AZ Beehive Frame Spacers

thingiverse

This is a spacer for AZ style beehives. It provides the spacing between each of the hive frames. Unlike a conventional Langstroth hive, which consist of stacked boxed with honeycomb frames hung from the top, the AZ Hive consists of a box with a door, allowing the frames to be accessed from the back, much like a bookshelf of books. See https://8framehoney.com.au/az-hives/ The AZ spacers are installed in the hive to provide the correct spacing between each frame. Usually a pressed sheet metal strip of spacers is used, but these can be hard and expensive to obtain. This design provides an alternative for those with access to a 3D printer. The spacers are designed for 37mm frame spacing, although the individual spacers allow this to be varied. These spacers have yet to be tested in a real beehive. Two versions of the spacers are provided: 1. As a strip of spacers designed for 10 frames Due to the length of this (370mm), it is broken into two lengths which can the be printed diagonally on the print bed and then glued together. The strip can be mounted into the hive in one piece, automatically providing the correct spacing. They are mounted using countersunk woodscrews. 2. As individual spacers These are single spacers in full width (for between two frames) and half width (for the end frames). They are mounted individually using countersunk woodscrews or small nails. To aid correct alignment, a template jig is also provided to guide the drilling of the mounting holes.