Zander
Lexikon
The Zander frame size is one of the most commonly used frame sizes in Germany and was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century by the zoologist and bee researcher Enoch Zander together with the beekeeper Johann Merz.
The Zander frame size is one of the most commonly used frame sizes in Germany and was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century by the zoologist and bee researcher Enoch Zander together with the beekeeper Johann Merz. The frame has outer dimensions of 420 by 220 millimeters and is used in the same size in both the brood chamber and the honey super.
This uniform comb size is considered a major practical advantage of the system: combs can be exchanged between the brood chamber and the honey super, so that, for example, old, dark brood combs can be systematically culled and replaced with newly drawn honey combs. With strong colonies, many beekeepers stack two brood boxes in Zander size on top of each other, to create enough space for the brood nest and the food ring.
In Germany, Zander competes regionally above all with the German Normal (DN) size, with the two systems being very similar in structure and handling and differing mainly in frame size. For beginners it is decisive to settle on one size early on, because boxes, frames and queen excluders of the different systems are not interchangeable, and a later switch means buying almost the entire equipment anew.