Wired Langstroth Hoffman frame 48 × 23 cm

01 · SPACING

The Hoffman shoulder is milled into the side bar

The side bars are widened over their top third, so two frames butt there and the bee space is set with nothing else in the box. Said plainly, because you read the opposite everywhere: self-spacing does not mean it will not be propolised. The shoulders still get glued to each other, and the final spacing depends on frame + box together, not on the frame alone.

02 · WIRING

It comes threaded, it does not come tensioned

The five wires are already through the holes: you save the threading, which is the slow part. Tensioning is on you, frame by frame, and here are two warnings from people who have built them. The wire is on the thick side, so a tensioning wheel may not take it and a cord tensioner or your hands work better. And the top bar has no groove for sliding the foundation in: the sheet is held by embedding it into the wire with a spur or a transformer, not by slotting it from above. If you were counting on that groove, count again before ordering.

03 · TIMBER

Production pine: expect knots, not cabinetmaking

This is production-grade solid pine, not selected timber. A batch will include pieces with knots and the odd softer one, where the wire sinks a little if you over-tension; the side shoulder does not come out identical on every frame either. None of that stops the colony from drawing it well, and it is the trade-off of a frame at this price. If you want a fine finish and even timber, look at the premium range.

04 · HOFFMAN FRAME OR CLIP?

If you already have straight frames assembled, you do not have to replace them all at once.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Sold singly: a Langstroth brood box takes ten. And this is timber with thin wire inside a box — order what you need in one go, the carriage weighs more than the price difference.