How have I managed to write over 450 posts without having one specifically dedicated to the bane of every beekeeper’s life … frame building?
Actually, that’s not quite correct.
It’s sometimes the bane of my life 1.
Building frames in the height of the season can be a rather stressful process.
I belatedly realise I need 20 frames for swarm control, or making up new nucs, or simply to replace some grotty old ones.
I’m short of time.
I can’t find the hammer … or the nails … or the foundation 🙁
Perhaps it’s only me that’s so disorganised?
But frame building isn’t always like that, and it doesn’t have to be like that.
When there’s no rush, when you have the right tools for the job and the time to do it properly, it can be quite a pleasant way to spend half an afternoon.
And the winter is the time to build frames, so this seemed a logical time to write this post.
Single use or reuasble?
Frames are a semi-disposable 2 consumable for beekeeping.
At least brood frames are. You’ll need new ones during swarm control and when making increase. These brood frames should then be replaced every 3-4 years, depending upon how dark and manky 3 they are getting.
‘Semi-disposable’ because brood frames can be recycled a few times through the steam wax extractor, but eventually the joints get a bit rickety and they should be consigned to the stove.
Super frames are a bit different because they can be reused year after year. I still have some (frames with drawn comb) in use from my first summer of beekeeping.
However, whether I’m making brood or super frames, I build them in essentially the same way. I also build my foundationless frames in a broadly similar manner.
If you build them properly they will remain square and relatively rigid even after a couple of passes through the steam wax extractor. This makes financial sense as frame costs can quickly escalate if you are not careful.
If you build them the way I describe below, you can put them through the steam wax extractor, push off the ‘nailed only’ bottom bar, scrape back any remaining propolis and wax, add a fresh sheet of foundation and refit the bottom bar.
Tools of the trade
You need somewhere with a reasonable amount of space to work and just a few very unspecialised tools. I like building frames in the garden if it’s warm and dry. The banging 4 is less intrusive for those indoors.
Of course, if you’re (sensibly) building them in midwinter – when you have time and little else to do – then you need to plan things accordingly i.e. not late in the evening, or when the crochet/poker club are meeting downstairs.
Tools of the trade
A sharp knife, a pair of pliers and a small lightweight hammer are the essentials. I use a 110 g (4 oz) cross pein hammer, though anything similar is suitable. Even if you end up using a nail gun for most of the work (see below) you will still need a hammer.
You will be surprised (I was) how much easier it is to build frames with a small hammer like this.
You don’t need force … you need accuracy.
Every frame requires 11 nails, so a brood box or super-full of frames will mean you’re going to be using it a minimum of 121 times.
So buy and use a lightweight hammer 🙂
And then, after a thousand frames, buy a nail gun and ask yourself “Why didn’t I do this years ago?”.
Tacwise nail gun …
The Tacwise model I use has worked well, but I know some prefer a compressed air (rather than ‘lecky) powered gun.
I wasn’t joking when I said make a thousand frames first. Frame building is a sort of rite of passage for a beekeeper. You won’t make better frames with a nail gun, but you will make them faster (and more noisily).
I also suggest you use some wood glue 5 such as the blue indoor/outdoor Evo Stick or the equivalent stuff from Gorilla.
Of the two, I prefer the Gorilla glue as the nozzle is more clog-free 6.
OK … any readers who have made a few hundred frames up already can skip ahead to some of the concluding comments. You will know all of the following … or you should.
Building frames
Get organised first.
Make sure everything is to hand and logically arranged.
Put a hundred or so gimp pins (frame nails) into a container that has low sides and a wide open top, ideally quite heavy. You want them to be easy to pick up, but not easy to vibrate off the worksurface with all the hammering.
Gimp pins
And, if they do fall off, you only want to pick up a few dozen, not a 500 g box full.
I strongly recommend a Charlie Bigham’s pie container 7 for this purpose 🙂
How many frames should you make at a time?
I do them in batches of 10 as that number fits on the top of my Black and Decker Workmate. It’s also the number of sheets of foundation in a packet. And it’s a convenient number to put in a brood box so you don’t trip over them when building the next 10.
I usually make 5-10 batches and then give up from boredom 8.
Seconds out
You can save a chunk of cash by purchasing second quality frames in the sales. Most of the major suppliers sell them in batches of 50.
You can expect that a small proportion of the frame bars will have defects – knots, shakes, splits or warps.
