Plastic Beehive Frames
I’m a bloke with a small garden, allotment, beehives, wife, small child, full time job and a bee blog. In winter it’s manageable, it’s mainly the job and the family to contend with. But in summer, I literally run around the lawn with my push mower, do 2 hour emergency weeding once a month and have 30 minutes for weekly bee inspections. It does not feel like the good life until 10pm when I’m sitting on my bench with a beer staring at the stars and wondering what I can do less of.
After spending 1 hour and 40 minutes assembling 10 frames for another super and realising I needed an extra day (that I didn’t have) to assemble more, I thought I’d google and see if there was a better option. An option that would hopefully mean I didn’t bodge frames so badly that they needed to go on the fire, or that the remaining 80% of my frames had minor defects.
Finding a time-saving solution became even more pressing when I realised that, when I’d originally put my frames together a couple of years ago, I’d glued in both the bottom bars, not appreciating that I would need to take out the wax every few years. Rather than this being an excellent idea of mine to ‘ad lib wih the instructions’, it turns out that I’ll probably need to build another fire to chuck on some more useless frames I’ve spent time on!
Anyway in order to save you guys time – here’s what I’ve found out …
Plastic Beehive Frames
Beesy Frames
I’d seen an advert in the BBKA magazine for Beesy frames (link below) which used plastic corners and MDF strips: “Snap together, no more nailing” – sounded perfect – especially as they cost just £10 for 10 frames.
These frames are definitely worth considering and the cheapest I have found (cost comparison below).
Beehive Bits
Next, I came across Beehive Bits. Their frames are 100% plastic. Their website stated “They are delivered to you already made and just need foundation. To do this just prise the frame apart with your hive tool, slide your chosen foundation into position and close the two sides back together. No more nails needed and ready to use within minutes. They can be cleaned very easily by simply boiling, a plastic bag in the deep freeze or even cleaned through a dishwasher therefore making them ready to re-use”.
Even though they were a bit more expensive I decided to go with them because of the dishwasher bonus and, er, because they looked shiney and red. Here I am assembling one:
I am delighted with these frames as it took me less than 15 minutes to make 10 of them. Now I just need to see how the bees find them. They don’t make them for 14×12 frames, so I might call Beesy over the winter.
Grateful for any comments on people’s experience of plastic frames.
Price Comparisons
These prices do not include wax foundation or delivery or bulk pricing and are correct as of 6 July 2014.
- 10 Beesy super frames: £10.00
- 10 flat pack super frames (bee equipment suppliers): £12.00
- 10 Beehive Bits super frames: £18.50
With the Beehive Bits frames you can use the unwired foundation, saving yourself £1 per 10 frames.
Photos Of Plastic Frame Assembly
Hive Update
- I saw a Queen hatch out in Hive Two – pretty sure it was supercedure as there were eggs in the cells and I heard a laying queen piping a few times as I searched all over for her
- All hives have laying queens
- I have a total of about 2 supers of honey so far from 3 hives (hive three has not produced a surplus yet)
Read More
- MDF / Plastic frames: Beesy Frames
- Plastic frames: Beehive Bits
- Related Post: Piping Queen In The Hive
- Where we are in the Beekeeping Calendar
- Key beekeeping activities of the moment: Varroa Management
- One year ago in the apiary: Talking With Bees Gets Published
- Two years ago in the apiary: Proud Dad
- Hive Record Cards: Hive One, Hive Two, Hive Three, Hive Five
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Have you ever considered plastic foundation? We have a lot of wood frames with plastic foundation. At first the bees tend to ignore them and build comb elsewhere – clearly not a fan of plastic, but eventually they do build them out and once their built once, they never (or nearly never) need replacing. I’m not 100% sold but they are easy to use, never break during extraction, are easy to clean up if you want to get fresh comb going and I don’t need to run to the bee supply shop for foundation (which is a 3 hour return trip “run”).
The fact that the bees aren’t overly keen on plastic foundation makes me wonder how they feel about plastic frames. I suppose they’re just walking across it so that shouldn’t be a big drama. And once they get a bit of wax and propolis on the frame I’m sure they like it. I would be interested to know if you put half plastic and half wood frames in a box if there’s any difference in build out and honey/brood storage.
I read about plastic foundation but I didn’t come across any beekeepers (on the internet) that had a good experience of it. You are the first person with positive results. I’ll look into this again, but instinctively, I want to use wax foundation.
I ‘ll probably end up manipulating frames and end up with a mix of wooden and plastic frames in a super – but to start with I’ll put supers with 10 plastic frames on top of the hives.
Will be interested to hear how you get on. I dislike building frames too! Summer beekeeping chores are intense.
Hi Roger, I use Beesy Frames. I buy the corners and then make the bar on my table top saw. I am using 9mm ply but i am trying some 9mm shuttering ply which is half the price of good ply. I have been using Beesy corners for over three years now. They are great when you are wearing leather gloves because of the tapered ends. Clive
Thanks Clive. Sounds like you are having a great experience of these time saving devices. My bees have started to draw out the foundation in the plastic frames.
Is there any way to buy the frames in United States, and at what cost over here please?
Hi. I’m not the supplier. Please click on the links above.
I have found no avenue in the US to aquire these frames as of yet. I wish they would contac t someone to carry them in the US,
I’m a manufacturer of plastics (and also a beekeeper myself). Does anyone know where I can get information on where I can contact either companies or persons who would be interested in letting us produce for them? I’m very hardcore into Beekeeping in NJ and I did belong to the beekeepers organization. So it gives me pleasure and appreciation for the honeybees.
Are they easy to spin out , and I use heated knife to Remove wax pro’s and cons
Ty
Yes. Same to spin out as wooden frames. No problems to use hot knife.