what size are hive frames

Are all bee hive frames the same size?

The exact size varies from country to country, and also depends upon machinery and manufacturer. (In practice, most beekeepers use only 9 frames in the honey super to improve frame manipulation, so exact size is never a problem).

Should I get an 8 or 10 frame hive?

Think about how big you want your hive to be and how much honey you want to harvest. A 10-frame hive box provides more room for your honey and brood. On the other hand, honey bees are more likely to fill more space in an 8-frame box before moving up to the next box in the hive.

Are beehives a standard size?

A typical beehive is about 22 inches by 16 inches. You need at least five feet of space in every direction around the hive. If you plan to have multiple beehives, they should be at least three feet apart.

What size is a 10 frame bee hive?

Internal dimensions of a 10 frame box are 18 3⁄8” long and 14 3⁄4” wide. External dimensions of a 10 frame box are roughly 19 7⁄8” long and 16” wide, although different construction materials will affect this result.

How many bees are in a 10 frame hive?

Packages of bees typically weigh 3 pounds, which equals 10,000 bees. A healthy colony filling 2 10-frame deeps contains around 30,000-60,000 bees.

How much honey is in a 10 frame medium box?

According to them, a full ten-frame deep weighs 80-90 pounds (36-41 kg), and a full ten-frame medium weighs 65-75 pounds (29-34 kg). Discounting the weight of the structure and dividing by 10, a full deep frame holds about 8 pounds (4 kg) of honey and full medium holds about 6 pounds (3 kg).

What size are national frames?

The dimensions of the frames are: Top bar- 17″ x 7/8” (431mm x 22mm) Side bar- 51/2” x 1 3/8” (140mm x 35mm) Bottom bar- 14″ (356mm)

What wood is used for beehives?

Pine, cedar, poplar, and cypress are common woods used for bee hives. All woods have positives and negatives, especially when used for beekeeping equipment. In Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, cypress and pine are both popular woods for making beehives.

How far should a beehive be from your house?

But just how close to your house can you put your hive? The general rule is there should be a minimum of 4-feet behind and on either side of the hive, with a minimum of 25-feet of clearance at the entrance – but there's really no cut-and-dry answer for this.

How wide is an 8 frame bee hive?

Hive body and hive superTypeDepthInterior Width8 Frame Deep body9+5⁄8 inches (240 mm)12+1⁄4 inches (310 mm)8 Frame Medium body/super6+5⁄8 inches (170 mm)12+1⁄4 inches (310 mm)8 Frame Shallow super5+11⁄16 inches (144 mm)12+1⁄4 inches (310 mm)5 Frame Deep body9+5⁄8 inches (240 mm)7+3⁄4 inches (200 mm)5 more rows

What size is a Langstroth frame?

The Langstroth boxes used in a single hive use the same length and width. A traditional box is 16" wide by 19 7/8" long. However, boxes of different depths can be mixed in the same hive, with the following standard sizes available: Deep: 9 5/8"

What are the dimensions of a Langstroth beehive frame?

Vital stats for Langstroth frames Deep frames are 19 inches x 1-1/16 inches x 9-1/8 inches; medium frames are 19 inches x 1-1/16 inches x 6-1/4 inches; and shallow frames are 19 inches x 1-1/16 inches x 5-3/8 inches. Capacity: The bees build wax comb in the frames and use this comb to raise brood and store food.

How heavy is a 10 frame beehive?

A shallow 10 frame super full of honey ought to weigh about 40 lbs. A medium super will weigh 40 to 50 lbs. A deep super will weigh 70 to 90 lbs. A deep hive body full of bees, brood, and honey should weigh about 80 lbs.

How much honey is in a 8 frame medium super?

When filled with honey, our 8 frame medium supers can weigh 45-50 pounds!

What is the best honey bee hive?

3 Best Types of HivesLangstroth Hive: The Langstroth hive (pictured below) is the most common style in use today and a favorite for new beekeepers. ... Top Bar Hive. The top bar hive is the oldest hive design in the world. ... Warré Hive.

How many frames is a beehive?

Each super holds 10 frames inside it that the bees build wax onto. Some people use an 8 frame hive box which would require 8 frames per super. For the setup described here, you need 2 Deep Supers with 10 frames each to house the brood chamber. The four pieces that make one hive box or super.

Standard Langstroth Measurements

One of the key features of the Langstroth beehives is the expandability. By adding additional boxes, the beekeeper can increase the interior colony space very easily.

Basic Hive Dimensions of a Standard 10 Frame Lang

Starting a new hive is an exciting time full of hope. Most new colonies begin with a purchased package of bees or maybe a captured swarm. This small bee family has some growing to do – get them started with the basics only.

Size of Wood Used for Hive Building

The type of wood used to make beehives does vary a bit depending on what is available in your area. Pine is the most common wood with Cypress being another good choice. Most plans and measurements are set for a board that is 3/4″ thick.

Searching for Standard Beekeeping Equipment

Knowing the size of your hives is a practical skill. No the bees don’t seem to care but it can make hive inspections easier for you. Need a hive stand? It’s good to know the approximate size of the footprint for your beehive.

How many frames does a Langstroth hive hold?

A Langstroth hive is designed to hold eight or ten frames (depending on the size of the box) spaced 1#N#+#N#1⁄2 inches (38 mm) center to center. The frames are made of wood or plastic. The top bar length is 19 inches (48 cm). The depth of the frame varies on the depth of the box:

What is a bee frame made of?

