Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => NATURAL & ORGANIC BEEKEEPING METHODS => Topic started by: wayne on April 08, 2012, 11:46:26 pm
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All my bees are regressed locals heavy on the german. The little buggers seem to feel that a standard Lang frame is just a little too wide for their tastes as they tend to build a comb on either side of the frame. Or at best one in the center of say every second or third frame and then two on the edges then one again. Guide sticks be darned.
I'm wondering if a slightly more narrow frame would be better for fully regressed bees. Say 11 frames in a 10 frame standard box?
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1 1/4" is natural spacing. Sounds like they insist...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm)
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Check to make sure you have no gaps in the frames. New frames placed between drawn frames and large gaps between new frames will allow too much bee space where they will build wild comb.
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I have an old copy of Eugene Killion's "Honey in the Comb", and in that book he describes his set-up involving standard Langstroth deeps, with nine frames in the center of the hive and with a 3/8 inch thick follower board at each end.
He talks of how much better it is to pull frames after first removing one of the follower boards. He also describes the necessity in having frames that can be interchanged in different hives when they are cut down for comb honey production, and how, with the follower boards, the nine frames in the hive are all kept at the same widths by the bees.
Anybody ever tried the Killion set-up?
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We're having that problem with one of our new packages. They build on either side of the frame and sometimes try to do two combs on a frame. Geez. We've been thinking of making our own frames and I was just wondering what the width should be.
Thanks for this thread.
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>Anybody ever tried the Killion set-up?
I have used follower boards on occasion. It does make getting that first frame out nice...
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I also have one hive doing the same thing, 8 frame mediums. I took and planed 2 strokes off each side of the frames and was able to get a 9th in. Hoping that will help, but building comb between the starter strips has made me have to do mini cutouts and rubber band the comb in.
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1 1/4" is natural spacing. Sounds like they insist...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm)
According to Baudoux (note this is the thickness of the comb itself and not the spacing of the comb on centers)
Hi Michael, I just read the link you posted, one question though, what re the comb centers?
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If a frame is 1 1/4" then the comb is 1 1/4" on center (e.g. from center to center or o.c.) as well as from edge to edge. In other words as long as you are measuring from the same place to the same place.