Beekeeping Made Easy

                      Frames

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   Frames are used in a bee hive to hold the wax comb.  This comb is build on some type of foundation by the bees.  Honey bees will build comb in a frame without foundation but it will not be straight and perfect like we are accustomed to seeing in a bee hive.   Many states require that bee hives be easily inspected and this requires frames with no cross comb.

We would recommend that the beekeeper buy his/her frames rather than try to make them.   The purchased frames fit neatly together and are uniform from one frame to the next.  Again, you may want to sell your equipment at some time and homemade frames could cost you a sell.  I  believe you can buy them cheaper than you can make them.

Frames will vary in size.  It depends upon the depth of the hive body they are going to place in.   Frames are sold as:

• Shallow frames       These frames will fit a standard shallow super of 5 3/4 inch depth.   All frames have the same size top bar and bottom bar.  The end bars will determine the height of the frame.  The shallow end bar is 5 3/8 inches from top to bottom.   We need to let you know that there are top bars with removable wedge bars and top bars with a grove cut into them for plastic foundation.  There are also special order top bars available for the individual who wants a slotted top bar to produce cut comb honey.  Bottom bars are of two types -- Solid and divided with a variation being solid with a grove to accept plastic foundation.   We will discuss these top bars and bottom bars later on this page.
• Medium frames      These frames are designed to fit the standard medium super of 6 5/8 inch depth.   The medium end bar is 6 5/8 inches from top to bottom.
• Deep frames            These frames are designed to fit the standard deep super of  9 9/16 inch  depth.  The deep end bar is 9 1/8 inch from top to bottom.

When ordering frames, the beekeeper needs to know several things.

• What kind of foundation am I going to be using?    (wax or plastic)
• What am I going to use the foundation for?             (comb honey?  brood comb?  extracted honey?)
• Will I need to wire the frames to give the comb additional support?
• Will I need an imbedder melt the wax foundation onto my support wire?
• And oh! yes, you need nails.  Are they included with the frames?  If you have an air stapler, the job is quicker and easier.

Foundation

Foundation is the wax or plastic base on which the bees build the comb.   Just like a house, if you have a good foundation, then everything will be square and your house will be sound.   With bees building comb, the same applies.  If the foundation is good, then the comb will be drawn out well.   If the foundation has holes in it, then the comb built on the foundation will not look so great and will not be as good -- bees like to build drone comb into such openings.

• Wax foundation

If you are new to beekeeping you may be perplexed to find that their are many different choices when it comes to buying wax foundation.  Regardless of the size of frames you have, you will have choices such as:  plain foundation (not wired),  brood foundation - wired and not wired, thin foundation for comb honey and a few others.   You need to decide on foundation before you select your frames or select foundation that will fit your frames.

• Plastic foundation

Plastic foundation is preferred by some beekeepers and despised by other.  It can be purchased in white or black.   It is not made for shallow frames at the present time.  It can not be used if you plan on comb honey.  It does offer some of the following advantages:  1) fast and easy to put into frames, 2) wax moths can not destroy it, 3)  mice do not eat through the mid-rib of the plastic, 4) black plastic foundation allows one to see eggs the queen has laid much better than any other comb, 5) If the bees do not do a good job of building comb, the old comb can be scrapped off and the plastic sheet used again  (a power washer does a neat job of cleaning them up),  and finally, 6) the plastic foundation can be bought as a complete unit with the frame molded into one unit including the foundation -- no need to build anything at all.  It is ready to be put into the hive.   We will discuss management techniques later in the course.

 

Some general comments about frames:

• Many commercial beekeepers use wooden frames with a slot in the top bar and the bottom bar to accept plastic foundation.    The plastic foundation is just snapped into place.  No wiring is required and when extracting the comb, there are no blow-outs.
• If one uses wax foundation and fails to use wire to support the wax, the following could happen: 1) when extracting new comb, the comb may be thrown out of the frame (a blow out), the comb could sag in hot weather, or the comb may buckle in the frame and be wavy not straight.
• When one mixes wood frames and plastic frames, the bees seem to build burr comb on the plastic frames.
• It takes more time to build frames, insert wire supports, and insert foundation than any other beekeeping project.
• Wood frames should be glued at all joints and 10 nails used to nail the frame together.  See the diagram below.