Frame Making for Basic Assessment

[Russel]

Sure this as been side before, give each end of the bottom bars a "gentle" wallop if they're a tight fit and if you've got jumbo fingers either some long nose pliers or thin card to hold nails thus avoiding sore fingers.

 

[victor meldrew]

Use a rampin they are ace
Vm


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[beeno]

Cawnt knock a nail in straight ?
VM


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Rest perfect thank you!

 

[beeno]

Assemble them with disassembly in mind for a few years later. Wedge comes out easier if nailed straight down with frame on its side. At my Basic mine was just glanced at to ensure it looked OK. Once you've done a few hundred you get quite quick at them!

That sounds good. I am only planning to do 10.

 

[beeno]

Sure this as been side before, give each end of the bottom bars a "gentle" wallop if they're a tight fit and if you've got jumbo fingers either some long nose pliers or thin card to hold nails thus avoiding sore fingers.

Thanks Russel, but I do not have jumbo fingers only jumbo poly brood chambers.

 

[beeno]

IIRC, a folding table and no chair. I prefer to assemble frames sitting at a table!
I took along my old IKEA shelf (sten?) with the gap between the planks that nicely accommodates the Hoffman wedge shape.
As O.StJ says, you will speed up after you've done a few. I now prefer to assemble all the main wood, before starting nailing. But that's just me.


I use a hive tool (bent end) to split out the wedge neatly.
And a wickedly-hooked Stanley blade then tidies the topbar. (The wedge doesn't usually need trimming, if you rotate it and assemble so any 'flash' is away from the topbar and snug against the foundation.
But again, that's just me.

Thanks itma

 

[psafloyd]

I took along my manual staple gun with brads and made one up that way as that is how I do it at home (I hate gimp pins).

My examiner had never seen it done before, but was happy with the result and I had offered to do one with a hammer, too.

I have a stubby claw hammer from a pound shop, as it has better heft than a pin hammer and a shorter handle which I find much better for preventing damage to fingers and broken pins.

Hi all,
Just made up 5 Hoffman self-spacing frames in preparation for Basic Assessment and to go into my new nuc. What a fiddly and precise business it is! Does anyone know if there is a set time within which one is expected to assemble the frame? If a set time is not available, what would a reasonable time be? I take it that it may be possible to fail this part of the exam, by for instance putting a nail through the top bar! The answer required is not how quickly you can do it - for the more competitive forum members!

 

[masterBK]

Basic assessment : There are just 4 marks allocated to frame assembly. Some candidates try to insert wired foundation wrong way up (ie long wire loops protruding through bottom bars) some forget to nail in the bottom bars, a few forget to nail the side bars to the top bar and quite a few put a dent in the foundation with the hammer when nailing in the wedge. Then there are those that manage to nail their fingers and bleed on the foundation etc or hammer their fingers. But we all have to start somewhere and in a few years time when you can knock up frames of foundation in less than a minute each you will laugh about the mistakes you made in the past.

 

[REDWOOD]

probably this is the most informative instructions and diagrams on how to assemble frames on the net
http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/frameassy.html

 

[beeno]

Basic assessment : There are just 4 marks allocated to frame assembly. Some candidates try to insert wired foundation wrong way up (ie long wire loops protruding through bottom bars) some forget to nail in the bottom bars, a few forget to nail the side bars to the top bar and quite a few put a dent in the foundation with the hammer when nailing in the wedge. Then there are those that manage to nail their fingers and bleed on the foundation etc or hammer their fingers. But we all have to start somewhere and in a few years time when you can knock up frames of foundation in less than a minute each you will laugh about the mistakes you made in the past.

Shouldn't laugh. Makes me feel like a master frame assembler. Can't make it in a minute though. I shall just take my time! Surprised it is only 4 marks - poor bees.

 

[itma]

Take a look at the syllabus document on the BBKA website. You have to pass all 3 sections. (Yes, I know it looks like more than 3, but read carefully!)
A fail in any one of the 3 means an overall fail ... so they are all important!

 

[beeno]

Take a look at the syllabus document on the BBKA website. You have to pass all 3 sections. (Yes, I know it looks like more than 3, but read carefully!)
A fail in any one of the 3 means an overall fail ... so they are all important!

itma, I am going to go well prepared then you can enjoy the experience!

 

[victor meldrew]

Some peeps have been known to fix side bars groove outside believe me !
VM


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[VEG]

Ohh i have seen some beauts lol

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

yep - nails straight down through the top bar into the side bars - nails through the bottom bars from the side, hardly any nails at all so yes, essential test but quite rightly, not too many marks hanging on it

 

[Heather]

People come to me to take exam... I provide hives and facilities. There is NO time limit on anything.. just chill out and don't rush.

Only time seen pulled up re frames is when pins put in to protrude out at top so do from outside to centre. Otherwise just use the 11... you will be fine.

Examiners not there to trip you up,, I was asked at my exam legal height of lettering of weight on a jar.. hadn't a clue (4mm apparently).. said I paid someone to do them correctly! I passed.

 

[BeeJayBee]

You've probably already seen it, but there's an excellent video at Cornwall Honey. [VID][ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEUfyxexvI"]Making a wooden frame for a Bee hive - Beekeeping Tutorial - YouTube[/ame][/VID]

Also, if you do a google search for Beekeeping Basic Assessment you'll find several blogs with a lot of information that you might find useful. Here are the search results

edit
I've no idea where the "> has come from in this post, doesn't appear in the draft.

 

[alanf]

...there's an excellent video...

It's a well made video, and ends with an ideal frame. As for most beekeeping jobs, you find the order of doing it that suits you. As in the video, sliding the whole wax sheet through the bottom bars works with perfect woodwork and wax at the right temperature. With less than perfect materials or soft wax on a warm day it's a bit more forgiving if you nail only one bottom bar on (the side opposite the removable wedge at the top). Then flex the wax sheets into the side slots. Any clearing of splinters in the slots or trimming of foundation that has been stacked on a warm shelf and "spread" a mm or two wider is a lot easier without having to extract the sheet through bottom bars again. Once the sheet is flat in position, add the last bottom bar and the wedge at top.

And pinning the wedge with straight pins down into the top bar is easier than trying to find the angle. It's also easier to remove the wedge without damage when reusing the frame.

Incredible how many variants you see for a simple task but as long as the woodwork is the right way round and it's securely pinned there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Madge]

... Incredible how many variants you see for a simple task ...

I agree about fixing the second bottom bar after the foundation is in place, and about the angled pins. But also, I would definitely use a ram-pin. I don't like getting my fingers hit with a hammer.

 

[BeeJayBee]

As for most beekeeping jobs, you find the order of doing it that suits you. ... Incredible how many variants you see for a simple task

I agree, but you have to learn one way first. Once you've passed the test it's easy to work out your own way.

I don't pin the bottom bars until every other part is secured, don't use wired foundation and tend to use only starter strips or large triangles of foundation with horizontal wire or fishing line. I turn the wedge through 90degrees so it's longer than the one the other side, which helps with the pinning. I don't use a rampin because I find it's time consuming and too fiddly to load, and use a small square headed hammer rather than a round headed tack hammer. And I use Langstroths, which don't have a groove in the sidebars for the wax.