# narrow frame?



## Tortuga (Dec 17, 2014)

Okay, so cutting frames to 1.25" so 9 can fit into an 8 frame box. Do the honey supers also go to 9 frame or kept 8 or taken to 7? are the frames in the super also trimmed to make them universal, I'd assume so you can swap down to brood boxes if needed. And does anyone sell narrow frame or do we have to trim them our self? 

Ive read micheals page on narrow frame as it is tied in with cell size, as Im thinking of natural comb. But the actual setup seems to leave me with some simple questions

Thanx all


The newb


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## mrflegel (Mar 23, 2014)

the narrow ones are for the brood box so there is one more frame in the brood nest. in the supers some run 7 frames in an 8 frame box so the comb is built out wider for more honey storage and easier uncapping.
may the honey flow for you
mike


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## BeesFromPoland (Dec 27, 2014)

Tortuga said:


> Okay, so cutting frames to 1.25" so 9 can fit into an 8 frame box. Do the honey supers also go to 9 frame or kept 8 or taken to 7? are the frames in the super also trimmed to make them universal, I'd assume so you can swap down to brood boxes if needed. And does anyone sell narrow frame or do we have to trim them our self?



I heard some experienced beekeepers who give foundation 4.9 and narrow frame say that the number of frames should be the same in the brood box and in the supers (and they should be one exactly over the other) because it is better for ventilation and just for managing the hive for the bees. It would be similar as in feral nest. (They also give 5.1 foundation to the supers - of course with excluders)
I have no idea if that's so, and if it is really important, but I would tend to agree to that. On the other hand I think bees will manage whatever the number of frames in the super they have...


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?291964

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?205420

There are several more good threads if you care to look for them.


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## Tortuga (Dec 17, 2014)

Thanx fusion, my google foo is not as good as some.. the secong post answered my question perfectly

Appriciate it


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## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

You can start with foundation in your brood box in order to obtain straight comb and then as you change out frames through attrition put the foundationless between two drawn frames as a guide for the bees to draw straight natural comb.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

You might also enjoy reading CCar's old thread on this topic.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?249192


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Once you have drawn comb you can space frames whatever you like in the supers and it doesn't matter if they are 1 1/4" or 1 3/8" if you are going to put 7 or even 6 in an 8 frame box. They are much easier to uncap when they are thicker.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I trim my frames so I can run 11 in a ten frame brood nest. I also draw all foundation by putting 11 frames in a ten frame box because the bees have less of a tendency to build a lot of bridge and burr comb. After the foundation is drawn, I only run eight frames in a ten frame super. Unless you have oddball frames and boxes, there is a bee space beneath and on top of the frames so lining up frames is just not a player unless you built non standard equipment.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I have a number of frames from original nucs that had the shoulders trimmed but still standard width top bars. Makes very minimal bee space between top bars and the bees bridge it almost solid. I dont know if it will ever happen but I have been threatening to scrape the old foundation and narrow the top bars to match.

In the pic. the shaved frames are spaced but you can see how tight they would be if shoved together. The frame to the right has a proper top bar width for 1 1/4" centers. The rest are standard width Mann Lake frames


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