Dadant Blatt frame Premium horizontal wired

01 · THE CENTIMETRE THAT DECIDES

Blatt and US are not interchangeable

It is the most expensive mistake made when buying frames, and it does not show in a photo: the two Dadant formats share a name and differ by one centimetre of top bar. There is no margin — either it rests properly on the rebate of the box, or it hangs loose and the bees build where they should not. Before ordering, measure the top bar of a frame you already own: it takes a second and saves you a hundred frames that do not fit.

02 · HOFFMAN OR STRAIGHT

Who decides the spacing between frames

This is the second decision on this page and it is worth understanding before picking from the dropdown. Hoffman frames have side bars widened at the top: push the frames together and those widenings touch, setting the correct spacing by themselves. Straight side bars run parallel top to bottom, so the spacing is yours to set — with spacers, castellations or by eye. Hoffman is faster and forgives fewer spacing mistakes; straight is more flexible if you already work with your own spacing system. The important part: do not mix them in the same box, because then neither criterion is in charge.

03 · WHY «PREMIUM»

Stainless wire, eyelets and factory tensioning

Three things, and the one you appreciate most over the years is the third. The stainless wire does not rust in hive damp and does not stain the wax. Factory tensioning saves you the most tedious step of assembly. And the eyelets are what make the difference in the long run: they are the metal ferrules the wire passes through, and they stop the tensioned wire from biting into the side bar. Without them, every re-tension sinks the wire a little deeper until the frame will not tension at all; with them, you re-tension as often as you need.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Each frame weighs about 450 g and measures 47 × 30 cm. On arrival, go over the timber: these are solid wood parts and one may come with a split in a bar — set it aside rather than assemble it, because a split top bar gives way under the weight of a full comb. And check the tension before waxing: frames travel, and a wire that arrives slightly slack is re-tensioned in a moment thanks to the eyelets.