If any of these are significant, and particularly if there are defects near the frame lugs or warps or twists in the top bar, discard them. It will only be 1-2% of the frame bars and it will save you the hassle of a broken lug or an ill-fitting frame later in the season.
I learnt this the hard way, so you don’t have to 😉
Prepare the top bars
- Use the knife to remove the foundation retaining wedge from the top bars. Don’t just pull the wedge off as they sometimes break.
- Put the foundation wedges somewhere nearby but out of the way 9.
- Tidy up the remaining sliver of wood that is attached to the top bar with another careful swipe of the knife.
- Lie the top bars – all in the same orientation – upside down on a flat surface.
Top bars – lined up and ready to go
- Add a small dab of wood glue to the recess cut into the top bar where the side bars attach. Do both sides at once.
Add the side bars
- Working down one side, then the other, of the aligned top bars, push fit the side bars in place.
- Make sure you orientate the side bars with foundation groove on the inside 10.
- They will be a tight fit and don’t worry if they’re not all perfectly aligned or fully pushed down. They need to be a tight fit to ensure that the frames will be square once assembled.
- Once all the side bars are in place, take each frame and turn it over, standing on a hard surface and use the hammer to tap down on the top bar to ‘seat’ the side bars properly. Don’t hit the lug, just aim for the narrowest part of the top bar.
Properly ‘seated’ side bar
- Some frames won’t need this, others will need a couple of smart taps to ‘seat’ them properly.
- Return the frames to the inverted position.
Add the bottom bars
- Add a dab of glue to the recess in the side bars that will take the bottom bar above the ‘non wedge’ side of the top bar.
Glue for one of the bottom bars only – note the orientation of the top bar
- Add one bottom bar to every frame in the glued recesses. If the bottom bar is a very tight fit then the frames are good quality. If it’s so tight that the side bar splits then they are not such good quality.
- A sharp tap with the hammer at the ends of the bottom bar before offering it to the glued recess will make it slightly thinner and so it may be easier to fit.
- It is important that the ends of the bottom bars are flush with the side bars. If they are not the frame will taper and you will struggle fitting the foundation.
Check frame alignment
- Check the alignment of the frames. They should all be square, with equal gaps between the bottom bars as shown in the photo above.
- If any are wonky give them a twist to straighten them up.
Nail the frames
- I nail each frame in turn, rather than doing all bottom bar nails first, then all side bars. It involves less frame handling and so is faster.
- Use two gimp pins, one each side, to attach the bottom bar to the side bar. Drive the pin in vertically through the bottom bar into the end grain of the side bar.
Bottom bar nailing
- Use four pins, two each side, to attach the two side bars to the top bar. One pin goes through the flat edge of the side bar.
One of four pins attaching the side bars and the top bar
- The other – assuming you are using Hoffman self-spacing frames – is driven through the angled wedge-shaped spacer. Alternatively, some drive it in to the apex of the wedge. Either way works.
And the other face of the frame
- All of the nails should be driven in flush with the wood. You do not want the heads protruding to catch on the hive tool when (if) you scrape the frames of propolis.
- Some gimp pins are poor quality and have ‘spade ends’. These tend to drive in at weird angles and are best avoided.
Some good and bad gimp pins – the four on the left might be tricky to drive in straight
- If the gimp pin does go in at an angle then don’t worry … unless it protrudes through the side bar or into the foundation groove.
Wonky pin … rip it out and start again
- In these cases replace the pin or you will inevitably catch it with the hive tool, or rip your vinyl glove on it.
Fitting the foundation
I only fit foundation shortly before I need to use the frames. Foundation is relatively fragile. It goes brittle in the cold and develops a white(ish) bloom on the surface which makes it less attractive to the bees.
If you are building frames in the winter 11 then wait until you need the frames before fitting the foundation.
I use diagonally wired foundation. If you remove a sheet from the packet you will see that there are small or large loops of wire on the long edge of the sheet. The large loop goes adjacent to the top bar of the frame, trapped under the foundation wedge.
- Fold the three large loops at 90° to the sheet and slide the sheet down the foundation grooves in the side bar so that the the wire loops lay flat against the underside of the top bar.
Placement of the wire loop against the underside of the top bar
- Refit the foundation wedge. You usually have to squeeze it into the gap between the side bars, trapping the wire loops underneath it.
- Fix the foundation wedge in place with three gimp pins driven through the wedge and each of the trapped wire loops. This stops the foundation from slipping down in the frame.
Pin through the foundation wedge and the trapped wire loop
- Add the second bottom bar to the frame. This should not be glued as you want to be able to remove it to replace the foundation. Just use one gimp pin at each end.
