Look at any catalogue and you can see what Hoffman frames look like. Why do we like the design? Well, using spacers is an extra operation we can do without, the metal ones cut your fingers and the plastic ones can't be sterilized. Castellated spacing is inflexible, accumulates propolis and detritus, and doesn't allow bee-friendly removal and placement of the frames. Pins, eyelets, and the like, often seen in commercial operations and at Buckfast Abbey, require planning and a degree of standardisation we just don't achieve, and the cost they save isn't significant on the small-scale. Manley's frames are all very well, but really just for supers, and the flat faces of the side-bars squash bees and must be kept clean or the frames become awkward to separate. Hoffmans, on the other hand, stop the frames from rocking when hives are moved, and the 'point on flat' meeting surface is bee-friendly and readily separated. The all-wood construction means an organic (acetic) acid sterilant can be used, and the frames can be passed through a caustic soda bath. While some regard the constant spacing over generous for supers (in the honey store area the bee's spacing is naturally a little narrower), that disadvantage is not one with any priority.