The frame is made of: 1 top bar: It has two ears from which the frame hangs in the hive box. These are the only contact points with the box. These can have a groove on the bottom in which the wax foundation or strips fits or an edge (usually made of wood) on which the bees attach the wax.

How deep are Langstroth hives?

A Langstroth hive is designed to hold eight or ten frames (depending on the size of the box) spaced 1#N#+#N#1⁄2 inches (38 mm) center to center. The frames are made of wood or plastic. The top bar length is 19 inches (48 cm). The depth of the frame varies on the depth of the box: 1 Deep: 9#N#+#N#1⁄8 inches (230 mm) 2 Medium: 6#N#+#N#1⁄4 inches (160 mm) 3 Shallow: 5#N#+#N#3⁄8 inches (140 mm)

What is a honey frame?

A hive frame or honey frame is a structural element in a beehive that holds the honeycomb or brood comb within the hive enclosure or box. The hive frame is a key part of the modern movable-comb hive. It can be removed in order to inspect the bees for disease or to extract the excess honey.

Where are Smith hives used?

A smaller hive, the Smith hive is often used in Scotland, especially when bees are taken to the Heather moors. Historically the larger Dadant hive was used in most of Europe. All of these hives use movable frames of various numbers and sizes.

How far apart are combs in a bee hive?

Johann Dzierzon described the correct distance between combs in the brood chamber as 1½ inches from the center of one bar to the center of the next. In 1848, Dzierzon introduced grooves into the hive's side walls replacing the strips of wood to hang top bars. The grooves were 8 mm wide and met the distance requirements for a bee space.

What is a plastic frame?

Plastic frames: They are injected-moulded out of plastic and come in various colors. They usually come with built in plastic foundation molded as one piece with cells stamped to a specific size. The colors usually are used to distinguish types of frames within a manufacture's product line (example: green for frames with drone size foundation cells).

What is the best frame for a bee hive?

If you're looking for ease in assembly, one-piece plastic bee hive frames are the best bet. If you're taking a more traditional approach to your hives, consider buying wood frames.

What is a wood frame?

Wood frames come assembled or unassembled. They are built exclusively of eastern white pine and come with a grooved top bar for a plastic foundation or a wedged top bar for a wax foundation. Our single-grooved bottom bars can accommodate any foundation type. Plastic frames come in one molded piece with a foundation that requires no assembly.

Can bees use plastic frames?

We feel that the bees accept plastic frames more readily when extra beeswax is brushed or rolled on. If you're looking for ease in assembly, one-piece plastic bee hive frames are the best bet. If you're taking a more traditional approach to your hives, consider buying wood frames.

Superiority is our FRAMEwork!

6 1/4" (15.88 cm) Unassembled Select Grade Frames - Groove Top & Bottom/Holes Endbars - 10 Pack

Frames for Hives

When it comes to finding the perfect beekeeping frames, components, and supplies for your beehive, we have quality and durable products trusted by many within the beekeeping community. Our bee hive frame inventory includes assembled frames, unassembled frames, plastic frames, and frame supplies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a groove top frame and a wedge top frame?

How many frames does a box hold?

A standard box holds ten frames. Eight frame equipment is available; the depths for the three sizes are the same as for standard boxes, but the boxes are narrower and will only hold eight frames.

How many mediums are needed for a double deep beehive?

There is nothing magical about the double deep configuration. The bees don’t care what size the individual boxes and frames are as long as enough boxes are used to provide sufficient space. Notice that three mediums offer roughly the same volume as two deeps, but each box is quite a bit lighter for the beekeeper. Use of eight frame mediums would reduce the weight even further. Eight frame shallows are as light as it gets. I don’t know anyone who has used eight frame shallows for brood chambers, but there is no reason why it couldn’t be done as long as enough are used to provide sufficient volume.

What is double deep honey?

This is when you stack two ten frame deep boxes on one another. When using this configuration, it's common to use either mediums or shallows for honey supers.

What is a super box in beekeeping?

A note on nomenclature: The four-sided boxes used in beekeeping—the ones that hold the frames of wax comb—are referred to as hive bodies, or supers, depending on how they are used. The same box could be used at one time as a super and another as a hive body. To add to the confusion, a hive body is sometimes referred to as a brood chamber. I will refer to both hive bodies and supers as boxes.

How many frames are in a ten frame super?

You will learn that only nine frames are normally used in a ten frame super. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that this reduces the overall weight of the super. The bees compensate for the extra space by drawing out the comb a bit further on the nine frames. This makes the harvest process easier for the beekeeper.

How many frames are in a standard box?

In other words, a medium frame would not be used in a deep box. A standard box holds ten frames. Eight frame equipment is available; the depths for the three sizes are the same as for standard boxes, but the boxes are narrower ...

Where do bees store their honey?

The brood chamber is the place where the queen lays her eggs, and the young bees are raised. During a nectar flow, honey supers are placed on top of the brood chamber (thus the name super, derived from the Latin word meaning above); this is where the bees store the surplus honey.

Standard Langstroth Measurements

Basic Hive Dimensionsof A Standard 10 Frame Lang

• Starting a new hive is an exciting time full of hope. Most new colonies begin with a purchased package of beesor maybe a captured swarm. This small bee family has some growing to do – get them started with the basics only. The basic starter Langstroth hive consists of: 1. Outer Top or Hive Cover 2. Inner Cover 3. Hive boxes (usually a deep) 4. Bott...

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Size of Wood Used For Hive Building

Searching For Standard Beekeeping Equipment