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chicken

New Bee
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
18
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0
Location
Leics, UK
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
Having a brain blank so beware- this is a stupid question and I am accepting of the fact that it might attract equally stupid answers just for fun :) .

Building National super boxes- do they just sit on top of each other, i.e with nothing holding them together? Or have I built them wrong and they should interlock in some way.

Never built boxes from flat pack before and am struggling a bit- they are Maisemore deal boxes if that helps anyone.
 
Hi chicken,
It's difficult to believe, I know, that they just sit on top of each other. That's why you have a ratchet strap for polly hives otherwise they might just blow away!
 
Hi chicken,
It's difficult to believe, I know, that they just sit on top of each other. That's why you have a ratchet strap for polly hives otherwise they might just blow away!

That makes sense.

I was getting worried that I had assembled them completely wrong!

I am can go and get hammer happy :D
 
Having a brain blank so beware- this is a stupid question and I am accepting of the fact that it might attract equally stupid answers just for fun :) .

Building National super boxes- do they just sit on top of each other, i.e with nothing holding them together? Or have I built them wrong and they should interlock in some way.

Never built boxes from flat pack before and am struggling a bit- they are Maisemore deal boxes if that helps anyone.

Don't worry your bees will glue them together.
 
Hi chicken
What is the quality like
I am thinking of getting some and some brood boxes
Thanks
 
surprising how well they stick together with the weight of honey and bee glue, which you will find out when you go the take them off, that's why you need a hive tool
ps where in Leicester are you im in blaby
 
surprising how well they stick together with the weight of honey and bee glue, which you will find out when you go the take them off, that's why you need a hive tool
ps where in Leicester are you im in blaby

Aylestone! Right up near Soar Valley way on the Glen Parva border :)
 
Hi chicken
What is the quality like
I am thinking of getting some and some brood boxes
Thanks

They are great-very pleased with them. Went together a dream one I downloaded their instructions.
 
i bought quite a lot of Maisey 2nd quality supers from the beetradex event @£11:50 each and 14x12 brood @£25, well worth the money

but one word of advice, store them outside in a damp area before you make them up becasue a lot of our beginners stored them in their dry centrally heated houses and the wood can warp
 
chicken;39782. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .it might attract equally stupid answers just for fun :) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . do they just sit on top of each other said:
Gravity does it perfectly well, If they locked together you'd crush a few when replacing boxes.

However, you can get spring clips to help you out. :smash::smash:
 
I was getting worried that I had assembled them completely wrong!

I am can go and get hammer happy :D

The things to check, check and check again are that the boxes are -
- square (the diagonals are equal)
- flat (so it sits on a properly flat surface without rocking
- beespace accurate to 1mm or less (the tops of the frame topbars should end up level with the top of the box sides, all the way down the box, on both sides.)
Choosing to have them up to 1mm below the box side tops is OK as long as they are level. The frames must not stick up above the box sides at all, even a fraction of a mm. {In this section I have been describing the standard National "bottom beespace" arrangement.}


Gravity and a little bit of bee-glue ("Propolis") hold the stack together well enough. On an exposed site, a couple of bricks or stones on the roof (or a hive strap) is a common insurance!
However, when shifting hives you do need straps, staples, or some other way of holding the hive together.

One particular brand of polyhives has a (generally if not universally disliked) "lip" around the edge of the boxes, to hold the stack aligned. But it makes 'twisting' boxes back into place impossible, and as for mixing with other standard boxes ...
 
Gravity does it perfectly well, If they locked together you'd crush a few when replacing boxes.

However, you can get spring clips to help you out. :smash::smash:

The only place I use spring clips is between brood box and floor.
 
Thank you :) I can start gluing/hammering now then :)

Some advocate not using glue. With no glue hive parts can be disassembled and parts replaced, like for example if Mrs Woodpecker has made a hole in just one side of a brood box.
 

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