Dominguez migratory super 8F Dadant US

01 · WHICH HIVE TAKES IT

Compatibility, stated by name

It is built to the box format of the Domínguez migratory line, 430 × 515 mm on the outside: the firm's Langstroth and Dadant US hives. Those are two names for the same footprint, which is why one shallow super serves both.

What it is not: it does not fit Dadant Blatt, the European Dadant with the large frame, which is a different box. And if your hive is Langstroth but from another maker, measure before ordering: «Langstroth» describes the general format, and length, width and rebates vary between manufacturers and between fixed and migratory models.

02 · THE EIGHT FRAMES

Why eight and not ten, and what is left for you to do

It arrives with eight straight-sided wired frames. Eight instead of ten is not a saving: it is standard practice in a super. With more room between them the bees draw thicker combs that stand proud of the bar and uncap in one clean pass, without scraping along the woodwork.

In exchange, the spacing is yours to keep. The frames are straight-sided, not Hoffman: they have no wide side bar to space themselves, so they must be spread evenly when you assemble them and checked again after every move.

The wire is fitted but not tensioned. It has to be tightened before you fix the foundation: slack wire lets the comb bow in the heat, and a bowed comb in a super that travels is wax on the hive floor.

03 · THE TIMBER

Pine, seasoning and joinery

Pinus pinaster pine, kiln-seasoned under control at the factory, which is what lets it take swings in humidity without opening up. It carries HT phytosanitary treatment, registration ES-37-0012, the stamp required of wood packaging that crosses borders.

The joints are box-jointed and nailed with ring-shank nails: the box is not held by the nail, it is held by the joint, and the ringed nail stops it working loose with the vibration of the lorry. As timber is a living material, there are millimetre variations between units that do not affect the work.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is a shallow super plus frames. What is inside and what is not: