Langstroth Hoffmann Frame with vertical wiring

01 · DIMENSIONS

The top bar matches Dadant; the depth is what separates them

The top bar is 482 mm end to end, the frame body 447 mm and the overall height 232 mm. That 48 cm top bar is also the Dadant US one, so going by length alone is the quick way to buy a hundred frames that don't sit right: depth decides it, 23 cm on Langstroth against the 30 cm of any Dadant brood frame. It works the same in the brood box and in full-depth Langstroth supers.

02 · SELF-SPACING

The 35 mm shoulder sets the comb spacing for you

The side bars widen to 35 mm over the top 85 mm and drop to 25 mm below. Once the box is loaded those shoulders meet and hold the spacing between combs with no measuring and no added spacers; rest them on a plain frame runner or on the box rebate, not on a castellated spacer, which belongs to straight-sided frames. Two honest limits: the shoulders get propolised to each other and need the hive tool, and it is best not to mix straight and Hoffman frames in one box.

03 · WIRING

Six stainless wires, top bar to bottom bar

Wire holds the comb so it doesn't sag under a full load of honey, doesn't slump in July heat and survives the extractor. This frame carries six stainless steel wires run vertically from top bar to bottom bar: that is where the holes are, not in the side bars. Stainless takes no rust and leaves no mark on the wax. The wire runs through plain drilled holes, with no eyelets: check the tension before you wax it, because frames travel.

04 · FOUNDATION

Foundation goes on the wire, at 24 V with a transformer

The sheet it takes is Langstroth brood foundation, 42 × 20 cm, held by embedding it into the six wires. If you embed the wire with a transformer, bear in mind that stainless conducts worse than galvanised: at 12 V it never heats and you need at least 24 V. With a spur embedder it makes no difference. Foundation is not included.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is not Dadant US (48 × 30 cm), not Dadant Blatt (47 × 30 cm), not Layens (36.5 × 39.5 cm), not a shallow super frame and not a National or Commercial frame. Measure your box's frame rest and internal depth with a frame in hand before ordering in quantity. If you need it factory-tensioned and eyeletted, write to us first.