# Dadant or Langstroth?



## cowboy joe

With any luck, I'll be starting some hives next summer. As a real newbie, I've read whatever I can get my hands on. Dadant seems to be the defacto standard for hives but I have read some material by folks who prefer Langstroths. I found plans / dimensions for both versions and hope to start building after the holidays. 

Any preferences or opinions as which would be the better way to begin?


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## Iddee

Read a little more. I think you will find Dadant sells more Langstroths than they do Dadant. The Dadant hive is more or less dead.


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## HilltopDaisy

Can someone explain to me what you're talking about? Are they different size hives?


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## cowboy joe

Iddee...memory like a sieve...I had that backwards. 

Daisy, if my fading memory serves...Dadants are slightly larger hives than the Langstroth. The internal spacing is slightly different also.


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## Iddee

Dadant once made a box larger than the standard langstroth. The frames were also bigger. They did not do so well on the market. Dadant then went back to selling the langstroth. I think they still make the Dadant hive available to the ones who still have them, but even that I'm not sure of.


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## foxtrapper

Dadant would like you to believe they are the industry standard for everything. The truth is far different. 

Overall, pick a size and stick with it. It's far easier than dealing with a bunch of different sizes. The height differences in frames and boxes is really entertaining. So if you're buying all new, I'd pick one supplier and buy it all from them. Expensive, but easy to deal with.


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## mountainman_bc

Yeah- stick with langstroth plans.

OK, I have a weird problem. I guess maybe they are those dadant hives. I was given about 30 boxes. I am using pierco plastic frames. They don't fit! The frame is a hair too small. Any thought on how to fix that? I didn't know this was possible till reading this thread. Thanks!


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## Iddee

I've never used plastic, but I think they are still langs. I have heard some of the plastics are too small in general. Can you just tack a strip of metal where the frame rests to hold them. The Dadant, from what I remember reading, was quite a bit deeper.


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## mountainman_bc

Iddee, I'll try that. Should work, can't see why not. Thanks.


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## foxtrapper

mountainman_bc said:


> OK, I have a weird problem. I guess maybe they are those dadant hives. I was given about 30 boxes. I am using pierco plastic frames. They don't fit! The frame is a hair too small. Any thought on how to fix that? I didn't know this was possible till reading this thread. Thanks!


Not a weird problem at all, in fact, it's quite common. Go look up foundation and frames and look at all the differences betwen them size wise.

Without knowing which way you're frames are too small, I can't give you specifics. If they are dropping down between the supports you can tack shim stock onto the sides to hold them. Beware that the bees will build burr comb in the largish gap between the edge of the frame and the box, which can make removal quite challenging. If the frames are sitting too low in the box, you can shim upwards, and have burr comb at the bottom of the frames.


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