Dadant US Beehive complete

01 · THE SIZE, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE

US or Blatt, and they do not swap

It is the question we get most from France, and it belongs in the first line. The frame of this hive is Dadant US: 48 × 30 cm, and the French Dadant Blatt is a centimetre different. The US is what is used in Spain, Germany and the United States; the Blatt is the standard in France. If you already have frames, measure one before ordering: mixing the two formats in the same apiary is a source of trouble that never ends.

02 · WHAT IS IN THE BOX

A complete hive, frames included

It carries the brood chamber with 10 wired frames, a shallow super with 9, the inner cover with a wooden frame and a central feeding hole, and the roof clad in sheet metal. The floor is chosen when ordering: wooden base or open mesh floor. It is a fixed format, so it comes with its dimensions settled and ready to populate; the whole thing weighs around 25 kg.

03 · THE WOOD AND THE FINISH

25 mm pine with a coat of linseed oil

The walls are 25 mm pine and come with one coat of linseed oil, which is a starting protection rather than a finish: before it stands outdoors it is worth a second coat or a layer of exterior paint, above all on the roof and the edges. The measurements: 508 × 424 mm outside and 464 × 380 inside.

04 · THE FRAMES

Wired, and the rebate is plain

The frames come wired from the factory, but the wire on a new frame nearly always wants tensioning again before you fit the foundation: with slack wire the sheet bows and the comb comes out wavy. And the rebate is plain, so the spacing is yours to set — with Hoffman frames they space themselves, and with straight-sided frames you need spacers or a runner.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The floor is chosen when ordering: wooden or open mesh. It does not include foundation, feeder or carrying handles.