Frame eyelets

[blackcavebees]

Q is about wiring frames vs buying wired foundation

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired) cost of eyelet and wire not included.

Anyone use eyelets and wire their own frames. Overhead in labour would seem to be first preparation of frame (but could be drilled in batches prior to assembly) i would assume labour benefit would be next time the frame has foundation replaced as should be quicker to remove/clean/rewax than with wired foundation.

Any comments and observations? Your experiences? Thanks

 

[pargyle]

Q is about wiring frames vs buying wired foundation

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired) cost of eyelet and wire not included.

Anyone use eyelets and wire their own frames. Overhead in labour would seem to be first preparation of frame (but could be drilled in batches prior to assembly) i would assume labour benefit would be next time the frame has foundation replaced as should be quicker to remove/clean/rewax than with wired foundation.

Any comments and observations? Your experiences? Thanks

It all looks identical to those you get friom UK Bee keeping suppliers and does the job at about half the cost.

Made a little tool to pick up and insert the eyelets (a cheap electrical screwdriver with the shank a little larger than the eyelet ground down at the tip to fit in the eyelet hole). Not so much for ease of inserting them (though this helps) more for ease of picking them up !

A fellow beak does exactly the same but uses foundation and embeds the wires by passing a current from a car battery through the wire for a few seconds ... seems to work fine.

I find jobs like this are pretty therapeutic when you are only doing 50 or a 100 frames ... not sure I would like to do thousands !!

I'm using 14x12 frames and I find three horizontal wires are perfectly adequate to support the comb they have built.

 

[Luminos]

I bought unwired foundation by mistake once; decided to try it rather than exchange it.
Didn't use eyelets, seems to work OK (14 x 12 and supers) - but too much faff for me.
Will stick to wired in future.

 

[oliver90owner]

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired)

Don't know what size and where you are getting your foundation, but that looks to me to be a bit OTT!!

RAB

 

[Teemore]

Stephen - read somewhere (probably on the forum) that staples can be used instead of eyelets to stop the wire digging into the frames too much - I presume the stapel goes in to one side of the hole in the frame. Haven't tried this yet.

I used wired frames with strips of foundation in my bait hives this year and they seem to have worked well.

 

[sipa]

Might a bit cheaper but bloody tedious !

 

[pargyle]

Might a bit cheaper but bloody tedious !

I dunno ... it's a bit like popping bubble wrap ... there's a real feeling of satisfaction on a winter evening when you run the crimping pliers along the wires and they crinkle and tighten up .... and you can 'ping' them and think of bees filling those lovely empty frames with nice white comb ... next summer ?

OK ... I know .... Getalife ... sad ain't it !

 

[BeeJayBee]

Stephen - read somewhere (probably on the forum) that staples can be used instead of eyelets to stop the wire digging into the frames too much

Tom Bick's picture here http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=370710&postcount=19

I've used eyelets, they're a bit tedious to put in. Have also tried using fishing line, which doesn't bite into the wood so much. It works okay, used with only a starter strip or if you weave a sheet of foundation through it. Wiring is more important in the lower third of the frame, especially with the larger frames, because the bees are less likely to attach comb to the bottom bar.

 

[Tom Bick]

Thats cleaver just linking the post Beejoyful.

I have tried eyelets and nothing but the staples are the easiest and simplest system and a good tip from the forum by two of the beefarmers so must be good.

Regarding strong fishing line over wire this last year I found that it looks like the bees prefer the fishing line and are more inclined to incorporate it into the comb and with the wire they sometimes work around it. This is obviously on foundationless frames but dont see why it would not be the same on foundation.

 

[blackcavebees]

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired)

Don't know what size and where you are getting your foundation, but that looks to me to be a bit OTT!!

RAB

As always RAB you are never far away
Forgot that price difference was 65p per "10" sheets not each, so £13 on 200

Maybe by 2017 my stocks will be up to a level where the effort is worth a days wages. It wasn't just the initial saving I was thinking about, but the time it takes to get old wired foundation out of frames, cleaned and redone ready for use (without the use of a large scale steam machine etc)

Still would appreciate folks' experiences. As my operation grows I seem to be producing more wax and I would look forward to when it would be cost effective to be using my own wax for foundation and not just trading it in for who knows what from the far east etc.

 

[mbc]

Thats cleaver just linking the post Beejoyful.

After honing her computer skills I'm sure she'll carve her way in the razor sharp world of linking little fillets of information.

 

[alanf]

...i would assume labour benefit would be next time the frame has foundation replaced as should be quicker to remove/clean/rewax than with wired foundation...

That's the claim by ITLD (who has more of them than anyone else in the UK) in http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=277527&postcount=32 and elsewhere. And from what I've read is the standard practice for large operators around most of the world.

However, that's calculated for Langstroth frames, not nationals. They don't have the groove down the sides, clamp bar at the top or split bars at the bottom. If the frame is a simple rectangle of wood, then the foundation can be fitted quickly without having to be inserted into the side bars etc. Similarly the wax is melted out and the old debris cut out without disturbing the wires. If you're national foundation, the size it comes in has to be fitted into the woodwork, so you don't get much of the benefit that you might with Langs. You could try cutting the foundation to fit in national frames as it would in a Langstroth without using grooves but that's more time.

