What size?

[Margaret Elisabeth]

O.K. I made the classic mistakes last year and left a gap that robbers took advantage of. I also put the hive together with the nails provided. This year I have the kit to make a new hive and want to drill and screw it together. Can anyone tell me the correct screw and the size I need to ask for at the ironmongers, so that I don't make more of an idiot of myself than I already am.

 

[REDWOOD]

I use black dry wall screws 2 inches long and use a 3mm drill bit to go through the first piece of wood, you could countersink holes for a pro finish

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

I use black dry wall screws 2 inches long and use a 3mm drill bit to go through the first piece of wood, you could countersink holes for a pro finish

Ooh that was quick. Thank you Redwood. Do you not offer up one piece to the other and drill through.

 

[PBee]

Assuming you are speaking of wooden hives, Cascamite glue and lost head nails is an alternative.

 

[oliver90owner]

Good on you! Persevere and you will succeed!

I use several sizes, depending on application. I advise to screw in straight to get the box square and level, then fix with screws 'on the tosh'.

For me, if smaller diameter screws are used and fail to hold, larger diameter ones and likely longer will replace them!

Certainly, a waterproof glue in the joints will make the boxes more durable. Until competent, dry assemble first, then apply glue at final assembly.

Assembling your boxes on a flat surface on a square sheet such as a queen excluder can make things easier.

Don't buy cheap screws (or cheap driver tips, for that matter) as there is a risk of spoiling the drive slot (I invariably use posidrive countersink screws). I prefer Reisser screws as they are reliable and long lived.

Less than 50mm are likely to be required for securing the side bars to the hive wall from the inside, again 'straight in' pulls the bar tight to the wall and 'on the tosh' makes them very secure (but may need countersinking to hide the heads). In fact I would advise countersinking all the screws, as that avoids distorting the wood, until you are experienced.

Regards, RAB

 

[REDWOOD]

Ooh that was quick. Thank you Redwood. Do you not offer up one piece to the other and drill through.

What rab said is correct, do a dry fix, marks screw positions, disassemble, drill and countersink holes, apply glue, reassemble keeping everything square.
Have fun and take your time

 

[yeogi75]

buy yourself a very good set square the triangle sort made of metal for squaring up boxes,what i use is a piece of kitchen work top with 2" pieces of wood set into a square,and leave a small gap on four sides to drive wedges down to hold square used queen excluder as pattern

 

[itma]

So far, I've just screwed and nailed, no glue on the boxes.

Dry assembly, upside down, with a couple of topbars in (this is for bottom beespace), on a qx, on the floor.
Drill pilot hole, countersink, screw home.
Then the next one goes in directly opposite - so the box stays square.
Two drills plus a power screwdriver saves changing bits!

I'm no carpenter, but it seems to work.

 

[victor meldrew]

A simple wooden lath ,pointed at each end ,the total length being the internal diagonal of the box, serves as a quick and accurate reference to the box being assembled square!
A flat work surface is essential , Nothing worse than wobbly boxes ,each box must sit properly on the one below .
VM

 

[Black Comb]

Reissers are god quality screws but rust eventually.
I use stainless now for not a lot more cost per hive.(and waterproof glue)

 

[moor141]

Use stainless steel fixing for cedar either screws or nails. I personally use nails and no glue. If screws you must pre drill and counter sink to stop spliting. A good tip for nailing is to flatten the nail point with a hammer slightly, this also stops any wood spliting.
Measure corner to corner. If both measurements are the same it must be square. If its out of square a gentle tap on the long side corner will sort it out.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Use stainless steel fixing for cedar either screws or nails. I personally use nails and no glue. If screws you must pre drill and counter sink to stop spliting. A good tip for nailing is to flatten the nail point with a hammer slightly, this also stops any wood spliting.
Measure corner to corner. If both measurements are the same it must be square. If its out of square a gentle tap on the long side corner will sort it out.

Thanks to those of you who answered the question and also to those who gave extra advice. I used a square and a tape measure for squaring up. the problem was with the supers I fixed the side bars the wrong way and had the frame castilations too high, so it left a gap. I used gaffer tape as an emergency stop gap and then made a couple of fillets with bottom bars and a couple of ekes with some donated wood from a neighbour who was chucking out. I wished I had used screws as I couldn't get the nails out not even when I used a soldering iron to heat them up. It took a while for me to realise that they were being robbed as the gap wasn't visible under the roof, only when the second super went on. So what with the weather and my mistake they didn't have a very good start. But I made it up to them by making a deep quilt leaving the super of honey on and putting fondant on top. the seemed happy enough when I had a look the other day. But its a small colony.