Mini plus® mating nuc, 6 frames, wood

01 · HALF A DADANT SUPER FRAME

Half a Dadant super frame, and they don't clip

Each frame measures 217 × 159 mm: exactly half a Dadant Blatt super frame (435 × 159) and the same depth, so two side by side come to 434 mm. But they do not join together: they are timber, self-spacing Hoffmann and horizontally wired; the ones that clip in pairs are the 217 × 160 mm plastic half-frames. And a Langstroth frame will not go in: 448 mm against the 236 mm of internal width here.

02 · WHAT IS NOT IN THE BOX

No feeder is included, and here one is essential

What you get is fixed: a stainless mesh floor with tray and entrance block, one body, six frames, an insulated crown board and a roof. There is no feeder, no foundation and no bees. Feeding goes two ways: a frame feeder that takes the place of an outside comb, or a feeder box that sits on top. The reservoir holds around 0.8 L: feed little and often, not all at once.

03 · IT OVERWINTERS, IT ISN'T EMPTIED

The difference from an Apidea or a Kieler box

You stock it in May or June with about 400 g of bees, a caged mated queen and a couple of litres of 1:1 syrup. Once four of the six frames are covered you add the second box; to overwinter you stack two or three, with 9-10 kg of stores inside. One overwintered unit yields six to eight mating nuclei the following spring.

04 · BARE WOOD AND OPEN MESH FLOOR

It arrives unpainted: treat it before exposure

It ships in bare timber, unpainted and untreated: the maker recommends a wood stain or varnish before it goes outdoors — the point our one non-five-star review makes. The floor tray, left in, lets you count natural varroa drop; taken out, it ventilates in summer. The entrance block closes the hive to carry it to the mating site. And there are two covers, not one: insulated crown board underneath, 14 mm roof on top.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Mini Plus is a closed format: only Mini Plus frames fit, and its combs are no use in a full Dadant or Langstroth. You get one complete unit, a single box: expanding or overwintering it takes further boxes in the same format. And it is not a starter hive: six small frames fill fast and force you to watch for swarming from late May.