Dadant Blatt Medium Super Frame – Straight, Stainless Wire (47×16 cm)

01 · 47 CM, NOT 48

One centimetre decides whether it fits or hangs

This is the first thing to check and the cause of nearly every return in this family. This frame is Dadant Blatt, the standard measurement in France and Italy, and its top bar is 47 cm. In Spain the usual one is the Dadant US, at 48 cm. That centimetre is enough for the frame to hang badly or not seat at all. If your equipment is the usual Spanish kind, you most likely need the US — measure the top bar of a frame you already own before ordering; it is the cheapest check in the world.

02 · HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL

We stock both and they differ by pennies

The wire orientation is not a manufacturer's whim: horizontal wires work against the weight of a loaded comb pulling downwards, which is what you appreciate in the extractor; vertical ones run the same way the knife travels when uncapping and do not cross its path. Neither is better in the abstract. Since the price difference between the two versions is a few cents, it is worth choosing by how you work rather than by what is on the shelf.

03 · STAINLESS: YOU NEED 24 V

The detail that spoils many first batches

The wire is stainless steel, which brings strength and hygiene and does not rust — but it conducts heat less well than galvanised. In practice that means one very specific thing when fixing foundation with heat: you need a transformer of at least 24 V. With 12 V or 9 V units the wire takes too long to heat, or simply never melts the wax, and people end up blaming the frame when the problem is the device.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Being a straight frame, without a Hoffmann's shoulders, it needs you to set the spacing between combs: metal runners in the super or plastic spacer combs. If you would rather not think about it, we also stock a plastic Hoffman version in Dadant Blatt shallow. And remember the size: 47 × 16 cm, compatible with Dadant Blatt and not with Dadant US.