Switching to medium beehive frames was honestly one of the greatest decisions I made after my very first year of having difficulties with heavy gear. When you're only starting, everyone tells a person to obtain deeps for the brood home and mediums intended for the honey, however they don't always mention how much associated with a headache this can be to manage two different sizes of all things. Once I realized I actually could just use the same frames for the entire hive, things obtained a lot easier and my back again started hurting a lot less.
Why weight actually matters
Let's be real for a second: a deep box full of honey is large enough to make you regret your hobby choices. We're talking 80 or 90 pounds sometimes. If you're raising that at shoulder height, you're asking for a pulled muscle. Medium beehive frames resolve this by maintaining the weight of a full 10-frame box right down to a much more workable 50 or sixty pounds. It might still seem like a lot, but the particular difference in how seems on your own spine is huge.
I've discovered that I can inspect my urticaria much more thoroughly when I'm not really rushing to place the box lower because it's too heavy. When you make use of mediums, you can take your own time, look in the queen, check for mites, and also enjoy the procedure. If you're a smaller person, or even even if you're just getting older and want to keep beekeeping into the 80s, these types of frames are essentially the industry standard for longevity within the craft.
The beauty of interchangeability
One particular of the biggest perks of sticking with medium beehive frames across your whole apiary is that everything fits everywhere. Absolutely nothing is more irritating than having a frame of lovely brood within a heavy box you want to move into a weaker hive, only to realize that beehive is a medium setup.
When your frames are the exact same size, you are able to: * Move a frame of honey from the top to the bottom to supply a light nest. * Checkerboard your own frames to motivate the bees in order to move up. * Easily make divides without worrying approximately box depth. * Simplify your storage space because you don't have stacks associated with different-sized gear within the garage.
It's just less mental clutter. A person grab a frame, and it fits. That kind associated with "plug and play" mentality makes the spring rush so much less stress filled when everything is definitely exploding and you're trying to maintain up with the particular nectar flow.
Wood vs. plastic material frames
This is the age-old debate within the bee yard, plus honestly, both possess their place. I've used wooden medium beehive frames with regard to years because I actually like the traditional look and the bees appear to take to them well, especially if you're using real beeswax foundation. There's something satisfying about nailing jointly a frame plus smelling the pinus radiata.
However, plastic material frames have arrive quite a distance. They're almost indestructible. If you've ever had a wooden frame top club snap while you're prying it out using a hive device, you know why plastic material is tempting. They're also a lot easier to clean when you ever offer with a disease outbreak or just wish to scrape them lower and start new. The key with plastic material is making sure they have a heavy wax coating . If they're "lightly waxed, " the bees might simply ignore them or even build wonky "burr comb" all over the place, which usually is a problem to clean upward.
To use foundation or move foundationless?
In case you're using medium beehive frames, you have to determine what's going within them. Many people begin with foundation since it gives the bees a roadmap. This keeps the comb straight and can make it a lot easier to spin in an extractor later on.
But I've been playing around with foundationless frames lately, and it's pretty cool to see the bees build "natural" comb. Since medium frames aren't as heavy as deep frames, the comb is less likely in order to collapse under the own weight in the summer warmth. That's a huge plus for mediums. If you try out foundationless in a deep frame, you're really risking the big mess in the event that you don't hold the frame perfectly straight. With the medium size, you possess a bit even more structural integrity.
Tips for assembly (The stuff they don't tell you)
If you're purchasing your medium beehive frames unassembled to save some bucks, don't just depend on the nails. I learned this particular the hard method. Make use of wood glue. A little bit of Titebond II or III on the joints before you nail them will make these frames last ten times longer.
Also, whenever you're nailing the medial side bars to the top bar, try out to drive the particular nails in from a slight position or use 2 nails per side. Beekeeping involves lots of prying and pulling. If your frames aren't sturdy, you'll find yourself pulling the particular top bar right off the frame while the sleep of it stays stuck in the hive with a bunch of angry bees. It's not a fun situation to be in, trust me.
Extracting honey from mediums
As it pertains time for the particular "honey payoff, " medium beehive frames good because they will fit in virtually every extractor on the market. Most radial extractors are actually designed with the medium frame in brain since the primary size. You can fit more of them in the basket in comparison to deeps, which means you can process your honey quicker.
The brush in a medium frame is furthermore a bit tougher during the re-writing process. Because the "face" from the comb is smaller, there's less centrifugal push pulling within the center of the wax. This means you're more unlikely to hit out your beautiful comb while you're attempting to get each last drop associated with honey out.
Managing the brood nest
A few old-school beekeepers will tell you that bees don't like a medium-sized brood nest because the "break" between your boxes (where the wood frames meet) disrupts the cluster. In my experience, the bees don't care almost as much because humans do. As long as these people have enough room to grow and plenty of food, they'll shift right across that gap without skipping a beat.
You might require three medium boxes to equal the particular space of two deeps, but that's a small cost to purchase the versatility you get. As well as, it gives the queen more "seams" to lay within, and a few people actually argue it helps with swarm administration because you can move the boxes around more easily to disrupt their particular plans.
Coping with propolis
Bees like to stuff everything down along with propolis, and medium beehive frames are no exception. Since there are more frames to handle if you're making use of all mediums, you'll be doing a little more scraping. I constantly keep my beehive tool sharp regarding this.
One thing I've noticed is that the "ears" of the frames (the parts that relaxation on the hive body) can obtain really gunked upward. If you don't scrape them every single once in the while, the frames will start sitting higher and larger, which messes up your bee space . If you lose that magic 3/8-inch gap, the bees will start developing comb in locations you don't need it, making it actually harder to pull the frames out next time.
Buying in bulk
If you're planning on growing your apiary, keep an eye away for bulk offers on medium beehive frames. Since they're so common, a person can usually obtain a better price if you purchase them by hundred. And believe me, you'll experience them faster than a person think. Between producing splits, replacing aged gross comb, plus catching swarms, you are able to never really have too many frames sitting in the shed.
Anyway, if you're within the fence regarding what size to go with, We can't recommend the particular medium route enough. It makes the particular physical labor associated with beekeeping so significantly more sustainable. At the end of a long day in the sunlight, when you're raising that last package of honey, you'll be very glad you find the lighter in weight option. It's all about making the hobby work intended for you, not against you.