brass eyelets

[d.asly]

how many of you insert those little brass eyelets in the sidebars of your frames before wiring?

I just put together a batch of frames without, and it seems to work just fine !

Any thoughts...?

[Oldbee]

It's somewhat of a pain but NOT the most time consuming part of putting frames together. There are "devices" where you can put in 3-4 at a time. If it has worked fine for you, I will have to try that.

[Ross]

Who wires? Oops, not an option :)

[jasontatro]

I'm with Ross. Before having the good sense to go foundation-free, I used Duragilt (with good success). Wiring frames just seems like a lot of extra time I could use to sit and watch the bees.

JT

[Scott J.]

I use them. I think in the long haul it helps keep the wire tight. I had a few hundred frames that did not have the grommits and the wire cut into the end bars and made the wire loose. I have seen someone elses frames that they instaled 1/4 inch staples into the endbars on the side of the hole that the wire would be pulled up against. It seemed to work well for them.

[tecumseh]

really the question is not how the frame looks now, but will it still be usable 5 or 10 years down the road.

[JohnK and Sheri]

We have tens of thousands of frames. I don't think any have grommets, works for us. More than I care to admit are over 5 years old. We have a mix of every kind of foundation under the sun so they are not all wired, probably 1/2 to 3/4 are.
Sheri

[okb]

You forgot to put maybe or maybe not as an answere. Depends on how we feel at the moment. :D

[Will]

Just use a stapler! It's much faster and cheaper and easier. An arrow jt-21 is the best.

[BEES4U]

The eylets work fine until you put some tension on the frame and then they cut the wire!I use 100% Pierco.
Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[Oldbee]

Has anyone used those,..."devices", like from Walter Kelly. They are made of hardwood and have the steel dowls for the eyelets. They line up for the holes on the W. Kelley end bars; called a "Deluxe Eyelet Tool", page 18,.2008. You put the eyelets on the dowls and pound the end bars on them. Do they work? Do they REALLY save some time?

[Velbert]

yes use them in both when using Brood boxes and honey supers

use all 8 holes in the deep brood. You may use more time when putting the foundation in but i think in the long hall it is worth the time.

Later it saves time when extraction because the combs are straight not wave when it comes time to uncap causing yo to have to run the scratch er across it to finish uncapping

also you can place the combs in any position the brood box because of the straight sides.

By using wax foundation when you place a brood on top to be built, I have seen the colonies building on all frames in 3-5 days fully built and capped with honey in 10 days

and with the other plastic foundations some where just on a couple of frames in 7 days. so I think you are losing lots of honey just getting them built

Something else I have seen is that they will build the plasticell in the wood frames better that the all plastic frame and foundation. The combs will be built as they should and not all the spots going cross ways and this is with 10 frames per box starting off.

Always put the eyelets in before you build the frame mush faster and easier.

[Tom G. Laury]

There it is the voice of experience

[be lote]

use em only on deeps

[Keith Benson]

Has anyone used those,..."devices", like from Walter Kelly. They are made of hardwood and have the steel dowls for the eyelets. They line up for the holes on the W. Kelley end bars; called a "Deluxe Eyelet Tool", page 18,.2008. You put the eyelets on the dowls and pound the end bars on them. Do they work? Do they REALLY save some time?

They work OK, but as to a time savings, that is tough to say. think they just feel faster. You can get pretty darned fast using one of the single eyelet punches. Not all are created equal though. If the tip is not polished to some degree it can bind the eyelet and remove it. Also, I think the brass eyelets are much better than the zinc in terms of not deforming, binding to the tool etc.

I have kinda chucked both though. Try this. Take some large headed nails that are just about as big as the hole in the eyelet. I have some that I got with some hive bodies that I didn't use (I usually use screws in those). Take two pieces of 2x4, about 2 feet long. Put them on edge, but maybe 1/4 inch apart, side by side. Creating a deep channel between them. Load the nails with an eyelet each and drop them in the holes on the end-bars. Whap them in. Then just lift up the end bar and push it down on one of the 2x4s. Up pop the nails, in stay the eyelets. I find it very fast. If you wanted to I guess you could rig it up to fit your end-bar exactly, hammer the nails through a piece of hardwood and such like the Kelly apparatus, but I like that it is infinitely adjustable for any manufacturers end-bars.

Keith

[Joseph Clemens]

. . . sidebars of your frames before wiring?

Any thoughts...?

The commonly accepted term is, "end bar" in the USA, "side bar" in the United Kingdom, and some other countries, I believe sidebar is something done in courtrooms. :D

[Joseph Clemens]

The eylets work fine until you put some tension on the frame and then they cut the wire!I use 100% Pierco.
Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

That sometimes happened to me too, but not since I switched to using stainless steel aircraft safety wire.

[Trevor Mansell]

If you soak the endbars in water for a few min the eyelets go in quick and set all the way down in the hole. I prefer to use them when wiring ,they seem to make the wire go thru the holes easier. I used to wire everything ,but now Ive gotten lazy and switched to plastic.