Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 32

Thread: Who makes the best quality frames?

  1. #21
    Senior Member EmsE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Longbenton
    Posts
    404
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    You must struggle to find really dry places in Kilbarchan!
    G.
    Lol! That's certainly true. No fear of a drought here.

  2. #22
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Somerset
    Posts
    1,884
    Blog Entries
    35

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by EmsE View Post
    I've only bought Thornes frames and so long as I hit both ends of each bottom bar with a hammer a couple of times, they will slot into the side bars. Without this, they are generally too wide. My hands wouldn't be able to cope with 'thwacking' the top bar into the side bars (cringe), so again use the hammer. You just need to be careful not to hit it too hard as I've split a few side bars that way where they really are not wide enough to take the top bar. I keep any parts that I can't match up until the next supply of frames come in, hoping they'll match up with some of then.
    This is kind of a key point for me, granted you could take it as an advantage having such a tight fit, but I find it annoying that I have to bash Thornes frame parts together.

  3. #23
    Senior Member EmsE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Longbenton
    Posts
    404
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    I'd be happy not to take advantage of the tight fit too and just have a frame that go together nicely. Id get a lot more done that way but......Do they exist though? Could I ditch the hammer with the Paynes frames for example? ( waiting optimistically for a yes here)
    Last edited by EmsE; 16-03-2012 at 08:38 PM.

  4. #24
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Somerset
    Posts
    1,884
    Blog Entries
    35

    Default

    Both batches were easy for me so they get a thumbs up from my perspective at the moment, no mallet required.

  5. #25
    Senior Member EmsE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Longbenton
    Posts
    404
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    ...and they have a sale on just now that has a couple of types of frames included?
    Last edited by EmsE; 16-03-2012 at 08:51 PM.

  6. #26
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    400 miles S of Stonehaven
    Posts
    398

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    I am going to reinforce these with two strands of fishing line in order to let the bees draw more of their own comb this year.
    Having spent yet another evening hammering some Thornes frames together I've finally decided to either try to find a supplier that makes pieces that fit more accurately or change the way we do things.

    We use Jumbo Langs. The frames don't have a groove down the side to anchor the wax. It seems to work, but always looks a bit fragile to begin with and we're always a little worried that the frame contents will fall out if we tilt them a bit too far in the wrong direction.

    When we come to rewax, after a comb change, we're thinking of drilling the side bars, adding two or three horizontal wires, or more likely fishing line, and using just a starter strip of wax, but we aren't sure how to do it and we aren't sure if it'll make things worse.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    Doris posted some pictures here

    This thread also has pictures and a lot of discussion

    I tried this last year and it worked well.
    I used strong monofilament fishing line and drilled two holes in each side bar with a 2mm bit.
    The line is held taut with 2 drawing pins.
    I melted a tiny bit of brace comb to the underside of the top bar to get them started.
    You need to make sure your hive is level and the best way to get evenly drawn comb is to put the new frame between two which are already drawn out.
    Last edited by Jon; 23-03-2012 at 10:39 AM.

  8. #28
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Tayside
    Posts
    4,464
    Blog Entries
    41

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bumble View Post
    When we come to rewax, after a comb change, we're thinking of drilling the side bars, adding two or three horizontal wires, or more likely fishing line, and using just a starter strip of wax, but we aren't sure how to do it and we aren't sure if it'll make things worse.
    Murray has spent the winter doing that to his brood comb - wire, not fishing line. The purpose is to make his operation compatible with comb replacement in the most efficient way. You can then use heat in some form or other to melt out the old comb, caustic soda to clean the woodwork, and a simple rig to warm the wires as you drop on a sheet of unwired wax. The bees fix it to the side and top bars. Not something to do in your back garden but to take it to the experts.

    As for the wiring, Murray has a wooden device that the frame sits on flat, and there is a piece that swivels to push in the side bar to ensure that everything is taut after you wire the frame and release. Maybe I should get pictures if anyone is interested.

    One day you *might* have a plant in your area to do this, and as far as I can tell, in general, the further south you go from Stonehaven, in general and with a few blips on the way, the greater the need for regular comb replacement!
    Last edited by gavin; 23-03-2012 at 10:36 AM.

  9. #29
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    400 miles S of Stonehaven
    Posts
    398

    Default

    Thank you. I have a lot of reading to do.

    Jon - Apologies if the information is in the other threads, I haven't read them yet. What weight fishing line did you use?

    Gavin - I think the rewaxing set-up might take a few years to get this far south, but there's no harm in optimism.

  10. #30
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    I think it was 30lb monofilament line I used. I still have enough to do hundreds of frames!
    The heaviest you can get hold of is what you want.
    Check on ebay and buy the heaviest available.

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •