Can you use Plywood for a Hive?

[Olivia9801]

I would like to make a hive from scratch and am wondering if Plywood is a suitable material to make my first hive?

I make all our own furniture and have just finished our kitchen which again was made from scratch, so workshop and power tools are not an issue.

Many Thanks

 

[region2]

Yes but heavier than cedar and less weather-resistant...

R2

 

[susbees]

Pine, redwood, cedar...ply isn't as good although regularly used for smaller nucleus hives.

 

[protheroe]

I use ply mostly,but make sure you seal all the cut edges with pva or other external glue.I forgot to seal a couple of supers last year,they were out over winter and the ply is starting to separate already.Try not to use WPB,it separates too easily.Shuttering ply works well,Its cheap and should last years

 

[Finman]

.
Ply is not good.
When you make solid wood walls normal pine board is good and eternal.

From this you get such boxes as you will.

My pine boxes are 46 y old and they are like new. But I use them in summer. As brood boxes and in wintering I use poly.

 

[hedgerow pete]

try watching the hedgerow pete videos on making nuc boxes, ply wood every where no solid timber used and the hives are very similar to make


and welcome to the forum

 

[Winker]

I use 18mm WBP (Weather and Boil Proof) Ply. The adhesives used in its construction are waterproof so no need to seal off the edges and it wont warp in the heat of a summer.

My Ply Hives are good for 10 years un treated and maybe 15 years+ if you treat them. If i get 10 years out of one I'm a happy man. @ £25 a sheet i can make 2 BB 6 supers out of one sheet.

It is heavier than other types of wood, and should be a consideration if you are not too good at lifting.

 

[The Apprentices]

I would like to make a hive from scratch and am wondering if Plywood is a suitable material to make my first hive?

I make all our own furniture and have just finished our kitchen which again was made from scratch, so workshop and power tools are not an issue.

Many Thanks

Ply is an excellent material for making bee keeping equipment, how I use it is by dovetailing the corners and sealing everything with Cascamite or the same urea based waterproof glue known today as Resintite by EverBuild.

If you search around you can secure good prices for the higher quality birch ply which is what I use then seal well with a non toxic preservative.

For equipment used occasionally like solar extractors I use the cheapest shuttering ply which is quite adequate.

Dovetails and glue no nails needed, I will take a few pictures tomorrow and show those interested of doing dovetails the really easy way.

 

[suechick]

We have just made 2 brood boxes and 6 supers from ply to save money. i know they won't last as long but they will last for a while if looked after.
We used this site to get advice and plans.
They look lovely and they are currently being painted.

Now I just need to get or grow more bees.

 

[Olivia9801]

Many Thanks for your replies

I am pleased that Ply is well used by many of you. I woudl like the ideal material- timber but its so mexpensice compared with ply.

Thank you also for your welcome to the forum.

I have wanted to keep bees for ages but due to a full time job whilst rebuilding the house its been difficult to spend any time on hobbies.

However, since finishing the last room on our home last year, I am starting to get my time back and would like to get started in bee keeping this summer?

If any of you have plans and pictures of your home made hives, then I would be grateful.

Ideally I like the tradditional white painted hives with the sloped roof. I think they also look lovely when seen in the garden.

Thanks everyone!

Olivia9801

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Hi Olivia, welcome to the forum!


You sound an old romantic! I think you're referring to the WBC hive.
I know nothing - but people seem to think they're more trouble because they're double skinned.


D.

 

[The Apprentices]

How to dovetails the easy way

Ply is an excellent material for making bee keeping equipment, how I use it is by dovetailing the corners and sealing everything with Cascamite or the same urea based waterproof glue known today as Resintite by EverBuild.

If you search around you can secure good prices for the higher quality birch ply which is what I use then seal well with a non toxic preservative.

For equipment used occasionally like solar extractors I use the cheapest shuttering ply which is quite adequate.

Dovetails and glue no nails needed, I will take a few pictures tomorrow and show those interested of doing dovetails the really easy way.

Further to what I said yesterday here is a step by step of how you can do dovetails.

First you need to work out the angle of the pins and tails, to do this you require a sliding bevel not shown but you can buy one relatively cheap from your hardware store, or make your own, see pictures.

To find out the correct angle you need to take a piece of paper or scrap of wood with a straight edge.

