Dominguez® Dadant US migratory hive

01 · WHAT IS IN THE CRATE

Body, super and everything else

It is a complete hive, not a bare box:

And that answers the most frequent question about this model: the shallow super is already included. To expand, you add further shallow supers on top as the honey comes in.

02 · WHAT MAKES IT MIGRATORY

The hooks and the entrances

What sets this model apart from the standard one are the quick-release fastening hooks: they hold the stack together during the move and open without tools on arrival. It is the difference between loading a hive and roping it down every time.

It adds a double entrance and an upper entrance for a pollen trap, which is what lets you fit the trap without dismantling anything.

03 · THE TIMBER

24 mm pinaster pine with HT treatment

The body is Galician pine, Pinus pinaster, at 24 mm thick, with phytosanitary HT treatment and registration number ES-37-0012 — the one required of timber equipment that travels.

The assembly is interlocked and nailed with threaded points, which is what survives years of loading and unloading. And an honest warning from the maker: timber is a living material and dimensions may vary slightly without hindering the work.

04 · THE FRAMES

Wired, but the tensioning is yours

The 18 frames — ten in the body and eight in the super — arrive wired but not tensioned. Before fitting foundation you have to tension the wire one frame at a time, or the wax will sit slack and buckle in the heat.

It is not a defect: they are shipped that way because tensioned wire suffers in transport. Budget that afternoon in the workshop before they go to the field.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

A complete hive, ready except for the tensioning: