why 7d nails?

[beegee]

I've been scrambling to assemble a bunch of hive bodies and supers during breaks in the rain. They sent a few little packages of nails with the woodenware, but there are never enough. Looking through the bee catalogs, they all list 7d nails for assembling supers. Why? Is this just another beekeeper eccentricity?
7d nails don't exist in the real world outside of beekeeping, at least not in eastern NC. So, I've been using 6d ring-shank hardboard siding nails, dip-galvanized and they work nicely. Regular smooth 6d galvanized box nails are slightly too small for the pre-drilled holes. As soon as I get my shop set up, I'll no longer have this problem, as I will be shooting everything together with my air stapler. Anyway, I was just wondering why 7d?

[James]

BEEGEE LOEWS Has a galv. spiral 7d, Works great.

[Michael Bush]

I've nailed thousands of 7d box nails into decks on houses. I've never had trouble finding them. 8d work ok too. 1 1/2" crown staples work too. smile.gif

[Joel]

I screw everything. ( is that ok to say in this format?) With a portable drill and a box of 200 2 inch screws I can wiz through assembly. Gives me a much stronger box that I'm not repounding nail heads after a few years of migrations, myequipment stays nice and I don't have to prime nail heads before I paint.