Mark in one corner X and from here measure and mark off in both directions from the corner 5 inches and 1 inch then draw a line from 5-1, this is the angle you set your gauge to or make your own from scraps from the projects etc.

You can also buy ready set dovetail jigs for this job, but I thought I would show you how to do it the old way l so at least you know or can make your own gauge like I was shown.
To make a dove tail set square all you need is two pieces of 6.0 or 9.0 mm ply, I x 4 by 2 inches and another 3-5/16 by 1-1/2.
The larger of the two needs to be cut, to do this using your 5-1 pattern from before mark off the side plate and cut the edges to the angles and glue and pin the top plate/both pieces together using either a sqaure block of timber or another set square.
Also make sure that the top plate lines up perfectly with narrow end of the jig at either side because this half of the jig becomes your set square for the opposite lines down to your cutting gauge line.

The angle of the 5-1 ration works out at 11.5 degrees for those with an adjustable cut off saw.

The 5-1 ratio is used for softwoods and a ratio of 7-1 is for finer work on hardwoods.

Now you can work out how to and make your own jig for nothing.

 

[The Apprentices]

The next step is to take your ready cut boards and mark out the pins, I always do my pins first.
Taking you cutting or marking gauge and set it to the thickness of your sides so that the cutter or the very point of the pin is just over the opposite side/edge, the reason for this will be become obvious afterwards, now mark off all your sections on both sides and around the ends.

Now work out where abouts your going to place your pins, I have mine on all my hives etc about an inch and a half away from the ends, now take your dovetail gauge and mark off the pins so the widest part is towards you and do this the same each time, and using the top plate of the gauge mark down to the cutting/marking gauge line.
Now using a fine toothed gents or dovetail saw cut to the "Outside" of the pencil lines and down to the cutting/marking gauge line so that that the pencil lines are still just visible, the sharper the pengil and the finer the line the better the joints will be.

 

[The Apprentices]

Now comes the easy bit.

Rather than lots of chiselling I opt for the lazy way of removing the waste timber, if your a joiner and you haven't got a Fein Multimaster here is why.

Place two straight pieces of timber up to the futting gauge line and clamp into place.
Take said implement and rest the flat holtz blade onto the timber support and carefully remove all waste sections with consumate ease, the result is pretty acurate indeed.

 

[The Apprentices]

Now with all waste removed, take your end board with pins and place them onto the side board so the widest edge is away from you and the narrow end is facing you, line the outside and ends of the boards and using a very sharp pencil mark along the sides of your pin, you can place a perfectly square block of timber against the two halves to support things while you marking out if it makes things easier, I am used to doing it freehand.

 

[The Apprentices]

Now all that remains is to cut out the tails using the same methods and process as before to remove the waste from the tails.
Using your cutting/marking gauge set it to the depth of the ends, remember I am using two different thicknesses of timber here so I need to set my gauge twice or use two gauges, if you are using same thickness ends and sides you only need one setting for all cutting/marking gauge lines.

Same as before cut down to the gauge line using your dovetail saw, but this time cut to the "Inside" of line of the line on the tails again just leaving the pencil line visible or you will result in a slack fitting joint if you cut to the wrong side of your line now, and again attatch the pieces of straight timber and clamp them into position and using the Fein Multimaster and flat standard holtz cutter remove the waste timber.

See pictures once again for visual references.

And last bit not least, remember when I menioned setting the cutting/marking gauge so the point was just past or over the outer edge of timber thickness, this leaves the joint so the pin and tail edges are sligjtly protruding, so you can sand them down level afterwards for a beautiful looking joint.

I hope you can now at least have a go at making some quality bee boxes, it is well worth the effort because square comb joints are no qucker than doing dovetails really and once you get the hang of it they are far superior at holding things together really firmly without using any nails and if you make the joints accurate enough there is no real need to glue things together because the bees will glue any tiny gaps all on their own.

If I have missed anything or you don't quite understand just holler and I will try to help.

Happy dovetailing beeks

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

If I have missed anything or you don't quite understand just holler and I will try to help.

Sorry - could you run that by me again, from the top?

D

 

[VEG]

Think you need to do a video apprentice.

 

[DarynWebb]

Think you need to do a video apprentice.

I've never been any good with instructions

 

[The Apprentices]

You guys