- Take care adding this second bottom bar as there is (or at least I have) a tendency to crumple the lower edge of the sheet of foundation. Push fit one end of the bottom bar and then offer it into position by prising it apart from the already fitted bottom bar, so making space for the foundation to fit. You quickly get the hang of this after messing up a couple of sheets of premium quality foundation 🙁
Second bottom bar fitted … do not use glue.
- Some sheets of foundation are fractionally too wide for the frames. I’ve only ever used Thorne’s DN/SN4’s and DN/SN5’s – both first and second quality – and their premium foundation, and still they are sometimes too wide. In that case lay the foundation on a flat surface and cut ~1mm off one of the shorter edges.
Trimming super foundation to fit the frame
- I suspect this poor fit is because the sheets of foundation ‘stretch’ slightly during storage 12. Since I usually need to trim down every sheet in a packet I find I can do 3-4 sheets at a time.
Foundationless frames
I’ve discussed these in detail before. I use a lot of them. I don’t have time or space or energy to justify their use again here … I’ve written lots about their construction and use previously which I hope should answer any questions you have.
I make these frames in the same way except for the addition of a couple of vertical bamboo supports. These are added after I fit both bottom bars. I then add back the foundation wedge to leave a narrow slot into which I glue a simple wooden ‘tongue depressor’ starter strip.
Why wood?
Why not a strip of commercial foundation?
Or a hand crafted wax starter strip?
Or at least a wax-painted wooden strip?
Because a plain wooden strip made from a tongue depressor works better and is less effort than any of the other ‘solutions’ 13 above.
Take your pick …
And I know this because I’ve done a side-by-side comparison (see above) to determine which the bees preferentially use … and they simply do not care.
I made a dozen or so frames up like those above and added them to hives and observed which of the options the bees ‘chose’ to draw comb from.
They chose the plain wood as frequently as any others … and since that’s the easiest to prepare, that’s what I do.
Let the bees tell you … 😉
Storing frames
If you’re paying full price for the frames and foundation (rather than buying in bulk, or buying second quality) a frame will cost about £3.30.
Look after them!
Storing 10-20 frames is easy … just put them in empty brood boxes. Except these might get pressed into service during swarm control, or to make bait hives, so then where do you store the frames?
Foundationless frames are relatively easy as they are more robust than frames with foundation. Just stack them up in a pile and use as needed.
Bamboo foundationless frames
Ideally do the same with the built frames before you add the foundation.
However, with a little ingenuity you can devise a solution … here’s mine.
Frame storage
I can store a couple of hundred frames hanging from the shed roof. This has worked well, but needs a reasonable amount of ‘head space’ – either a high roof, or something underneath them (like a bench, or in my case a canoe) that stops you from walking/standing directly below them.
Here are some I made earlier
I’m sure there are lots of other equally good solutions …
Final thoughts
If you use a nail gun to assemble frames do not use it for the second of the bottom bars (other than for foundationless frames). The gun drives the nails in deep and they are very difficult to remove. Attach the unglued second bottom bar with gimp pins as described above.
Nailed …
I use 20 mm 18g nails for the nail gun.
The nail gun speeds up frame building.
It can get quite competitive … can I build the next 10 frames in less time than it took the last 10?
Come on .. give me a break. It’s the winter and I need some sort of entertainment to get me through the dark days until I’m beekeeping again 😉
Footnotes
- You might love making frames … which is frankly a bit odd.
- Or semi-reusable if you want to sound more environmentally friendly.
- Derived from the French manqué for dirty or filthy.
- And inevitable swearing if I clip my thumb.
- Many people do not bother glueing frames, and it certainly isn’t necessary. However, it takes only seconds extra and – I think – makes a slightly more robust finished product. Your choice.
- Is that a term?
- Your homework for the week is to test a range of Charlie Bigham’s pies to determine which is supplied in the best container for holding gimp pins. I recommend the chicken …
- Or because my thumb and index fingers are so bloodied and bruised I can no longer hold the gimp pins securely.
- Or store them safely if you don’t intend to add foundation for some time. Remember, the wedges are interchangeable … they don’t have to be fitted back to the top bar they were removed from. Just put them in a pile.
- Don’t ask … just don’t.
- Swot!
- Or, more correctly, get thinner due to the stack of other packets they are underneath.
- Which are solutions, but they are substandard ones.
I have the dubious luxury of grandchildren who are mollycoddled at home
The chance to be let loose with hammer and nails without parental knowledge? – moths to a flame.
