Special 3-Frame HDF Nuc

01 · THREE FORMATS, NOT TWO

Choose by the frame you already have

It is made in Langstroth (48 × 23 cm), Dadant US (48 × 30 cm) and Dadant Blatt (47 × 30 cm), chosen when you add it to the basket.

The detail that costs returns: between Dadant US and Dadant Blatt there is one centimetre of top bar, and that centimetre decides whether the frame seats or not. If your kit is French or Italian it is almost certainly Blatt; in Spain, US.

02 · WHY HDF AND NOT CARDBOARD

The difference shows in the second season

Water-resistant HDF stands the weather and several uses, which is exactly where a cardboard nucleus ends: cardboard is good for one move and little more. This one goes back to the store and comes out again.

And there is nothing to paint: the board is laminated at the factory. One honest note on the finish: small chips can show at the staple or nail points. That belongs to the material and does not affect the structure.

03 · WHAT IT COMES SET UP FOR

Entrance, easy-open and a space to feed

The lid closes with easy-open catches, which is what you appreciate with your hands full and gloves on. It has its entrance, and the crown board has a chamber for feeding without taking the nucleus apart — which matters in a three-frame colony, out of stores after four bad days.

With three frames the use is clear: a quick split, raising a queen, or handing over a sold swarm without the packaging eating the margin. If you need more volume, the catalogue has five- and six-frame nuclei.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is working packaging, not a production hive: