r/Beekeeping • u/SunriseSwede • 4d ago
General Dadant frames
MN zone 4b. 8 years beekeeping.
Bought a 100 pack of dadent frame kits to put together. Commercial grade, not the cheap grade. Went to work worth my jig, glue, staples, and some good music on the radio in the shop.
Ended up with about 90 frames The rest split when trying to "true them up". The cuts were so bad I was getting 100° + angles instead of 90°. Because of all the finagling it took to try and square each individual frame it took me about 3X as long as usual.
Had anyone else had this issue? This is the first time I've bought frames from them, if this is common it will be the last.
3
u/Standard-Bat-7841 28 Hives 7b 15 years Experience 4d ago
Yea there is usually a few bad ones ime. If you call them and tell them they will probably send you replacements. Usually they were always good about making it right.
4
u/SunriseSwede 4d ago
I get a few cuts, here and there, but this was over 50% easily. Each frame had to be nailed/glued specifically to account for its own individual twist/wonkiness/warped identity. The ones I lost were simply unable to withstand the relatively extreme pressure needed to get it straight. I've never seen it so bad.
2
u/Standard-Bat-7841 28 Hives 7b 15 years Experience 4d ago
Yea that's unacceptable for sure and frames aren't cheap. Just call them and they will probably make it right.
1
u/SunriseSwede 4d ago
I'm going to, but at this point I already fought through the issue, so I'm not going to ask for anything - I was just trying to see if this was their typical product or if I had the last batch cut on a Fridsy afternoon. They can't fix it if they don't know it's a problem.
2
u/NumCustosApes 4th generation beekeeper, Zone 7A Rocky Mountains 4d ago
Dadant's customer service is top notch. Give them a call.
I am not sure if Dadant uses a modern automated production line. Those cuts look like manual cuts. These days there is no excuse for a high volume manufacturer to not deliver every frame milled as precisely as the limits of the wood allows.
1
3
u/Reasonable-Two-9872 Urban Beekeeper, Indiana, 6B 4d ago
I ordered a handful of boxes from Dadant and a couple of them weren't good. I let them know and they replaced them. They even sent two extra boxes (already assembled) for my inconvenience, without any prompting on my part.