10 frame hive 9 frames?

[Hotburn76]

Hello all.  I am new this year and started off with two nucs and I put them in ten frame deep hives.  I had seen on you tube and mentioned other places about only putting in 9 frames.  After they started filling the frames out I was getting pretty nervous about rolling the bees as I was pulling frames so I thought I would try it.  But now it seems as though they just built the honey out that much farther.  Sorry if this is a novice question or if you are shaking your head laughing, but did I do a bad thing? Why do people do it? Just confused on if this was a good move or not.

Jason

[rookie2531]

Not dumb, good question and I will be watching for the answer as I just pulled ten out and when I was putting them back together I had to push them together slowly not to smash them in the comb.

[sc-bee]

Brood chamber --10 frames in a ten frame box 8 in an eight etc. Some even shave the frames to get an extra. The nine frame boxes or one frame short, you are speaking of, usually is in reference to a honey super. Even with honey supers you start with a full box of foundation 10 in a 10 frame box etc so they will draw it out evenly. Later after it is drawn comb you cut back one frame(in honey supers), 9 frames in a 10 frame box etc. This usually gives the bees incentive to drawn the frame out deeper and leaves extra comb extended outside the frame to make it easier to cut the honey comb with an uncapping knife.

But you run a full box of frames in a brood chamber.... Also Hotburn update you location in your profile. Some question in beekeeping and timing are location dependent. It will help folks answer your questions knowing where you keep bees....

And a dumb question is one not asked  ;)

[Vance G]

I shave my frames to 1 1/4" wide in my table saw to allow me to draw my foundation 11 frames at a time as I think the bees do a better job of building the frames.  After they are drawn you can go back to 10 in the brood chamber but as you have noted, the bees fill all available space and you roll bees on  the outside frame as it is less likely to be the queen you are killing.  Pulling a frame is serious business.  You do it only when you need to but don't hesitate to do it then.  Every time we go in a hive it is a certain level of carnage.  That is why I leave 11 in my brood frames, I like the dense brood nest.  When super frames are drawn, I often just run 8 in my ten frame boxes.  Makes for fast uncapping with my heated knife.

[Michael Bush]

In the brood nest I run 9 frames in my 8 frame boxes and 11 frames in my 10 frame boxes.  You have to shave them down to 1 1/4".  Wider spacing makes uneven comb in the brood nest.

http://bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#framespacing
http://bushfarms.com/beesframewidth.htm

[Hotburn76]

Thanks guys for the replies.  So did I mess up bad then?  The way it looks to me I can't put the tenth frame back in since the other is drawn out to much.  Do I have to wait until next spring to fix it? 

[OldMech]

You will have to "shave" the wax back as if decapping a honey frame in order to reverse the issue.  Doing it while there is brood may not be a good idea, bee Armageddon in 3d

[BeeMaster2]

I have an observation hive and one time I put honey frames back in it with the comb up against the glass on the back side. I did not see it until it was back in the house, all put together. The bees started right away, cutting the wax through the side, moving the honey and continued cutting until they had access to all of the honey. It took about 3 days. When they were done, it looked like a laser cut it. They never did recap it and later moved all of the honey. The worst part was during those 3 days, the beetles walked around the hive like they owned it and laid eggs every where. The bees were to busy with repairs and did not pay any attention to them.  Then the bees were removing hundreds of SHB larvae and dropping them in the clean out tray under the screen. It took a week to get things restored to normal.
Jim

[Joe D]

Hotburn, no question is a dumb question.  One thing you do to help not rolling the queen, or others, is I take out the frame on the outer side next to the box.  Leave it out while to inspect the rest of the box, then put it back in.  I do run ten frames in the brood chamber and nine in most of the honey supers.  Good luck to you and your bees.





Joe

[Michael Bush]

>The way it looks to me I can't put the tenth frame back in since the other is drawn out to much. 

Exactly, which is why it causes more rolling of bees and makes the hive harder to manage.

>Do I have to wait until next spring to fix it? 

If you shake all the bees off, and are careful to only cut the honey and not the caps off of the brood, you could probably do it now.