# Today's harvest - eight frame spacing in a twelve frame box.



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Which comes to ten frames in a box.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Last week, seven combs in an eight frame Warre box.


----------



## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

I am against putting in less frames than the box can hold. My reasons are:-
1. Unless you are very good at recovering honey that is in the cappings (and I believe most small bee keepers aren't) you are wasting a lot of honey. Even after feeding what I consider dry cappings to the bees in inside the hive feeders the rendering the wax, the capping can hold 50%c honey. Suggestion: Weigh the capping before putting in the melter, then weigh the wax reclaimed.

2. When using an uncapping knife it is much simpler to run the knife along the frame. The cells are the right depth to use as brood comb if required. 

3 Using the correct number of frames in a hive means the frames are more balanced in the extractor if capped along the frame.

4. The fames are lighter to handle.

My thoughts 


Sweet As 

. even honey.


----------



## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Sweet

I see no merit to any of your above comments. Just wondering what type of an operation you're referring to.


----------



## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

I am always willing to learn and improve my operation.

I run 60 hives. Not small and not large but still a fair bit of work I get 120-160 kg of honey from each hive per year. Western Australia is very productive for a variety of reasons.

Can you elaborate on your reason why mine ideas do not have merit and advise the merits of very wide frame.

I believe the frames are the width they are for a very good reason. The auto spacing leaves "bee space" and the cells are deep enough for brood.

I do not claim any credit for the frame size.

Geoff (Sweet As)


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I have a cappings spinner that recovers most of the honey from the cappings regardless of how much honey they contained. 
It is easier to uncap when the combs overhang the frame.
The fat frames are heavier. 
I like the increased wax production with little additional work.
The cappings spinner makes easy work of Warre and Topbar hive harvest. No beekeeper with substantial honey to harvest should be without one.


----------



## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Hey of Frank

I was reading recently about the plight of the California beekeepers who are harvesting very little surplus because of the severe drought conditions. Looks like that hasn't affected your area?


----------



## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Sweet I wrote you a long reply but my cell phone are it. GRRRRRRR. Long story short we use frame spacers in our honey supers and never mix brood combs with extracting comb. Drawn comb for honey production is too valuable. If I have 100 boxes of 10 frame comb supers I would stretch them out to 11 more boxes to produce 400 lbs more honey that would not have been produced otherwise. We worry little about cappings etc. Mostly we use capping scratchers that produces very little wax.


----------



## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

Thanks to Riskybizz and Odfrank for the info. 

All my boxes have the same frame size and I use 8 frame boxes.. What in Australia is a WSP, about 3/4 of a "full depth". 

I always run two brood boxes.

I do rotate my brood frame up at least every two years then I cast them out after I extract.

I like to bees to spend as little time on wax production as possible and concentrate on honey production.

Cheers

Geoff.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

sweetas said:


> I am always willing to learn and improve my operation.
> 
> Geoff (Sweet As)


Okay, then you should have written "fewer frames" instead of "less frames". You wrote that you were "willing to learn" after all.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Riskybizz said:


> Hey of FrankI was reading recently about the plight of the California beekeepers who are harvesting very little surplus because of the severe drought conditions. Looks like that hasn't affected your area?


Most of my hives are working residential irrigated gardens. I think the crops are down but don't have totals yet. If it doesn't rain it will catch up with us next season. A lot of plants looking real sad, eucalyptus trees losing their leaves.


----------

