Dadant Blatt Observation Hive with half super, wood

01 · WHICH FRAME FITS

Dadant Blatt at 47; the 48 US does not

It is Dadant Blatt, the French and Italian standard: one 47 × 30 brood frame below and one 47 × 16 half-super frame above. In Spain the usual is Dadant US, with a 48 top bar, and it does not fit: anyone working in US or Layens prepares the demonstration with a populated Blatt frame. Frames, foundation and bees come separately.

02 · HOW IT IS USED

Opens at the side; a few hours, then back

The side door with two latches lets you put the frame in with its bees and close before any gap remains; the entrance is in the base. The hardboard sliding shutters cover the glass when nobody is looking, so the colony stays dark, and slide off for the talk. In the shade and out of direct sun, which heats the comb in minutes; just the length of the fair or the class, and the frame goes back to its colony the same day. With an audience, keep distance, warn about allergies and have a beekeeper in charge.

03 · HOW IT ARRIVES

Assembled and in one piece; glass, not acrylic

An English customer asked whether body and half super come joined: yes, it is supplied assembled, in one piece, with feet, handle, latches and shutters. The faces are glass, not acrylic as the old page said: a French customer received a broken pane in 2023, so check the parcel on arrival and tell us within 24 hours. If the sliding shutters are tight at first, a little paraffin wax in the grooves; it is untreated wood, which swells with damp.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The observation hive is supplied assembled; Dadant Blatt frames, foundation and bees come separately, and there are sisters in Langstroth and Layens (707, 1027).