22 : Frames and Foundation: Part 3


spacing of 35 mm and plastic converters are slightly narrower at 34.5 mm. Hoffman frames are widely used in other countries and some frames are manufactured to give a spacing of as little as 33 mm, which is even closer to natural spacing.


Figure 2. Spacing created by the use of 35 mm wide Hoffman frames


raising) is 2 x 11.5 = 23 mm. Subtract this from the natural comb spacing of 32 mm (32 – 23 = 9) and this leaves a space of 9 mm between comb faces. This is the spacing that occurs in a feral nest and 9 mm is just sufficient space for worker bees to move freely on opposing comb faces with their wings brushing against each other. Figure 2 shows the spacing created by the use of 35 mm wide Hoffman frames which results in a slightly more generous inter-comb space.


Tending the Brood


This spacing means that the nurse bees have free access to the cells on both sides for tending the brood. Thermoregulation can also be most efficiently achieved because it only requires two layers of bees between the combs to fill the space, reduce the air flow and generate heat if necessary. Wider comb spacing requires more bees – and more than two layers – to be packed in under cold conditions to keep the brood warm. The bees only


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raise an amount of brood that they can keep warm, so a wider space between combs means that less brood can be raised – particularly early in the season.


Extending the Cells


When brood combs (or parts of them) are used for honey storage at the end of the summer (in preparation for the winter), the cells are extended to leave a single bee space between them, just like in the honey supers. But, before these cells can be re-used for brood next spring, they have to be trimmed back to the correct depth and this activity accounts for the drifts of wax fragments that are found under open- mesh floors at that time of year.


Frame Spacing


If we aim to comply with the way that bees build combs naturally (which is probably not a bad idea), the nearest we can get with standard beekeeping equipment is with Hoffman frames. Standard wooden Hoffman frames (SN2/ DN2 or SN4/DN4 frames) give a


April 2015 Vol 97 No 4


In practice, 35 mm (or 34.5 mm) spacing is quite satisfactory, bearing in mind that the worker foundation we use in the UK, which is embossed with a 5.4–5.5 mm cell size, induces the bees to build slightly larger worker cells that, in turn, produce slightly larger (than natural) bees. There has been a lot of discussion about cell size over recent years but there is no clear-cut evidence that what is called small-cell beekeeping has any significant advantage for the beekeeper or the bees.


Alternative Methods


What are the alternative methods of frame spacing and what spacing do they give? I hope we have already decided that Hoffman frames are the best (the only sensible) option for brood frames, so we are now talking about frame spacing in the supers (the honey-bearing frames) (Figure 3). Using the smallest


size (17/16 inch) end spacers, the frame spacing is 36.5 mm


and, with standard 11-frame castellations, it is 37.5 mm. Both these spacing systems are reasonably satisfactory for comb drawing but in a weak or intermittent nectar flow, some colonies will make a bit of a ‘pig’s ear’ of the task. That is looking at the result


from the beekeeper’s point of view because the bees couldn’t care less; they can store just as much honey in badly drawn combs (or even wild comb) and it is only a problem for the beekeeper when it comes to


extraction. There are also 17/8 inch and 2 inch end spacers and they can be used end-to-end or overlapping to produce a range of frame spacing in supers. None produces a really tight fit and during transportation, the frames tend to clash and bleed honey.


Castellations


Using ten-frame castellations, the frame spacing jumps up to 42 mm and this usually (but not always) results in poorly drawn combs. Unfortunately, beginners faced with a choice of purchasing 11-, 10- or 9-frame castellations, and not understanding the implications, often opt for the middle choice and wonder why the bees do not do what is expected of them. Castellations have the advantage that they hold the


Figure 3. Alternative methods of spacing frames


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