Saturday 12 April 2014

Beehive frame building

Well as you all know I got some bee hives on my allotment last August but I haven't really posted much about them since then, only what I have been achieving on the bee plot. The reason I haven't said much is because over the winter months there really isn't that much to report.

Spring is here now though which means things really start 'buzzing' again and with plenty of O.S.R. (Oil Seed Rape) crops around me there is plenty for the bees to feast on. All the available food means the you have to think about where your bees are going to store it. For more stores you need more 'supers', for more 'supers' you need more frames. So of course I set to frame building.

We were shown how to do this on the course I attended last year but when it came to me having to make one myself last August it took me nearly an hour to build one...luckily I got quicker which is just as well as for my brood box and my supers to be filled I needed to make another 54 frames.

It's easier to show what you have to do in pictures......

beehive frame materials
beehive frame materials
 So first of all you need your materials to build your frames and your beeswax foundation to put in them. Thee bees don't have to have the foundation in order to create the comb but putting in the foundation means they have a lot less work to do initially and so saves them a lot of time and energy.




You can purchase frames ready made but it is more expensive and you don't get that chance to hit things hard with a hammer...now where's the fun in that!! I like to get all my materials' laid out and set myself up a little assembly line as I find this the quickest and most efficient way.


So once you have everything in place you can get cracking........

beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Take what will be your top bar
and split off one side.


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Now you have a top bar with a piece of wood
that you will put back and nail in place later


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Take your two side bars and push into place.
Use 4 pins to secure these in place.


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Get a sheet of wired beeswax


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Put wired beeswax in frame bending wires,
place the strip of wood you removed back
and nail with 3 pins where wires
are folded over.


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Now take your bottom bars and
place in groves to complete
your frame. Secure with 4 pins.


beehive frame materials beehive frame building
And there you have your completed frame.
I can now make up about 10 frames an hour.

beehive frame materials beehive frame building
Here we have one each of completed super
and deep brood frames.

Now I do realise that putting this up could pose a whole lot of questions which I would love to answer...but then again there is the possibility that none of you are really interested in which case you will ask no questions and I won't have waffled on about bees for ever and a day and bored you all to tears. So if you have questions let me know...I will be happy to do a follow up post...if not it's fine and I can be happy  knowing that I haven't sent anyone to sleep as they only had to look at a few photos!!
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12 comments:

  1. Bees are amazing. My mum and dad had bees for while but they had to go after my dad had a really nasty reaction to a sting. xxx

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    1. Shame about your Dad having a bad reaction to the sting. They are amazing little creatures that we can learn a lot from!!

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  2. I know I don't have the time/energy to get into bees this year but want to encourage them. I got top bar hives and will put one here and one on the farm and if a swarm is looking for a home maybe they will choose that.

    Your frame building explanation was quite clear. What's the difference between deep brood and super?

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    1. The brood box is where the queen stays and lays her eggs. The super is a shallow box that sits on top of this and is purely for honey to be stored in. A deep brood is a brood box that is bigger and so has more room for the hive to expand in the summer.

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  3. I never realised you had to build for the bees - I just assumed you bought the 'hive' ready set up and left them to it until you wanted to collect the honey.

    I hate to see field of OSR it's the only thing to give me a touch of hayfever and the smell takes my breath away so it's good to know art least your bees are getting plenty to store.

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    1. You can buy your hive already built and frames too but this does cost more money and once you get the hang of it the frame building isn't too bad.

      I don't mind the O.S.R., especially this year as I have been eating the honey again and my hay fever isn't bad at all.

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  4. wow, and you had to make 54 of those frames? A lot of work but well worth the effort I'm sure.

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    Replies
    1. Well I'm hoping for lots of honey Ann...if I get that then it was definitely worth it!!

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  5. I have no idea about beehive. It looks so interesting!

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    Replies
    1. I will be sharing my experiences over the year but if you are interested you can find lots more at http://granthambeekeepers.blogspot.co.uk/

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  6. How many of those do you have in each hive? I bet it won't be long until the bees are filling them with delicious honey.

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    Replies
    1. You have 10 frames in each brood box and between 9 and 12 in each super depending on how you space them. Of course how many supers you have on each hive depends on the nectar flow but you can easily put 4 on at a time. Add all that together and it's more than 50 frames per hive. Of course you don't have to put that many supers on as you can extract the honey and then the frames can be re-used.

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!