2 of 10 frames are usable afterwards too …
Thanks for the post David
Hi Martin
What could possibly go wrong?
I’m sure with a bit of on-the-job training you could improve the success rate to an acceptable figure. I remember my grandfather allowing me to use (under supervision) sharp tools and to swear (also under supervision) doing DIY … that was a bit of a rite of passage as well.
Cheers
David
Frame building
I use a 9 frame jig (google)
I use a nail gun
I glue (Lang jumbos)
Easy to produce 9 frames – unwired in 20 minutes.Or if doing bulk under 15 minutes
Hello Michael
I’m not going to publish my ‘personal best’ times as that would just make me seem just a little bit, er, weird. OK, more weird. However, if pushed I can rustle them up pretty quickly if needed. The advantage of building them in the winter is that there should be no need to try and break any records. The beauty of foundationless frames is that you can make a few dozen up and they’ll be ready next week, or next year.
Cheers
David
Hi David, really look foreword to your musings on a Friday, and your article on frames just reassures us beekeepers that most of us are singing off the same hymn sheet. I do think you should put all your writings into a book, we’ll all know none of it is cut and pasted but tried and tested on the beekeepers behalf by yourself.
Many thanks for the for all you hard work and commitment to the beekeepers who have discovered you.
Many thanks Mark Riches, keeping bees in Norfolk.
Hello Mark
If you know a good publisher send me the details … I don’t suppose there are £100k advances for books on beekeeping 🙁
Cheers
David
wonderfully clear instructions for making frames, thank. I will direct our beginners to this. Just one point; we were told to bend back the short loops onto the wax to avoid the risk of them catching the hive tool if scraping the bottom bars. Of course this may not be necessary, depending on the depth? (short dimension of the foundation)
Hello Pat
That’s a good idea. It’s not something I do (bend back the loops) and it’s not something I’m aware of struggling with when I (rarely) scrape along the bottom bars. By the time I get round to doing that the comb is usually fully drawn and, with a sharp hive tool and a bit of force, there’s little resistance.
However, you might also be correct about them not protruding very far – if at all. I’ll have to check a few frames.
Cheers
David
Hi David
I was impressed by your previous writings on foundationless frames. I’ve even bought some tongue depressors to try. But now I see you still use foundation.
So I would like to know what you think are the pros and cons of foundation versus foundationless frames, and when would you choose one or the other. Perhaps that’s a topic for a future blog?
Hello Patrick
Don’t mistake me writing about frames with foundation with me using frames with foundation 😉
I have to write for a general audience (to keep my sponsors happy and to maintain my outrageous advertising revenue) and, since most use foundation, the sensible thing to do is to write about building frames with foundation.
The reality is that I use both. Those pics were mostly taken in June or July this year when I was making up a lot of nucs for sale. Since purchasers usually expect frames with foundation, and because many were going to beginners, that’s what I provide.
I probably used a 50:50 mix of foundation and foundationless frames this year. I discuss some of the benefits and problems with foundationless frames on some of the pages you will have already read. I’m not sure what else I’d want to cover in a new post, but will give it some thought.
Here’s an example where they are ideal … I want to build up drone numbers from my best colonies. I add a foundationless frame to this colony and then remove it before it’s capped, swapping it into a less good (genetically) colony that I’ve removed any drone brood from. I now have two colonies generating ‘nice genes’. At certain times in the season the bees very quickly draw out some/all drone comb on a foundationless frame – not just a little patch at the top or bottom corner. Of course, you can achieve the same thing by putting a super frame into a brood box, but the foundationless frame is more robust once it’s fully drawn.
Give them a try 🙂
Cheers
David
Hello David.
Another great post, thanks!
One question, I see the wood in the frames all “round” and tailored to the form you guys use over there, how do you work the wood to obtain that round curvy profiles?
Hello Jorge
If you mean the side bars with this profile …
… then that is a Hoffman self-spacing frame, (which may or may not have been) developed in the late 19th Century by Julius Hoffman. Dave Cushman’s website has further details. With the spacers built into the frame, there’s no need for other spacers on the end bars. A further advantage is that the contact region between adjacent frames is relatively thin, so reducing the amount that the frames are propolised together and making them easier to separate.
Cheers
David
Thanks for your reply.
My question was about sourcing or diy the wood bits necessary to built or assembled the frame.
did you bought as a kit or build it from wood sticks?
Hi Jorge
Sorry I misunderstood.
