I’m reaching out for some creative ideas to fix an uneven gap after inserting the Flow Frames to the super. Its hard to explain the issue, so I’ve attached a picture of one of the supers looking down so you can see the gap.
One hive’s gap measures 1/2" from on end to 1/4" to the other. The other hive gap measures from 0" (flush to wall) to a gap of 1/8". I ensured there was no overlap of the Flow Frame tabs to throw off the spacing. I could put some cedar shims at the top and bottom edges, but that may not be the best solution. Any ideas would be appreciated…thanks in advance.
True, as long you kept the spacing even. If I was a bee, I would try to propolis up the gap between the frames though - draft of cold air coming in around the harvest door and through the gap!
In most boxes I wouldn’t worry about that little gap and would just push them together into the center.
But in looking at your picture and thinking about it I would want at least a bit of a wedge to hold the Flowframes in place so when you are harvesting they wouldn’t wiggle around.
Anyone with some harvesting experience have any thoughts about this?
If all you needed was a wedge to keep them from shifting you could use a larger flat head screw drilled in to the box sideways to create a bit of tension for the frames to snug up against.
I’m wondering if your Front & Rear Panels are the same length. I’d wager that there’s a 1/4" difference between the two pieces.
We know the Flow Frame widths are identical due to manufacturing…Their length could be altered, but doesn’t apply here.
Measurement for a Hundred, Alex…
I would hazard a guess based on my boxes that the box joints are not exact and if they are a bit deeper on side than the other then when you snug them up you get a bit of overage which would make that side shorter.
Pretty common with any hive ware, but of more import with the Flow frames perhaps.
And Becky I know you got a particularly difficult kit which might be adding to this issue.
I frequently did double checks as I went along with a square. Parts of my hive were ‘off’ so that may have something to do with it. I think my only fix is to put a shim strip on the top and bottom, fingers crossed…
We glued a thin shim in the corner next to the ones already there. It made the fit a little more secure and stopped the frames from moving. It was a little thing to do. If you look in the corners of the flow frame super you can see the ones already there…we just added another on in the end where you harvest from. Getting the box square is important as there is no play in the frames as they are rigid. We have our frames pushed together with no gaps…so the face looks like a window.
I found the when I put all of my frames in up against each other I was left with a small gap on one side of the last frame and the hive inner wall. It was big enough that the bees were crawling around it and could subsequently walk all over the front of the frames that you access via the access panel to tap the honey out of, eventually. So I just used the adjustment screws at the rear of the flow frames, at the top, you’ll need a ‘plus’ shop screwdriver for this, and i then turned them out so that the frames sat quite ‘snuggly’ in the super box. I did this with all the frames and then spaced them all evenly so that the ‘single gap’ that i originally had was subsequently spaced across all the frames. I started with a gap that was approximately 3mm before the problem but after spacing the frames evenly and ‘spreading the gap’ out amongst each frame I was subsequently left with 6-7 gaps that were less than about 1/2 a single mm. The bees can not get through this and the front of the flow frames remain bee free. they seem to happily moving around the sides of all the frames. I am hoping that they seal the minute gaps left, with their own method, to prevent and unwanted air circulation.
Hope that helps. sorry no pictures. Oh and I am a total novice so if there is a better way and anyone has any feedback then I would love to hear it. Just want to give the bees the best home that we can.
Alex
I used tongue depressors and attached them to the existing shims with small hive frame nails. I put two end to end on each side of the box, so that they ran the whole depth from top to bottom. The frames then fit with no gaps at all, and no requirement for propolis. Here is a photo of the first one nailed in place.
Amazon sells large boxes of tongue depressors very cheaply, but you can also use “craft sticks” or ice lolly/ice cream sticks. Good excuse to eat 4 chocolate coated Magnums in a row, I suppose!
Hi Dawn,
is the metal shown in lower right quadrant of the photo something you added or did it come with the kit? Presumably it protects the timber when prising out the frames from the harvesting end.
Thanks Michelle - looks easy enough to do - I wonder if it causes any issues with a possible gap at the bottom of the flow frames or sitting slightly too high? As I’m typing this I’m wondering if she has covered this elsewhere on the forum…
it would only lift them up by a mm or so- which would be no issue. You could always sand down the rebate first a fraction to account for the metal- probably not necessary.
