Where do you get 8mm strips of wood?

[sean-a]

Looking for rims for crown boards etc, but struggling to find the right dimensions.
I want a one bee space rim but cant find the right thickness.
Any pointers?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Looking for rims for crown boards etc, but struggling to find the right dimensions.
I want a one bee space rim but cant find the right thickness.
Any pointers?

Wickes do stripwood, they do 6mm x18mm and also 4mm x 18mm
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Painting+Decorating/Mouldings/Stripwood/c/1000207

 

[user 20297]

Looking for rims for crown boards etc, but struggling to find the right dimensions.
I want a one bee space rim but cant find the right thickness.
Any pointers?

Unlike many on here, I don't have any facility for machining timber. So I've used 9mm x 21mm stripwood available from Wickes. It's not a cheap way to do it, but I just pick a couple up (and pay for them ) each time I visit there.

 

[user 20297]

Wickes do stripwood, they do 6mm x18mm and also 4mm x 18mm
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Painting+Decorating/Mouldings/Stripwood/c/1000207

Great minds and all that.....

 

[pargyle]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/65mm-uPVC-...qid=1658085938&sprefix=upvc+s,aps,121&sr=8-32
You would need to run it down the middle to give you 20 metres for £12.17 ... 61p a lineal metre ... you would get either two 460 x 460 (Timber national) or two 500 x 500 (Poly national) out of each cut down strip .. £1.20 per crown board.

 

[JamezF]

If I weren't able to make my own, I think I'd be tempted to find a local woodworker and negotiate to get exactly what I was after, perhaps with a few jars of honey. Or there might even be someone in the local BKA who can do it, but they'd possibly not have their head turned by an offer of honey

James

 

[sean-a]

Yes, lots of options for 4 or 6mm, and 10mm but one bee space is 8mm.
The 9mm strips of pine are eyewateringly expensive!
Or doesn't it matter that much?

 

[pargyle]

Yes, lots of options for 4 or 6mm, and 10mm but one bee space is 8mm.
The 9mm strips of pine are eyewateringly expensive!
Or doesn't it matter that much?

Bee space needs to be larger than 4.5mm and less than 9.0mm. I've always used 6mm for crownboard rims .... always worked fine for me.

 

[user 20297]

Bee space needs to be larger than 4.5mm and less than 9.0mm. I've always used 6mm for crownboard rims .... always worked fine for me.

According to "Cush-tterson", bee-space is 9mm +0.00mm-1mm. (That's back-to-back space, for bees working comb).
On most beekeeping videos I see, a fair amount of brace-comb seems to be normal and acceptable on the tops of the frames. I don't know if that's down to the type of bees or forage or poorly dimensioned equipment. Thus far, running a core setup entirely of Abelo kit, I've had very little brace-comb at all, even using rimless queen excluders, some homemade modifications and items with 9mm thick rims. I'll try 6mm, because it's cheaper, but with rims on one side only, the 9mm strip gives more rigidity.

 

[pargyle]

According to "Cush-tterson", bee-space is 9mm +0.00mm-1mm. (That's back-to-back space, for bees working comb).
On most beekeeping videos I see, a fair amount of brace-comb seems to be normal and acceptable on the tops of the frames. I don't know if that's down to the type of bees or forage or poorly dimensioned equipment. Thus far, running a core setup entirely of Abelo kit, I've had very little brace-comb at all, even using rimless queen excluders, some homemade modifications and items with 9mm thick rims. I'll try 6mm, because it's cheaper, but with rims on one side only, the 9mm strip gives more rigidity.

I think you may have misread what is on there ... 9mm is the space that they will leave between combs that will allow two bees to pass or work opposite each other. You don't need double bee space between the crownboard and the top of the frames.... have another look. If you put 9mm under the crownboard they will build free comb there when they are looking for space.

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/bsp.html

 

[user 20297]

I think you may have misread what is on there ... 9mm is the space that they will leave between combs that will allow two bees to pass or work opposite each other. You don't need double bee space between the crownboard and the top of the frames.... have another look. If you put 9mm under the crownboard they will build free comb there when they are looking for space.

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/bsp.html

No, I do get it. But as I said, so far, the tops of the frames in my hives (bottom bee-space) have been exceptionally free of brace-comb. The Cushman site suggests that collision with the odd bits of brace-comb that may already exist on the tops are the reason why his design shows a 9mm rim; why these bits should exist or can't be removed is a puzzle to me. Incidentally, he further explains that having rims both sides has no practical use in beekeeping, and is a constructional decision that provides rigidity to under-dimensioned materials.

I presume that if you use a rimmed crownboard over a top bee-space box, you will end up with brace-comb, regardless of the dimension of the rim, because you've gone beyond 8mm?

From Cushman:
"Many old specifications for this item quote a rim depth as small as 6 mm. In practice this causes much trouble due to brace comb that has been inadequately cleaned from the upper surface of the top bars."

