- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Messages
- 227
- Reaction score
- 163
- Location
- South Oxfordshire
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 8
I've been using Abelo polyhives for the last 3 years and generally I like them. The bees have overwintered well and grown stongly each spring. The problem is the frames are very tight. As the season goes on and the bees have propolised everything, I've found that 11 frames don't really fit. I started noticing the problem last year and tried giving the frames a good scrape. That partially sorted it for a while. I then tried going down to 10 frames and a dummy board, but ended up going to double brood just to give them enough space. After a good scrape at the start of this season and rotating some of the oldest frames out and replacing with new, I went back to 11 frames single box. But, this year seems to be a very sticky year. Propolis everywhere and no matter how much I scrape off it is building up again and the frames are very tight. I now find it impossible to get the first frame out without badly rolling the bees. It's only a matter of time before I squish a queen. Is anyone else having this problem? Solutions? I really don't want to go back to double brood again.