These are commercial purchased frames from Thorne’s. Looking at the quality of the wood in the photos these are first quality DN5 frames which cost about £150 for 100 (or more in smaller quantities).
My woodworking skills are not good enough to build my own frames from ‘sticks’.
Cheers
David
Hi David,
Being a congenital hoarder I have managed to manufacture 30 deep (non Hoffman) frames from the start of my supply of off-cuts of wood kept for the reason that they may be useful – one day. Using a series of jigs and templates I managed to maintain dimensional accuracy but they have a sawn finish rather that Thorne’s perfectly smooth surface I hope the bees don’t mind!
It did take time but that’s cheap as I’m “a gentleman of leisure” – sorry – am retired. I’ll see how successful they are next year.
All good fun and thanks again for the posts.
Cheers,
Tim Masters
Hello Tim
I’m sure the bees won’t mind in the slightest. I seem to remember that rough surfaces tend to get glazed with propolis. Seeley talks about using hives with roughened inner walls (I seem to remember he lines them with queen excluder or something like that) to encourage a better antimicrobial environment in the hive due to the additional propolis. Perhaps your frames will have the same effect.
I’m so cack-handed at woodwork that I daren’t trust myself with anything but the most basic of tools, particularly if they’re powered or sharp. And anything that is both sharp and powered is excluded for reasons of self-preservation. I’m very envious of those who have the skills and that keep their fingers 😉
Cheers
David
I find a rampin (https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1822) was a good investment. With it you can push the gimp pin well into the frame leaving it self supporting for some taps from the hammer to finish knocking it in. No need to put fingers and thumbs anywhere near the business end of the hammer!
Hello Peter
I’ve looked at those before but never bothered trying one. Perhaps I should. It’s actually relatively rarely that I whack my fingers/thumb … so the decision is between infrequent pain (worse on a very cold day) and the potential loss of speed by using the rampin. I’ll report back if I try it, but thank you for the recommendation.
Cheers
David
Hi David,
I find that I whack my fingers or thumb far too often, so a rampin was a great investment for me!
I addition, although I have an electric nailer I rarely trust myself with it…
I don’t trust myself with an electric nail gun … but I still use one 😉
Hi David
I’ve always found that a complete set of frames can be made up and fitted with foundation in the time in takes to listen to both sides of St Peppers.
No so much of a personal best more of a personal favourite
Not an exacting benchmark to work to I admit, and its always satisfying if the last nail gets knocked in, in time with the last chord of A Day in a Life
H Richard
I also find some music helps … depending upon my mood and the urgency with which I need the frames this could be anything from Joy Division’s Still to something a little mellower from The Tallis Scholars. I don’t try and keep time with the music … that’s a recipe for bloodied fingers.
Cheers
David
You UK guys use some colourful language right down to “frame-building” – GIMP PINS – like, what are Gimp Pins???? Small nails that can’t be driven straight? Hence, Gimpy nails? We always learn something from you David. However, indeed I’m jealous of those lovely bits you so aptly “gimp-together” on a cold, winter day. Here in my shop a handy air supply makes the nailing of frames easy. But that is only after days of time cutting out the bits needed. Top bars, bottom bars, sides, and even starter strips are actually rather challenging to cut from stock. I use wood in waste piles left from house framing. That in itself adds a bit of challenge. Best for me is to bite the bullet and cut out several hundred pieces in one go. Once done I’m at where you begin. An interesting note – here – you won’t find that Holffman cut on commercial frame parts. I really don’t know why – it is a very functional cut. To get that angle I use a small block plane. It takes just seconds and achieves a pretty nice result. You mentioned it as a “self-spacing” feature but where I see that cut being especially useful is in reducing risk of squashing bees as frames are pushed back together after inspections. That small edge allows a bee to more easily sense approaching danger and it better able to avoid being pinched-in. When I first saw that feature on your frames I quickly modified all of mine. It was a great retro-fit. All new frames are built with that feature. You influence is far and wide David.
Hi Vince
Gimp pins are named because they are used to hold fabric trim (which used to be called ‘gimp’) in place. Gimp is a narrow ornamental fabric or braid of silk, wool, or cotton, often stiffened with metallic wire or coarse cord running through it, used as trimming for dresses, curtains, furniture, etc. The word is derived from the Old French guimpre and dates back to about 1660.
I take no credit whatsoever for the self-spacing frames … Julius Hoffman gets the credit for those, though there’s a reasonable doubt that they weren’t actually his idea. You’re absolutely right about how they help prevent bees getting squashed.
