By: David E. MacFawn
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years
Choosing your equipment size is the utmost importance. As a beekeeper you can select 10-frame or 8 frame, in deeps, medium, and shallow depths. Top Bar Hives (TBH) may also be considered. Care needs to be taken when assembling equipment. The correct size nails need to be used and the super assembled with the correct handhold orientation. Woodenware should be primed with a high-quality primer and two coats of a high-quality paint. Currently, only smooth planed inside equipment is available and not the more recently recommended rough surface. Rough inside surfaces are desirable to increase the bees’ propolis coating1.
Ten frame Langstroth equipment is the traditional standard. It allows the most space which minimizes swarming and is economical. However, it is heavy to lift and the most difficult to get your arms around. Ten frame equipment also requires more frame manipulation. Eight frame equipment is easier to lift and handle, is lighter in weight, and the bees seem to do better since bees tend to move up. However, the bees tend to swarm more in eight frame equipment.
The depth of the equipment selected depends on your preference. Some beekeepers use all deeps. With deeps weight is of concern but all frames are interchangeable. An alternative is to use all mediums, which is about two-thirds the weight of a deep, and again all the frames are interchangeable. Also, a lot of beekeepers use a deep brood chamber and a medium feed chamber and supers. The size or your feed chamber and super hive bodies should match your area’s nectar flow and overwintering store requirements.
Standard Langstroth equipment has outside dimensions of 19 7/8″ x 16 ¼” (some manufactures are 19 ¾” x 16 1/8”). This means the outside dimensions of different manufacturer’s equipment will generally fit due to the board nominal thickness (¾”). Different manufacturer’s equipment depth may be different by 1/8″ or less. This depth difference may result in the interior bee space being violated from the top of the frame top bars to the bottom bar of the super above. The same bee space issue can occur between the uppermost hive body and the inner cover/ migratory cover. If you are purchasing equipment (deeps, medium, shallows) from different manufactures, you need to assess the equipment’s depth differences. If the space between super frames of different manufacturer’s equipment is greater than 3/8″ (9.53 mm), burr comb may be built. If the space is less than ¼” (6.4 mm), the space may be propolized shut (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Note the burr comb on the top of the frames. (David MacFawn)
Note the burr comb on the top bars in Figure 1. This means the bee space(¼” to 3/8″) has been violated between the top of the top bars in the below super and the bottom bars in the above super. Burr comb sometimes makes it difficult to separate the two supers. Spacing violations may also allow a place for Small Hive Beetles to hide. Often burr comb is drone comb which may allow Varroa mite reservoirs.
Figure 2: Note the nine frame spacers. (David MacFawn)
Many beekeepers use nine frame spacers in their honey supers, Figure 2. Nine frame spacers result in the bees drawing-out the comb past the edge of the frame’s top bars. This allows easy uncapping of the honey comb.
Some beekeepers believe frame spacers, Figure 2, are an area Small Hive Beetles may hide. That has not been my experience with the bees propolising the empty space around the frames ledges.
Frames should be glued and nailed together with high quality waterproof glue so they will not come apart under heavy prying. The beekeeper can use a sheet of beeswax foundation in their frames, or a two-inch beeswax foundation strip to promote the bees drawing out the comb with the natural 14% to 17% drone cells. Of course, plastic foundation can be use but at least a double beeswax coat is preferred resulting in the bees accepting the plastic foundation easier.
- 7d (2.25″ 5.715 cm.) galvanized nail for nailing hive bodies and supers.
- 4d (1.50″ 3.810 cm.) galvanized nail for bottom boards
- 1 ¼” (3.175 cm) x 1 7-gauge nail for nailing frame top bars to end bars or to attach top bars and bottom bars to end bars.
- ¾” inches (1.91 cm) x 18-gauge nail can be used for bottom bars or end bars, recommended for wedges or under the frame ear going from the end bar into the top bar.
- 5/8″ Nails (1.59 cm) Used to attach the wedge back to the top bar or with frame spacers.
All hive body joints should be glued with high quality waterproof glue and nailed. Gluing the joints helps ensure a tight, waterproof joint. The wooden fingers where the nails are placed should be drilled with the hole slightly smaller than the nail shank diameter. Drilling a hole will keep the wood from splitting. Most manufactures predrill the holes. All woodenware should be primed with a high-quality primer and painted with at least two coats of a high-quality paint. Only the outer surfaces should be painted; the inside surfaces should not be painted since the bees will coat the inside surfaces with propolis. In the high humidity southeast properly painted woodenware should last eight to ten years before needing repainting.
Figure 3: Pilot holes and frame rest orientation (David MacFawn)
In Figure 3, note the drilled pilot holes which aids in preventing the wood from splitting. Also, note the handhold orientation. When assembling, the assembler needs to ensure the handholds are oriented correct and the side is not upside down with respect to the other sides. If an end side is upside down, the frame rest ledge will be on the box’s bottom rather than the top.
Figure 4: Glue on the interior super joint during assembly. (David MacFawn)
In Figure 4 and Figure 5, note the glue on the joints of the super. Glue should be applied to joints on both pieces prior to assembly. If too much glue is applied it will run out onto the super surface. You can certainly wipe the excess glue with a cloth or leave it on the surface to dry. Also, note again the handhold orientation. Some beekeepers use screws. Screws are better than nails but usually a combination of nails and glue is sufficient.
Figure 5: Glue on super joints; note handhold orientation (David MacFawn)
Attaching a ¾” x about 6″ board (a cleat) just above the handhold will increase the surface lifting area (Figure 6). This additional lifting surface helps immensely with finger-tip comfort and being able to lift a heavy super. The downside is the hives take more room in a truck when moving. Hence, the trade-off is between comfort/lifting weight, and being able to fit more hives in a truck.
Figure 6: Cleats above the hand holds to increase the lifting surface (David MacFawn)
Bottom boards, inner covers, and telescoping outer covers usually come assembled. Migratory covers usually come unassembled and should be glued with a high quality water proof glue and nailed. After assembly, the outer surfaces should be primed and painted. The inner surface next to the hive equipment stack should not be painted for moisture control assistance and for the bees to coat with propolis.
On Figure 7, brood chamber/deep XXB2 has the frame rest ledges and especially the frame rest corners painted. The frame rest corners will rot quickly if not painted in high moisture southeast. Painting the frame rest will not interfere with the bees propolis coating. I use nine frame spacers in honey supers and no spacers in brood chambers. Hence, this results in ten frames in my brood chamber and nine frames in honey supers. The honey super frame rests and corners are painted prior to assembling nine frame spacers.
Figure 7: Burr comb on a queen excluder, migratory cover, and ¾” strips above the handholds (David MacFawn)
For Top Bar Hives, the reader is referred to Dr. Wyatt Mangum’s book, Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping: Wisdom & Pleasure Combined, ISBN 978-0-9851284-0-1, Singing Drone Publications. Bowling Green, Virginia.
In summary, correct assembly and care of hive equipment will ensure your woodenware lasts a lifetime. Woodenware rather than plastic or other material is preferred since it “breathes” and is more in line with what the bees encounter in the wild. The woodenware should be glued and nailed with the correct size nail, primed and painted on the outside. It should not be painted on the inside since the bees will apply a propolis coat. Properly assembled and painted woodenware will last eight to ten years prior to repainting in the Southeast.
1Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) at Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS).
https://www.easternapiculture.org/images/stories/extentions/DarwinianBeekeeping-EASl7.pdf
