Dadant Blatt super plastic frame NICOT®

01 · THE SIZE

47 or 48 cm: that centimetre decides everything

This frame is Dadant Blatt, the standard in France and Italy, with a 47 cm top bar. In Spain the common one is Dadant US, at 48 cm. That centimetre is enough for the frame to hang loose or not go in at all — there is no middle ground. Before ordering a batch, take a frame you already have and measure the top bar end to end: the ten-second check that saves the return.

02 · WHAT CHANGES AGAINST WOOD

No wire, no foundation and no fear of the extractor

It comes with the cell already moulded, so there is no wax to buy, no wire to thread and nothing to embed. In the honey house it takes the extractor without breaking or losing the comb, which is where a wooden frame with foundation suffers most. And in storage it has an advantage you do not see until April: wax moth finds no timber and no debris to tunnel through, so an empty frame keeps better than a wooden one.

03 · CLEANING

Water and bleach, and it is as good as new

The plastic does not take up moisture or warp, so it accepts what wood does not: a wash in hot water with diluted bleach at the end of the season, after scraping the wax off. Once a year is enough. And as with any plastic frame, a coat of molten wax before first use shortens how long they take to accept it.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It measures 470 × 160 × 25 mm and weighs 0.4 kg. It is a super frame: it will not go into the brood box, which takes a deeper frame.