I’d build frames from bare wood if I had the skills and the tools. I sadly have neither 🙁
Cheers
David
Thank you for alerting us to “gimp” – my interest was tweaked. According to Wikitionary, it is probably “From French guimpe, from Middle French guimpe, from Old French guimple (“wimple”), from Frankish *wimpil, *wimpila (“head scarf”), from Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz, from *wīpaną (“to wind, sling, garland, swing”; from Proto-Indo-European *wimb-, *weyb- (“to turn, rotate”)) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). Cognate with Old High German wimpal and winfila (“head scarf”), Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”), Old English wimpel, winpel (“wimple”), Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”). Also influenced by Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), from the same Germanic source.”
I’ve been learning about some of this stuff from the excellent History of the English Language podcast series. Proto-Indo-European is as far back as you can get – over 6000 years ago, to an area of the Russian steppe, north of the Black & Caspian seas. It is the language from which evolved most western European languages, including German, Greek, Latin and Persian. Most incredibly, it is also the origin of Sanskrit (hence ‘Indo-‘) – the existence of this early language was only discovered when British legal scholars started looking at Indian law during the colonisation and twigged the linguistic similarities
Mead is another word that can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European (it was the word for honey), and the association with beekeeping (or maybe just honey-hunting) was one of the ways the region in which the language was spoken was delineated, apparently
Hello David
I usually rely on the Oxford English Dictionary for my etymological education. They appear to have 7 different definitions, many of which are related to upholstery of one form or another. Gimp nail and gimp pin respectively date back to 1875 and 1882, with the former defined as ‘a small forged nail with a rounded head, used by upholsterers’. Tarantino’s use of the word in Pulp Fiction doesn’t get a mention.
Mead in the English language can be traced back to Old English and features in Anglo Saxon riddles and the poem Beowulf, so c. ~975-1025, but as you suggest is probably much older than that.
The evolution of languages is a fascinating subject. Thanks for bringing the podcast to my notice … I wasn’t aware of it and will have a listen.
Cheers
David
Agree you never have frames when they are needed. Putting wax in them when it is 30 deg is no fun. I buy seconds and select the strongest top bars for brood and the dodgy ones for the supers. 14 x 12 get first quality as they need to be strong. I only glue brood frames they need to be stronger and only staple / nail the super frames to keep glue away from the honey. I use an assembly box and spacer box a frame in less than a min is possible this way. Analyse your movements put the sides in the box (fixture) push the topbars over them then turn them over and put the bottom bars in the act of nailing the bottom bars snugs the sides into the top bars and squares all 10 frames at the same time!
Hello Andrew
Good advice about selecting the top bars for the use they are going to get. Any imperfections in the lugs is what I look out for. There are few things worse than having a lug break on a brood frame …
Cheers
David
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Hello
SarahRubyI removed the link to the site as it appears to be an almost complete copy of Dave Cushman’s website. I can find very little novel information on it. My understanding is that this was now maintained (and had been updated in places) by Roger Patterson. Almost none of the pages have any direct mention of either Dave or Roger. In fact, certain pages have been edited to remove content clearly attributed to them. My understanding was that Dave made his content freely available but – as a content producer myself – I don’t see how this extends to complete verbatim duplication with attribution removed. On the front page of Dave’s website Roger has added the text: The policy of this website has always be openness and will continue to be so. If you wish to use material you are welcome to do so, but please give a credit as follows – “Credit: Dave Cushman’s website”.
If I’m wrong then please correct me … the popularity of my site and one or two other ‘beekeeping blogs’ is a testament to the enthusiasm readers have for the subject. However, novel content is what’s needed. Things that improve our understanding, or pose new questions or otherwise extend this fascinating hobby/pastime/obsession. Not unattributed duplication.
You can read more about another case in which Dave Cushman’s website was duplicated here, together with a bit of history about that site which remains an outstanding source of primary information on many aspects of beekeeping.
The reply above was made when ‘Sarah’ asked for your site to be plugged here … it is repeated verbatim because there are no obvious changes. You are attempting to take credit for the considerable work put in by Dave Cushman and Roger Patterson and have produced an inferior product by omission of temporal information … or any credit. I consider this is plagiarism.
David
Maybe not the tools – but the skill is there! Ahhhh gimp loving french-men helps explains the lovely dresses and rosy cheeks of the elites at least up until the French Revolution. Hey, wasn’t Warre french? Perhaps I should start using “gimpy-nails” for more ‘authentic” hives.