Frame wire crimper

01 · WHY WIRE GOES SLACK

The frame works, and the wire ends up long

A wired frame does not hold its tension for ever. The timber moves with humidity and heat, the wire gives a little with every extraction and, above all, a pass through the wax melter or hot uncapping leaves it visibly slack. And tension is not a nicety: the wire is what holds the sheet of foundation while the colony draws it, and what stops the comb bulging or blowing out as it spins in the extractor. A slack frame is paid for at extraction time, not before.

02 · HOW THE ZIGZAG WORKS

It does not stretch the wire: it makes it travel further

The mechanism does not pull the wire from its ends, which is what pliers do. The two toothed wheels force it to weave between them and, by waving it, the wire needs more length to cover the same distance: that difference is the tension gained. The advantage over pliers is evenness — the tension is spread along the whole run instead of concentrated where you pulled — and that is why the wire does not slip afterwards, when the foundation is embedded.

03 · HOW TO USE IT

With minimum tension already there, at about 80 degrees

This is the condition that decides whether the tool suits you: the wire must already be minimally taut. If it is completely loose, give it a pull with pliers first and then bring in the tensioner. After that: rest the tool at about 80° between the handle and the wire and slide the wheels along the run, gently, without forcing. The frame is then ready to take the foundation. It works on galvanised or stainless wire of 0.4-0.5 mm, and some people also use it to tension the wire of electric hornet harps.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is a tool for touch-ups and finishing, not for a production line: wiring new frames in series with it gets heavy, and after twenty frames in a row your arm will let you know. Where it shines is the batch back from the extractor or the melter that needs one pass before it returns to the hive.