People who have a garden and appreciate the importance of bees in their natural environment might try keeping their own. Bee boxes, or hives, are today designed both to encourage the health of bees and to make it easier for the beekeeper to extract the honey with the least possible impact. A honey bee box consists of a plinth, bottom plinth, hive bodies, smaller boxes called supers, and a lid. The lower part of the hive is separated from the upper honeycombs with an insulator. Learn how to build one to start your beekeeping business.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Recognizing the Components
Step 1. Base
It is a structure that lifts the hive off the ground and may also have an angled "landing strip" for bees. Although there is no technical need for this 'base', it is however advisable that the hive is not in direct contact with the ground. A table or bench may be fine if you prefer a homemade solution.
Step 2. Fund
This is the second section / layer of the hive. It is a wooden board that serves as a base for the rest of the structure, it can be of solid wood or grid: the latter offers good protection from parasites and allows some ventilation inside the hive. Bees can enter and exit the opening in the bottom.
Step 3. Inlet reducer
It is a small piece of wood that blocks part of the entrance to the hive. In this way, you protect the small colonies of bees from the largest parasitic insects and honey-stealing animals.
Step 4. Slatted rack
It is a flat panel of wood with other thin strips of the same material forming a kind of rack. It fits between the bottom and the brood chamber to provide ventilation, make it easy to access the brood chamber, and prevent bees from building a ladder of honeycombs. It is an additional component but it is worth it.
Step 5. Hive body
It is a large chest in which bees live and hide. This is the largest section, and you will use 1-2 for each individual hive. Inside there are 8-10 frames.
Step 6. Body frames
They are the frames inserted into the body individually on which the bees model the wax. You will need 8-10 good quality frames based on the size of the hive body.
Step 7. Queen separator
Since you don't want the queen to lay eggs in honey, you need to add this element. It is a flat grid whose holes allow the worker bees to pass, but not the queen, which is too large.
Step 8. Super
Like the body of the hive, it is a box where bees store honey. It is placed over the body with the queen separator in the middle. A medium sized super is usually chosen, otherwise it becomes too heavy to lift when filled with honey.
Step 9. Super frames
They are wooden or plastic panels that fit vertically into the super. They are the place where bees build wax cells and store honey. This panels (or frames) can be extracted from the super. They can be 'medium' or 'large' to fit those of the super, and have a structure similar to the hive body frames.
Step 10. Inner cover
This is the final layer of the hive, it is a sort of lid placed over the super. It usually has two sides: one for fall / winter and the other for spring / summer
Step 11. Outer cover
It is made of metal and protects the hive from adverse weather conditions that could interfere with life inside the hive. In practice it is the "roof" of the hive.
Part 2 of 2: Building the Hive
Step 1. Get everything you need
You have three options: buy a complete hive for a lot of money, buy the various components and assemble them at home and save a little, or build it from scratch and save 50% of the cost. Regardless of what you choose, you should always go to a reputable seller. If you buy cheap items, they will be short-lived and may even harm bees and honey!
- Always use untreated wood; usually cedar or pine is chosen.
- Neither the body nor the sup have a bottom or lid. So you need to get enough wood only for the outer edges of the various sectors.
- Some pieces, such as the frames and the outer lid, cannot be made easily and you have to resign yourself to buying them.
Step 2. Purchase the pieces for the hive body
You will need two short 41x24cm boards and two long 50x24cm boards. All elements must have "tongue-and-groove" or dovetail ends. Cut the pieces of wood to meet these specifications.
Step 3. Build the super
The size varies according to the depth you want. The width and length of the super can be identical to that of the body (41x24 cm for the short boards and 50x24 cm for the long boards), but the depth may differ. If you want a shallow super then build it around 5.5cm, if you want a higher height, consider 16.8cm. Also in this case the boards must have “tongue-and-groove” or dovetail edges.
Step 4. Assemble the super and body
Use water repellent wood glue to connect the planks. Do not use it in large quantities and spread it between the various joints at the ends of the boards and then join them. At the end use a system of clamps to hold the pieces in place while the glue dries. To fix it even better, put some nails.
Step 5. Buy or build a bottom with an input reducer
The bottom is the first layer of the hive, a piece of wood with raised edges is sufficient. Obviously it must have the same width and length as the body, but with a height of 9 mm. Connect the inlet reducer in the front, it needs to be 1.9cm for summer and.95cm for winter.
- A wider entrance attracts rodents and parasitic insects.
- Some commercially available funds are "reversible" to adapt entry to the seasons. This reduces installation costs and saves you from having a reserve fund to use in the winter.
Step 6. Paint the outside of the hive
Although this is not a mandatory step, many beekeepers prefer to color their hives white to reflect sunlight. If you decide to do this, use a non-toxic white paint that is suitable for outdoor environments and can withstand the elements. Never paint the inside of the supers and the body of the hive: you could harm the bees and damage the honey.
Step 7. Purchase a queen separator
It fits over the body of the hive and prevents the queen bee from migrating towards the super. This is an item that you cannot build yourself, so you will have to go to the shop.
Step 8. Purchase the lids
You need two lids: one inside and one outside. The first is made of wood with an entrance hole, the second is made of metal and is the "roof" of the hive. The outer lid should rest on and off the edges of the super to close tightly.
Step 9. Get the frames
These are the elements that bees use to deposit the wax and build the cells. You can't make the frames yourself, unless you want to go through a lengthy process of assembling the wire mesh (which beginners usually don't). The frames are made of both wood and plastic, but both materials perform the same function. You will need about 10 for the body of the hive and 6-8 for the super. Thread the frames vertically into each piece of the hive and secure them in place.
Step 10. Assemble the hive
Now the moment you have been waiting for has come! You can stack the various components on top of the base. First you have to put the bottom, then the slatted rack (if you have decided to use it), the body of the hive (even more than one), the queen separator, the super (even more than one) and finally the inner lid and external.
