8 frame medium brood boxes

[Seeb]

hello fellow beeks -

i'm working on assembling frames today, and wondering why my Mann Lake 8 frame medium hives are holding 9 frames - I did not have to force any frames in?
also, i'm doing alternate frames of small cell wax, and the next without wax, for the bees to draw their own. does it matter if the empty frame or the wax filled frame goes next to the end hive walls?

thanks
seeb alias  aurelia

[The15thMember]

i'm working on assembling frames today, and wondering why my Mann Lake 8 frame medium hives are holding 9 frames - I did not have to force any frames in?

I had this question when I first assembled my boxes too.  You can jam 9 frames into an 8 frame box.  I'm not sure if once there is comb and bees on the frames you could still get 9 frames in or not.  I certainly couldn't, since my bees often don't draw straight. 

also, i'm doing alternate frames of small cell wax, and the next without wax, for the bees to draw their own. does it matter if the empty frame or the wax filled frame goes next to the end hive walls?

I have never used foundation, so I could be wrong, but I don't see why it would matter. 

thanks
seeb alias  aurelia

So should we call you Aurelia now?  Because I'd be totally into that.  I'm learning Latin right now, and according to my (currently meager) knowledge of Latin, that name makes you "the golden one", which sounds really awesome.    Not that Seeb isn't great too, but it doesn't exactly have the same ring to it as "the golden one".     
     

[Seeb]

"So should we call you Aurelia now?  Because I'd be totally into that.  I'm learning Latin right now, and according to my (currently meager) knowledge of Latin, that name makes you "the golden one", which sounds really awesome.  Not that Seeb isn't great too, but it doesn't exactly have the same ring to it as "the golden one".   
     
Seeb is my beekeeper name, and Aurelia is my "real-life" name.  Yes, it does mean "the golden one', and "Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a widely studied species of the genus Aurelia." 

Somedays I feel like the golden one, some days a jellyfish - lol

Thanks for your input Member, now I'm trying to figure out what to do about the extra space since the reason I went for the 8 frame hive was weight. Maybe I'll just space the frames accordingly [seems like I remember beeks just using 9 frames in a 10 frame hive].

[The15thMember]

Seeb is my beekeeper name, and Aurelia is my "real-life" name.  Yes, it does mean "the golden one', and "Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a widely studied species of the genus Aurelia." 

Somedays I feel like the golden one, some days a jellyfish - lol

That is such a pretty name.  And I love moon jellies.     

Thanks for your input Member, now I'm trying to figure out what to do about the extra space since the reason I went for the 8 frame hive was weight. Maybe I'll just space the frames accordingly [seems like I remember beeks just using 9 frames in a 10 frame hive].

I'd just use the 8 frames if it was me.  It's possible, even with foundation, that the bees will draw one of the combs a little weird.  Also more wiggle room is safer for queens, since the last thing you want to do is roll her when pulling a frame.  I'm going to try using 7 frames in my honey supers this year.  My bees seem to like to draw fat comb in the supers, which makes it challenging to pull frames if the box is full.       

[jalentour]

Seeb,
Keep your brood frames tight.
Should you decide to do walk aways, spread them slightly.
Should you decide to collect honey spread them evenly.

[cao]

It doesn't surprise me that you can get the extra frame in your box.  I make my own boxes and make my 8 frame boxes 1/2 inch narrower than mann lake and I still have plenty of wiggle room for my frames.  My advise just use 8 frames an keep the pressed tight together and in the middle.

[Acebird]

hello fellow beeks -

i'm working on assembling frames today, and wondering why my Mann Lake 8 frame medium hives are holding 9 frames -
seeb alias  aurelia

All boxes are constructed this way so you have space to remove the first frame without rolling bees.  My advice is to not jam in the extra frame.

[Seeb]

Yes, with 9 frames in my box, there is still plenty of wiggle room, so looks like I need to stick with 8 frames, centered in the brood box
Thanks to all for your help, my bees will be here next week and I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas.

Should you decide to do walk aways, spread them slightly.

Jvalentour - I'm not familiar with the term "walk aways" ???

Member - I like moon jellies too

[paus]

I mostly run 10 frame but on 10 or 8 I move all frames to one side so there is room to remove the outside frame just as Ace explained.

[Michael Bush]

I would shave the end bars so they are 32mm or 1 1/4" wide and put 9 in.  If not, I would probably still put 9 in as the extra space is a bit much, but I prefer to shave them a little as you need a little wiggle room and narrow frames will get you smaller cells and less drone and the bees can cover and raise more brood with less bees...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm

[Acebird]

I mostly run 10 frame but on 10 or 8 I move all frames to one side so there is room to remove the outside frame just as Ace explained.

I tend to center the frames.  If I were going to push them all to one side I would want a follower board in the large space.  The problem with that is it might get glued in or harbor SHB.  A lot depends on the time span between manipulations.  For me I am not in favor of brood frame interventions so the time span could be quite long.

[Seeb]

Ok, after reading Michael's link, and going back and rereading Member's "Hive Postmortem" posting with MickeyNC comments, I better understand the issues with extra space in the brood boxes.
If I'm understanding, it looks like I can still use 8 frames spaced loosely in the honey supers.

What does not make sense to me is calling a box eight frame when it easily holds 9 frames - I've never bought or seen a 10 frame hive that would hold 11 frames. Just venting

[The15thMember]

What does not make sense to me is calling a box eight frame when it easily holds 9 frames - I've never bought or seen a 10 frame hive that would hold 11 frames. Just venting

I'm kind of confused as to why you are able to "easily" fit 9 frames in a 8 frame box.  I'm pretty sure that some of my 8 frame boxes are from Mann Lake.  (I bought them at a local supplier.  They used to be a Brushy Mountain dealer, but since Brushy went under they've been carrying mostly Mann Lake.)  I could force 9 frames into a box, but I probably couldn't get them back out again, and that's without bees, comb, or propolis.  If you are fitting 9 frames into a box with wiggle room, something could be off, either with the box or the frames.         

[paus]

I run some frames through the table saw to make them thin enough to use 11 in a 10 frame box and I make an X on top of these frames.  All bee in my area seem to make an abundance of propolis so I gave up on 11 frame for now 

[Seeb]

If you are fitting 9 frames into a box with wiggle room, something could be off, either with the box or the frames.        

Yes, I agree - and did not intend to focus on Mann Lake anymore than my own skills in assembly.  Just to be clear, ML is, and will continue to be my go-to supplier.

[The15thMember]

I'm not familiar with the term "walk aways" ???

Oh, by the way, a walk away split is when you split the hive without finding the queen.  You just put half the bees and brood in another hive and the hive that ended up with no queen will make one and the hive with the queen will continue as before, but hopefully won't swarm because they have plenty of space now.   

[Seeb]

Thanks Member, I appreciate you.

[snispel]

I figured I needed to trim some frames to fit nine into this hive. The bees are small and do this on several of the frames. I figured the space was too big for their comfort. (This is not the actual hive. This is just an example of what they are doing) What do you all think?

[Seeb]

Snispel - With 9 frames in my 8 frame hive, I still got comb built like your picture. Right or wrong, I pulled the overlap off and rubber banded it onto an empty frame.  So my experience was it didn't make a difference. 

[Ben Framed]

I am surprised that Mann Lake boxes are not up to par as far as width. Seeb is it mann lake frames that you are using as well?  By the way, Aurelia is a beautiful name!! So is Reagan ......