the brood box with a dummy board and have very little brace comb built between. It's when you place new foundation in with a 'loose' fitting that the problems can begin, as once drawn out it can sometimes be difficult to wedge them tight as an afterthought.

 

[skydragon]

White Park Cattle is thinking of going the route I am now down which is Cut Comb only

It seems like a long time away until next year, when I 'may' get the chance to finally get some honey from my hive (hopefully 2 hives by then) but I'm planning to do mainly cut comb as well.

I've bought some Manley super frames and unwired premium quality foundation in preperation...

I'm using Hoffman DN4 brood frames and made the mistake earlier in the year of not pushing them all firmly together when doing a hive inspection... a week later and I had a whole full width cake of comb spanning in between two frames, which I then had to remove.