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Franconian Hive
The Franconian Hive is a popular classic among hive systems and offers a variety of advantages thanks to its uniform exterior dimensions and extensive range of accessories.
Made of hard-foamed polystyrene and featuring integrated recessed handles, it has been known for its robustness for many generations.
Features of the Franconian Hive Complete System
- Compatible frame sizes: Standard (DN), Zander, Langstroth, Dadant US, and Dadant Blatt
- Compatibility: All boxes have different internal dimensions but a uniform external dimension of approximately 57 x 50 cm. This means that all boxes are fully compatible with one another and can be used together.
- Material properties: lightweight, weather-resistant, durable for decades
Made in Germany
Our Styropor® hive components are manufactured to the highest quality standards in collaboration with our regional partners. This ensures you receive long-lasting, precisely fitting products – developed and manufactured with artisanal expertise directly from Germany.
Learn more about the Franconian Hive
Here you’ll find not only complete hives but also individual hive components, such as bottoms, the various Boxes, and lids, as well as the corresponding accessories. Since we ship the hives and components unpainted and without Frames, the matching Frames and suitable paints are available separately.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Rigid foam made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), also known as Styropor® or Hartstyropor®, is a plastic that, thanks to its versatile properties, is ideally suited for the manufacture of beehives and has proven itself for decades:
- Lightweight and sturdy: for easy handling and beekeeping that’s easy on the joints
- Weather-resistant: durable and stable in all weather conditions
- Insulating: the material’s insulating properties protect the interior from external weather conditions and help the bees regulate the hive’s temperature
- HBCD-free: Our Styropor is free of HBCD, a flame-retardant additive considered harmful to health
Hartpor Styropor® hive components shrink by up to one percent within the first year after production. For an outer dimension of 50 cm, this amounts to half a centimeter. Most of the shrinkage occurs in our warehouse, but the process is not yet fully complete at the time of delivery. Therefore, frames in “fresh” boxes—which are still too large—have less contact surface area than in older boxes that have reached their final size.
Our sturdy ventilation grilles, which are 1 mm thick, are carefully glued in place with hot glue before shipment. Nevertheless, the ventilation grilles may come loose due to the tension generated during the shrinkage process and depending on usage. To reattach the ventilation grilles, we recommend using a hot glue gun with the appropriate hot glue or our ApiDana® hive adhesive.