 

[pargyle]

No, I do get it. But as I said, so far, the tops of the frames in my hives (bottom bee-space) have been exceptionally free of brace-comb. The Cushman site suggests that collision with the odd bits of brace-comb that may already exist on the tops are the reason why his design shows a 9mm rim; why these bits should exist or can't be removed is a puzzle to me. Incidentally, he further explains that having rims both sides has no practical use in beekeeping, and is a constructional decision that provides rigidity to under-dimensioned materials.

I presume that if you use a rimmed crownboard over a top bee-space box, you will end up with brace-comb, regardless of the dimension of the rim, because you've gone beyond 8mm?

From Cushman:
"Many old specifications for this item quote a rim depth as small as 6 mm. In practice this causes much trouble due to brace comb that has been inadequately cleaned from the upper surface of the top bars."

Scraping the stuff off the top bars when you do an inspection is pretty much a must do... if you leave it they will add to it and whilst I hate ti disagree with the excellent information found in the
Cushman website ... if you give them 9mm they will fill it with brace comb and join it to the topbars. Not a lot fun sorting it out. I try and have spare crownboards so any that get comb attached can be replaced And scraped, washed off and then used on the next hive. Only in my apiary I would add....and as long as the colony is healthy ....

 

[Wilco]

Call me a savage but I put rims on both sides. Some of my crown boards double as clearer boards with a removable rhombus escape. When not clearing I put the side with the screws on the other way up to avoid the bees propolising them and block the hole with the detached escape or a feeder.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

if you give them 9mm they will fill it with brace comb and join it to the topbars

with a little less of a gap, you get them building a bit on the top bars but never enough to be an issue, the only time I feel the neccessity to scrape anything off is if it's a shallow comb destined for the show bench.
In fact, I've only recently discovered one crownboard amongst my many scores which my friend made for me wich is about 9-10mm and there is a real network of brace comb and honey constructed (and joined) between crownboard and top bars

 

[Amari]

Call me a savage but I put rims on both sides. Some of my crown boards double as clearer boards with a removable rhombus escape. When not clearing I put the side with the screws on the other way up to avoid the bees propolising them and block the hole with the detached escape or a feeder.

My CBs double up as ekes. 6mm rim one side, 4-5cm on the other - deep enough for a slab of fondant or a sheet of insulation board.

 

[plain_hunt]

If you are fortunate enough to remove a lathe and plaster wall, the lathes are bee space, or mine are. I acquired a stash of them. They do need cleaning but work very well.

 

[user 20297]

Scraping the stuff off the top bars when you do an inspection is pretty much a must do... if you leave it they will add to it and whilst I hate ti disagree with the excellent information found in the
Cushman website ... if you give them 9mm they will fill it with brace comb and join it to the topbars. Not a lot fun sorting it out. I try and have spare crownboards so any that get comb attached can be replaced And scraped, washed off and then used on the next hive. Only in my apiary I would add....and as long as the colony is healthy ....

.........but I have, and they haven't!
I'm not stubbornly insisting that 9mm is the best to use, just that it's the optimum I thought I could get at the moment, and it seems to work. As I say, I'll try 6mm and see how things go. I've not had to scrape any top-bars this year, let alone, had to dig out from between them. The only brace I've had is when using frameless excluders above my bottom bee-space boxes. Even then, that just amounts to a few blocked holes and being stuck down a bit.

 

[blackcloud]

Going back to op
Consider getting a table saw- even a cheap einhell one
If you're making things to save money then wickes is not your friend - it's cheaper/easier to get the finished item in the bee sales.
I bought a table saw and it's a godsend.
I can run off a batch of strips from an offcut then make foundation strips with the offcuts.
Spare entrance blocks,roof components,ekes,floors,stands-all from reclaimed material and exactly what I specify.
Plus an unlimited supply of smoker fuel.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

A 1/4" (6mm) strip of wood is fine. The reason is that the top of a frame should be slightly below the top of a hive to allow for plastic or metal spacers, which is what used to be used rather than hoffman self-spacing frames. The 'slightly lower' bit gives you the extra mm or two you need to get the ideal bee space.

Look at the National hive dimensions. Frame top bar thickness is 3/8" (9 mm). rail depth below top of hive 7/16" (11mm). You've got the 2mm you need with a 6mm rim around the crown board, it was already in the original design oodles and oodles of years ago.
Simples.

 

[HarryO]

I go to B+Q and Wickes and pick up the stacking strips they use to stack timber on.

(more likely to be laid around on the floor or on top of half finished stacks in B+Q). It is often 7, 8 or 9 mm.
(Different widths but narrow enough strips for crown boards etc.) Measure it!

Take it to the till supervisor smile nicely and ask if you can have it (for free). They just throw it away in the their skips anyway.