AZ Frame for a Hybrid AŽ Hive that uses standard Langstroth Deep Foundations

I am currently testing a new hive concept (for me) called the AŽ (ah-zha) hive which is a Slovenian beehive design invented by Anton Žnideršič and named the Alberti-Žnideršič (AŽ) hive.  Žnideršič named his hive after himself and a German beekeeper that he greatly admired, Adolf Alberti.  In the United States and much of the English-speaking beekeeping world, this hive is known as the “AZ” (ay-zee) hive.  I will use these two spellings interchangeably, but I won’t look down on anyone who spells or pronounces the abbreviation incorrectly.  This is simply a symptom of how unknown this hive type is in the Western beekeeping world — but I don’t think making this a sticking point will be helpful in promoting the design.  I recognize and greatly admire Anton Žnideršič’s hive design while acknowledging that it must be adapted to work well (& interchangeably) with the standard beekeeping equipment used by much of the beekeeping community in North America in particular.  

The AZ hive is notable for having removable frames but no “supers” that you need to lift to remove.  Instead, the hive features a door to the rear which exposes inner screened doors which close off each “level” or “chamber” of frames, which rest on ⅜” (the “bee space”) metal rods embedded in the interior hive walls and which run perpendicular to the direction in which the frames are pointed.  This eliminates the need to lift anything except for a single frame (such as an entire honey super filled with combs, honey, and bees) and also eliminates much of the frustration associated with the honeybees propolizing frame ears to the inner ledge of the boxes.  To be honest, I find most written descriptions of how AŽ hives work to be totally inadequate (including this one).  Coupled with the fact that traditional AŽ frames are differently dimensioned than standard Langstroth deep frames – and thus not compatible with a lot of standard equipment — to be the major reasons why the Western world hasn’t caught on to how amazing an AZ-style hive design can be.  I think there are thousands of U.S. beekeepers that have been dreaming for a hive such as this.  Additionally, I believe there are many beekeepers with disabilities that could benefit from the design’s main concepts.

Enter the “hybrid”: an AŽ hive that uses frames that accept standard Langstroth deep foundation, and with some modifications to the primary chamber which allow the first 10 frames to be standard Langstroth frames (ears and all).  One of these is a design being promoted by Dick Vermeulen, which I first read about in Bee Culture magazine’s June 2023 issue in an article titled “More Honey, Less Work”.  My first reaction to that title was, “Say less; sign me up!”: https://www.beeculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/June2023_V1.pdf

After reading Dick’s article (and admittedly, before I understood the design even on a basic level), I almost immediately wanted one built for me and sought out Mr. Vermeulen the very next day via phone and email.  After a brief phone conversation and some back and forth via email, he agreed to build me one of his hybrid AZ hives, which I have affectionately begun to refer to as the “DV/AZ” or the Dick Vermeulen-AZ hive design.  A wonderful collegial correspondence was born & (I think, I hope) a budding awareness in the United States for the AZ hive has begun.  I am doing my part to promote the benefits of this design (& to improve on it, where I can).  

One of the amazing things about the DV/AZ hive is the frames.  As Dick points out in his Bee Culture article, traditional AZ hive frames are 16⅛” (410mm) by 10¼” (260mm), with a traditional two-chamber hive being of approximately 90 liters in total volume.  These frames are slightly narrower and deeper than the standard Langstroth deep frame, making interchangeability of frames and equipment a challenge.  It also makes installing bees from existing nucs into AZ hives a difficult proposition, along with extraction (would a traditional AZ frame fit in a radial extractor meant for Langstroth deeps?)  Enter the idea of introducing Langstroth frames into AZ equipment.  First off, we can all agree that using “just” Langstroth deeps in an AZ-style hive is a pretty bad idea from the start, as Paul Longwell discusses in the Beekeeping Today podcast about the hybrid AZ designs he has worked with: https://www.beekeepingtodaypodcast.com/hive-types-part-4-az-hives-with-paul-longwell-s3-e51/

Simply put, the cove-cut feature of the top and bottom bars on AZ frames is meant to work in concert with the ⅜” metal rods to produce a bee space and an interface which resists propolization and increases safety for our honey bees when removing frames for inspection.  When you introduce a flat-topped top bar (or flat-bottomed bottom bar) to a ⅜” rod in an AZ hive, you both eliminate the extra space for honey bees and increase the surface contact between the frame and the rod — eliminating two key benefits of the design & greatly increasing the number of bees you will “roll” when removing frames.  Again, I find written/spoken descriptions of what this means to be inadequate — you have to see the design in action to understand the benefits.  At the very least, if you are interested in this design you should look at some pictures and video of the frames/hive in action and you will have a much better understanding of what I’m talking about: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MitGad0qU4

All that being said, it is a useful feature of a hybrid AZ hive design to be able to work with standard Langstroth deep frames (in at least one chamber).  Dick Vermeulen has introduced many other excellent changes to the traditional design with his DV/AZ which I won’t cover here (although a huge one is insulation on all sides).  His hive design is constantly being improved, which I like.  My intention here is to work collaboratively on a frame design which can work in both standard Langstroth equipment and in Dick’s new hybrid AZ hives with minimal modification.  Like most AZ hive aficionados, I believe that Dick is hoping to convert Langstroth hive beekeepers to what is truly a better way to live and keep bees: the AZ hive.  For many reasons, I hope that he is successful in this effort.  Once you have understood the benefits of the beehouse and removed the physical pain of lifting honey supers, the design becomes self-evident.  However, I do believe it would be advantageous to retain some “backwards compatibility” of the deep frames during this period of converting an entire continent of beekeepers to a “better way”, and it will mean that we can continue to use our existing equipment for the purposes of making splits, increase, etc.  One way Dick’s existing design enables this is through “foundation transplant”: you can use standard deep plastic foundation (already drawn out by your bees) and remove it from the Langstroth frame, transplanting it very carefully into his hybrid AZ frames.  This is a tricky process, however, and does not easily enable you to switch back to Langstroth equipment should the desire or need arise. 

