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......
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........
Take what will be your top bar and split off one side. |
Now you have a top bar with a piece of wood that you will put back and nail in place later |
Take your two side bars and push into place. Use 4 pins to secure these in place. |
Get a sheet of wired beeswax |
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. |
Now take your bottom bars and place in groves to complete your frame. Secure with 4 pins. |
And there you have your completed frame. I can now make up about 10 frames an hour. |
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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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
ReplyDeleteShame about your Dad having a bad reaction to the sting. They are amazing little creatures that we can learn a lot from!!
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteYour frame building explanation was quite clear. What's the difference between deep brood and super?
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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
DeleteI 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.
wow, and you had to make 54 of those frames? A lot of work but well worth the effort I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm hoping for lots of honey Ann...if I get that then it was definitely worth it!!
DeleteI have no idea about beehive. It looks so interesting!
ReplyDeleteI will be sharing my experiences over the year but if you are interested you can find lots more at http://granthambeekeepers.blogspot.co.uk/
DeleteHow 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.
ReplyDeleteYou 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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