Step 6: Insert the Frames
Most of the time, your frames will already be inserted in your hive body when you receive your beehive or beekeeper kit. If not, this is the time to insert them. If you have a deep hive body, you should have deep frames. Don’t put medium or shallow frames into a deep body unless you are in a bind and have no other option. Each frame should sit down inside the hive with nothing stickign up.
Frames are the part of the hive upon which the bees build, or “draw,” the honey comb. Most frames are exactly that: a wooden frame usually surrounding a stiff sheet of plastic with little hexagons all over it. These plastic sheets, called foundation, are usually dipped in beeswax to encourage the bees to draw out their comb on the frame in a nice vertical manner. Without comb, the queen has nowhere to lay her eggs and the bees have nowhere to store food. Frames are where the action takes place and are the heart and soul of the beehive.
Once you insert your frames into the hive, use your frame tool to push the frames tightly together. Usually, you want to push the outside frames inward. This optimizes the bee space.
Hive Body Size
The most common hive body holds 10 deep frames. The next most common model holds only 8. Some people prefer the 8-frame model because it is lighter and easier to lift. This tutorial is focused on 10-frame hives, but if you have an 8-frame model, everything is the same except the number of frames. Do keep in mind that 10-frame hive bodies and supers won’t fit on 8-frame hives or vice versa. However, the frames themselves are identical and interchangeable.
There are multiple types and sizes of frames and foundation. Some foundation is all wax instead of wax-coated plastic. Some frames are plastic instead of wood. Foundation also comes in different colors (generally black for brood, yellow or white for honey, and green for drone brood, but it is not unusual to have a hive that uses yellow or white foundation throughout). As you become more involved in beekeeping, you can explore these foundation options further. You can also go foundationless and provide only a starter strip on which the bees will draw their comb. The majority of beekeepers who harvest their honey using an extractor prefer plastic or wire-reinforced wax foundation because of its strength.
For the purpose of setting up your new hive, all that really matters is that you have the correct number of frames and they have foundation.
You are almost done! Click #9 below for the next step.