I am using this as a design exercise in my study of beekeeping, as I believe a greater understanding of many different types of equipment and beekeeping modes (horizontal hives, Lazutin hives, Bee Barns, Langstroth, log hives, skep hives, etc) will make me a better beekeeper and a better person.

That being said, here is the frame design direct from Dick Vermeulen which I will use as a launching off point.  His notes:

“Attached is a photo and drawing for my AZ frame parts.  I use poplar wood for cove-cut top and bottom bars that are 16-3/4" long. The 1/8" wide by 3/16" deep dado opposite for the cove is cut on a table saw.  I use pine for the ends which are 3/8" thick x 1" wide x 9-1/2" long.  Glued and fastened with 1" x 1/4"' x 18 gauge narrow crown finish staples.  I used a 1" diameter cove router bit with my router table to cut the coves.  Photo attached.  If you have a router table and a couple of feather boards for hold downs you can build these yourself pretty easily.”

Regarding interchangeability between these frames and standard Langstroth deep boxes, Dick recommends the use of simple wooden lugs attached to the frames as ears, along with a ⅜” wooden rim/spacer (sometimes referred to as an “eke”, which can be of various sizes and for various uses) to make up the size difference, as the frames used in a DV/AZ hive are ⅜” taller than standard Langstroth deep frames: 

“I attached wood lugs to the ends of my AZ frames with a #4 x 1" stainless screws without glue.  Lugs I used were 3/4" x 15/16" x 1-3/8".  I did not use glue since these are only temporary.  The AZ frames are 3/8" taller than Langstroth so you may need a rim frame depending on where in the hive you use these.”

Regarding this difference in frame height, Dick says:

“It is not the length of the frame that is different, it is the height.  If I cut the top and bottom bars down 3/16" each the height would be the same.  Only problem is I would compromise the strength of the frame or have to cut the foundation down 3/8".  You can make that adjustment on the unassembled frames I sent you.  You just cut 3/8" off the frame sides and Lang deep foundation.  You may have to also cut down the screen doors for each chamber and add slotted racks to make up the difference in bee space.”

I think that it might be interesting to make a change like this in the future, but for now, I’ll present Dick’s design for his hybrid AZ frames in their original dimensions.  That being said, another reason for recapitulating Dick’s frame design in CAD for 3D printing is that I am an absolutely terrible woodworker.  However, I have multiple Prusa Research 3D printers and enough PLA filament to last for at least another two pandemics.  As I’ve said with previous beekeeping-related designs (e.g. Jim’s XL frame), I truly believe that 3D printing and beekeeping are a perfect match.  3D printing (rapid prototyping) is a great tool for the beekeeper and designer looking to move beyond the Langstroth box — as proven with the Flow Hive / Flow Frame design from Cedar Anderson and his father Stuart Anderson, introduced in 2015 and considered by many to be the greatest beekeeping advancement in the last 100 years.  Although its impact is yet to be determined, I generally agree with that statement — mostly because the state of hive design advancement has stagnated greatly during this time period (as documented by Gene Kritsky in his excellent book “The Quest for the Perfect Hive: A History of Innovation in Bee Culture”).

https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Perfect-Hive-History-Innovation/dp/0195385446

It must be noted that Dick’s original design for the hybrid AZ frame parts aren’t printable on the machines that I currently possess (Prusa MK3 and Prusa MINI), but it would be possible on a larger printer of this same type (or on a belt printer with “infinite Z-axis” such as the Creality CR-30.  I do not have a printer of that type, but I have postulated that they could be very useful indeed for printing components for beekeeping.  I intend to use Dick’s hybrid AZ frame design as a launching-off point for a version of my own which can be printed on a Prusa MK3 and assembled using strong stainless-steel hardware (without glue or stadples).  I believe the combination of recycled PLA filament and stainless steel hardware will ultimately give me the combination of food-safe and easy frame construction free of metallic sources of off-flavors that I am looking for.

To print this design, you will need to print two of the “main" pieces and two of the “links”.  Assembly is easy with ½" 8/32 screws in 316SS and 8/32 hex nuts (I sourced mine from McMaster Carr):  

https://www.mcmaster.com/90257A009/

https://www.mcmaster.com/91500A194/

In the photos my first prints were assembled using ¾" screws that I had, so they protrude into the space intended for honeycomb — if this size is all you have (& you don't want to file them down) I do not think it would be detrimental – the bees will work around them.  Each frame I print and use in the future will use the ½" screws, however, and I intend to update the “link” design so that installing the nut is easier & more robust to various tolerances and print capabilities.  I only use Prusa machines (MK3 and the MINI+), so these designs print very well using draft settings & 10% infill using Prusament PLA (I prefer recycled or Galaxy Black).  Your mileage may vary~!

All the best,

-James