Why is the wiring of the frames better horizontal?

[JeffH]

Hi Pete, you must have an old battery charger like mine, that doesn’t some with a circuit breaker. The newer ones that come with a circuit breaker don’t work unless they are connected to a battery.

@Helene1, you need to have a board that the foundation sits on. So that the frame is not sitting on the table. Then you need a 12v embedding tool like the one at the end of my video.

The start of the video shows what happens when the wire is not embedded into the foundation properly. I used to sell colonies on a byo frames basis, then incorporate the colony into the customer’s frames. The customer didn’t embed the wires into the foundation properly.

I don’t do that any more. I supply the frames with the colonies these days.
cheers

[Dawn_SD]

@JeffH

The newer ones that come with a circuit breaker don’t work unless they are connected to a battery.

My jump starter works though, and it is new. You just have to keep pressing the Boost button as it only lets current flow for about 30 seconds

[JeffH]

A jump starter is different to a battery charger. A jump starter would be similar to using a battery. With a batter charger, using it to embed wire into foundation is shorting it out, therefore the safety switch will instantly activate. A battery doesn’t have a safety switch, so I’m assuming a jump starter doesn’t either.

I used to carry a fully charged jump starter in my boat as a back up. What a waste of time that was. It didn’t do anything to start my 7.3 litre diesel engine.

[Peter48]

You are right Jeff, a jump starter doesn’t have a circuit breaker that battery chargers have had added to them for about the last 25 years. My charger dates back well past then.
Another good clip on how to embed foundation into a wired frame, it is well explained how to do it right and the common mistake…
Cheers

[JeffH]

Thanks Pete, I thought I’d better explain in the comment because @Helene1 wouldn’t understand one word in the video.

[Peter48]

Well done cousin, it must be a struggle for Helene to get her head around bee keeping which is all new to her, when all the advice she gets is in English and not Italian. It must be making her feel like she is biting off more than she can chew sometimes. Give her a 10 for keeping going.
Cheers

[HappyHibee]

Hi Helene,

I live in the UK and don’t use any wire or wax foundation.

The Bees will sort all that out themselves. This picture was after only one week of a newly installed nucleus.

MVIMG_20190803_113752|375x500

[Zzz]

You don’t have to make a jig for a small volume of frames. The cost of pre-wired frames is cost effective and time saving at least here.

[Peter48]

Very valid point, when there is only one or two hives it isn’t really justified going to the expense of a framing jig and wiring board.
Cheers

[Semaphore]

I built my own jig out of scrap ply, some old thread spools, nuts and bolts and this and that. The only thing I had to buy was the door jamming thing from bunnings for $5. I LOVE it. The advantage of a jig is that it helps to keep the wires tight. You can do the same using some clamps in a pinch… You certainly don’t need a frame jig if you are just making a few frames- but it sure would help- I need to make one when I get the time. I use a cheap battery charger- it’s new but obviously doesn’t have the auto cut off feature as it works fine- and I just use the two clamp touching the wire at each end- don’t need the special tool.

Having said all of that: wiring and embedding is a bit of an art- and if you don’t make that many you can really make a motza of it when you don’t have experience. Badly assembled frames are more trouble than they are worth. The last thing you want is a frame that falls apart when you try to lift it out of a hive or spin it. I have seen a lot of badly wired frames in my time. It took me a while to get the hang of it. For that reason- if you only need a few dozen frames- i would buy them all pre-done. The Urban Beehive in Sydney has good wired frames with 100% pure Australian beeswax (Tobin and Sons), they have eyelets and are glued and nailed- with nails through the sides as well as the tops and all for $7.20 each. They post Australia wide. Making it yourself you can possibly do it for around $3.50-4- but only if you buy frames and wax in bulk.

Frame Full Depth assembled

[Helene1]

@Peter48 thank you is nice to now that someone far away from Italy on the other side of the world has some simply for me…
@JeffH I saw your film. and is very clear , Thank you- @Dawn_SD @Zzz @ Thank you for all advise.
well i don’t want to give up yet ( but I am close to it ) with this adventure…
Whent down to see the battery that I have. I use it to charge my little Fiat 500…
I see that it also has a 6 V not only 12 V… maybe it works better… ?
** And…just to make my life easier…I just saw that I have another problem to resolve…** …
This bladdy wax sheet of there D. Blatt frames are not the size of mine FH…
I just put my frame over the wax to take a photo…
I am missing a piece of 2,5 cm at the end as you can see…
Should I leave it like that or add the missing piece and somehow make it stick together ?
.https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B01JYZ24DW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
.

.

[Helene1]

@Semaphore- Thank you for your advise… I live on the other side of the world and not in Australia ! Learning how to seal a wax sheet on this frames is a must for the beekeeping school course that I am attending ! We don’t use Langstroth or Flow Hive here in Italy just D.Blatt.

[Dawn_SD]

@Helene1

Should I leave it like that or add the missing piece and somehow make it stick together ?

You could do that. It will work. The bees quickly build out the gaps around the edges. I would probably hang it in the centre of the frame. Because I am mean with foundation, I would probably cut that sheet in half horizontally and just use half a sheet in each frame. You may get more drone comb if you do that, but the bees make foundation into drone comb anyway, if they want to!

[Helene1]

@Dawn_SD thank you so much Dawn. I am going crazy on this thing !!
Any of you wants to take a little trip to Italy ?? It would make things so much easier !!
What do you think of this solution ?
1- I can turn the wax sheet vertically and putted on the left of the frame…
2- The extra piece that I have to cut off ( because to long )… I turn it horizontally and use it to cover the missing space

on the right…
3- Making it like this I can cover all the frame without living any opening… If I attach the 2 sheet together will i have any problems ?
see photo…

[Martha]

There is wireless pre waxed foundation which comes in sheets and snaps right into your flow frames. I love those because I don’t get poked with wire and it’s very easy to replace without damaging the frame. So possible third option?

[Peter48]

You can cut the surplus off the bottom and position the wax in the center of the frame with an equal gap on each side and it will work perfectly with the bees building comb in the gap.
Cheers

[Helene1]

Ok @Peter48 thank you a lot ! tomorrow I look into that.

[Helene1]

@Martha… you live in the Usa ? ok… I am in Italy… so… if you buy that kind of waxed foundation you need to have the right size ( and WE don’t have them to fit FH ) They only use D.Blatt hives !Not even Langstroth !!
!!! otherwise I would of resolved the problem already ! if they are wired inside you can’t cut them anymore… but thank you for suggesting that to me.

[Helene1]

I saw them with the wire inside ready to be use but to have them to fit my frames they need to be cut quite a lot…
and to hold the large waxed sheet in place they need the wire inside ( I think )

[Dawn_SD]

@Helene1 - please take a deep breath. Bees are very resilient. You are worrying about tiny things. That is good, but not if it is stressing you.

@Helene1

What do you think of this solution ?

I think it would work, but you are making it much too complicated. If you don’t align the wax cell imprints exactly, the bees are going to have to correct it anyway. I don’t think it is worth it. Using your beautiful diagram as a template, here is my scrappy drawing to give you my suggestion:

The bees will fix the gaps around the edges. Honestly, they will. In a nectar flow, they will fix it very quickly. You are going to be a great beekeeper, just try to relax a little bit, and everything will get easier.

I am going to be in southern France in May, so if everything is horrible for you with your beekeeping, I may be able to persuade my husband to take a trip into Northern Italy. We will see. But I think you will be fine.