By: Jim Berndt
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years
Spring and early Summer is the time for thinking about making splits and filling nuc boxes. I don’t build much of my hive equipment because I have found that the cost of materials and labor involved in making good equipment makes manufactured equipment a pretty good deal for me. One exception for me is nuc boxes. I like to overwinter multi-story nucs and this can demand a lot of nuc boxes. Quality nuc boxes are relatively easy to make in quantity and use inexpensive materials. Four boxes can be made from a single sheet (4′ x 8′) of plywood.
There are lots of plans for plywood nuc boxes on the web, many of them resembling the design attributed to D. Coates. The plans I use are similar to a lot of other designs, the most significant differences are that the bottom of the box is designed to make stacking of nuc boxes easy so I can have multi-box nucs for overwintering. In addition, the lids of my boxes are designed to accept a Mason jar feeder. While these plans are for Langstroth 5-frame deep nuc boxes, they could be easily modified to build boxes for medium frame nucs as well.
These boxes can be assembled with nails, screws or staples. I use a pneumatic stapler which is fast and secure, nails would work just as well. If you use screws you will need to be a bit more careful as you will be screwing into plywood end-grain; pre-drilling of holes may be necessary. I glue the joints (except for the removable bottom) with waterproof glue to make the boxes a bit more durable.
Layout of Parts
The drawings in Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the basic layout for the parts for four nuc boxes cut from one 4′ x 8′ sheet of %” plywood. Other thickness of plywood or lumber can be used but the dimensions of the end pieces would have to be adjusted to keep the box interior size the same. The table below lists the dimensions of the parts:
Figure 5
Assemble the Box
Drill an entrance hole in half of the end pieces. Measure 3¾” from the bottom and side; drill a hole 1 ¼” in diameter (Figure 4). The diameter of the hole is not critical, although this size works well with an entrance disk.
Attach one front end and one back end to one of the sides. Apply glue to the joint and fasten with staples, nails or screws. Note that the front is oriented such that the entrance hole is closer to the bottom than the top. Also note that the ends are flush with the bottom of the side but not the top (Figure 5).
Attach the second side as with the first using glue and fasteners. Check to make sure that the box is square (Figure 6).
Attach two cleats to the front of the box, one flush with the bottom of the sides and one flush with the top of the sides. Repeat the process for the back of the box (Figure 7).
Turn the box upside down and place the bottom on the box. The bottom should be roughly flush on the edges with the sides and the cleats on the ends. Measure to the middle of the sides and ends of the bottom and use screws to fasten the bottom to the box. Do not glue! (Figure 8)
Cut two spacer strips for each nuc box. Strips should be 7½” long,¾” wide and ¼” thick. The strips are placed on the inside ledges of the box, flat against the inside face of the cleats. Glue and staple the strips in place. These spacers keep the frames aligned evenly in the box (Figure 9).
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Assemble the Lid
Draw two lines on a lid, from opposite corner to opposite corner to locate the center of the lid. Drill a 2¾” hole in the center of the lid. This size of hole will snugly fit a standard Mason jar feeder lid. Modify the hole size if your feeder size is different. Save the cut-out circle of wood (Figure 10).
For each lid, two of the cleats need to have Figure 10 slots cut as shown on the right, to fit on the ends of the lid. A dado head cutter or router works well for these cuts. The slots make the ends on the lid more durable, however the lid can be made without cutting slots. If you do not cut the slots then the length of the lid should be shortened by ½”. Attach the cleats to the ends of the lid with staples and glue (Figure 11).
Figure 11
Figure 12
Attach two additional cleats to the top of the lid with glue and staples as shown on the right. The cleats should be flush with the end cleats and the sides of the lid (Figure 12).
Take the cut-out disc from the lid and attach it to the feeder cover with staples and glue. The cover goes over the feeder hole as shown. This will not be a tight fit but will serve to keep rain out of the box when a feeder jar is not in place. The bees will propolize this cover in place when a feeder is not in use (Figure 13).
Figure 13
A small piece of #8 (1/s” holes) hardware cloth can be stapled over the feeder hole on the inside of the lid. This keeps the bees from flying out when the feeder is changed or removed.
Finished Box
The nuc box is now complete (Figure 14).
Figure 14
An entrance disc can be attached over the entrance to make it easier to close the nuc up for transportation. The entrance hole is positioned to allow a standard 4¾” entrance disc to fit on the front of the box.
The completed nuc box must be painted or waterproofed in some way. Uncoated plywood does not hold up to the weather very well. Several coats of good exterior latex paint will protect the box – pay special attention to the edges of the wood, especially any voids in the edges.
This box is designed to allow several nuc boxes to be stacked to make double-deep nucs. Remove the screws from the bottom of the upper box (this is why it is not glued) to allow the boxes to be stacked. If you were careful in locating your screws for the bottom, any bottom should fit on any box.