...the time it takes to get old wired foundation out of frames, cleaned and redone ready for use (without the use of a large scale steam machine etc)

Experimenting this summer, a solar melter that can take whole frames was quickest. It does need releading every day, so it's for the backyard, but the wax melts out leaving only cocoon debris that cuts out fairly easily, wires and all. Best tool for scraping out any debris in the wooden grooves was an old fork with one tine bent to 90 degrees, easier to hold and use than the tool sold by the major suppliers.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thats cleaver just linking the post Beejoyful.

Click the #number of the individual post and it'll appear on its' own, without the rest of the thread.

 

[REDWOOD]

As always RAB you are never far away
Forgot that price difference was 65p per "10" sheets not each, so £13 on 200

Maybe by 2017 my stocks will be up to a level where the effort is worth a days wages. It wasn't just the initial saving I was thinking about, but the time it takes to get old wired foundation out of frames, cleaned and redone ready for use (without the use of a large scale steam machine etc)

Still would appreciate folks' experiences. As my operation grows I seem to be producing more wax and I would look forward to when it would be cost effective to be using my own wax for foundation and not just trading it in for who knows what from the far east etc.

£1.42 cheaper for 14x12 so thats a saving of 14p per frame or £1.54 per hive
frame wire is about 4p per frame or 44p per hive
probably eyelets are about 3p per frame or 33p per hive
So thats a saving of 7p per frame or 77p per hive
Not really worth me doing it but would love to have a go

 

[Tom Bick]

Click the #number of the individual post and it'll appear on its' own, without the rest of the thread.

Thanks

 

[Peterxix]

Eyelets

Q is about wiring frames vs buying wired foundation

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired) cost of eyelet and wire not included.

Anyone use eyelets and wire their own frames. Overhead in labour would seem to be first preparation of frame (but could be drilled in batches prior to assembly) i would assume labour benefit would be next time the frame has foundation replaced as should be quicker to remove/clean/rewax than with wired foundation.

Any comments and observations? Your experiences? Thanks

Hi I Wire my own made frames, The Eyelets I get from eBay £ 5.03p for 500, I use 0.4 Stainless/Steel wire also from eBay £ 13 a reel. wax foundation from my Local Club last time I got any it was £3.40 for 10 pack, I have a set of homebrew Jigs IE for drilling holes, Wiring frames Then I have a wire heater as you can see in the Photos, the probes that the 12v wires are connected to are some old Mig tips of my Electric Mig Welder,as you can see there are 4 tips but only the 2 outer ones are connected to the + and - of the 12v feed the 2 in the middle are just to hold the wire down onthe wax foundation, The prob tool has a micro switch that I press for 3 seconds to heat the wires and melt into the Foundation, I use a old PSU 13.8v 3amp, as a power unit. Hope it gives you some Ideas for wiring your own Frames

 

[alanf]

Hi I Wire my own made frames...

Thanks for photos, not seen it done like that before. From what I can see in the photos it looks like you're using full size national foundation wax sheets (unwired) and keeping the national side slots, split bottom rails and top bar fillet. Is that right? Entirely your choice, but I'd have thought that's not going to get all the time saving of pre-wiring that you get with Langstroth - that is the wood work and wire can stay undisturbed when the foundation wax is changed.

 

[pargyle]

Hi I Wire my own made frames,

Nice little set up there Peter ... I wired my own home made frames but the only jigs I made were for drilling the side bars in the same place and a spindle to hold the reel of wire with a length of timber to cut it to the right length each time. You have taken frame wiring to another astral plane ...I will be making my own set up like yours for this winters frames !! Thanks for the pics ...

 

[beekeeping4you]

Q is about wiring frames vs buying wired foundation

Price difference on 200 sheets is approx £130 less by my reckoning (un wired vs wired) cost of eyelet and wire not included.

Anyone use eyelets and wire their own frames. Overhead in labour would seem to be first preparation of frame (but could be drilled in batches prior to assembly) i would assume labour benefit would be next time the frame has foundation replaced as should be quicker to remove/clean/rewax than with wired foundation.

Any comments and observations? Your experiences? Thanks

Below my modest contribution:
Langstroth brood frame - "free floating", the sidebars held in position by two vertical pieces of batten, the bottom bar supported on a flat horizontal block.
The wire is guided through the eyelets and the tension is created by turning the wire reel clockwise.

(The frame shown on the pic is a lightweight Langstr. Hoffman version, special offer of a German supplier many years ago. I bought 1500 of them in parts, many of them are still in use.)
Wiring and tensioning done in one minute!
Best used with eyelets in the sidebar, see link provided by alanf: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/sho...7&postcount=32

Regards
Reiner

 

[lebouche]

Thats cleaver just linking the post Beejoyful.

I have tried eyelets and nothing but the staples are the easiest and simplest system and a good tip from the forum by two of the beefarmers so must be good.

Regarding strong fishing line over wire this last year I found that it looks like the bees prefer the fishing line and are more inclined to incorporate it into the comb and with the wire they sometimes work around it. This is obviously on foundationless frames but dont see why it would not be the same on foundation.

Can I ask what the screws are for? Think I'm going to need to wire some frames next year. Thanks for sharing your method BTW.