First time bee hive maker

[Dannny]

Hello there, my name is danny and I will be getting a few packages of bee's in a few weeks and I want to start building a hive from scratch. My father has been buying his bee equipment from Mann Lake and we have decided both to take on the task of making our own because of its low cost. My question is, whats the best type of wood to build hives out of? and also, what types of tools will I need to complete them? I do have a table saw and many other power tools, I just dont know which exact ones I will need

Thanks a lot!
Danny

[Antero]

Danny; Hive plans


http://beesource.com/plans/index.htm


Terry

[Michael Bush]

A table saw will do. Pine works well. It's cheap and light and strong enough for the purpose. A 1/4" crown stapler and a compressor is nice, but you can get by with a hammer and nails and glue for the frames and deck screws and glue for the boxes.

I'm not sure if it will be cheaper or not to build your own. I'd price the lumber and then price the equipment plus the shipping to decide.

[Lively Bee's]

For me it is cheaper to build then ship. But if I could drive 2 - 3 hrs and pick them up it would be about the sime price. The shipping is the killer for me.

[Dannny]

Thank you for your replys. Ive seen the plans thats why I decided to go forward by building some on my own or I would have took off at the thought of that task without plans. I have also compared the price of making them myself and buying them, and making them myself would be a lot cheaper because although stuff like wood is pretty expensive here in california, its still pretty cheap to build on your own as it costs about 21 dollars per hive body unassembled with shipping (from mann lake) compared to 30-40 dollars depending on quality of wood where you would yield about 5 have bodies.

Thanks for the replies!
Danny.

[Flyer Jim]

Try Western Bee Supplies, they have mounthly specials that are pretty good. www.westernbee.com
Jim

[Okiebee]

Danny:
Before you start making hive bodies, call your local suppliers. The one closest to you is SLAM, 877-789-7526. I belive that their mill is in Willows, CA approximately 200 mile North on Interstate 5. The next closest is Dadant in Chico, CA approximately thirty miles farther.

[hobbee]

making your own hives is easy ,you will need a router blade for your table saw .It's easier to make several at one time than just one -takes about the same amount of time .Enjoy and be careful

[Todd Zeiner]

Just curious, but what is a router blade on the table saw for? [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

[beegee]

I think he's talking about a dado blade which makes cutting the rabbets quicker and more uniform.

[Dannny]

Wow thanks so much for the replies.

Flyer Jim, thanks for the tip

Okiebee, thank you for the sources, I got to check them out

hobbee, thanks so much, my next post was going to be "how do you make rabbits?" lol :confused:

and thank you to the rest who replied, all your responses were very helpfull

Danny

[wayacoyote]

Danny,
I don't have a dado blade. I just cut it out with the regular blade. I use a machinist's scale (small ruler) to set the rip fence and the blade height. Once it is set up, I can run dozens of peices with no problem. Adjust once more to clean out the cuts, and I'm left with a pile of little strips of wood that come in handy. I also use a rabbet for the corners. A dado blade would be handy for cutting both the frame rests and box-joints, if you have one. And again, it is easier to make lots of peices at once than to do all that resetting each time.

WayaCoyote

[Todd Zeiner]

Thats also the way I do it. I bought a stacked dado blade($90) thinking I needed one and I've never used it when building boxes.

[honeyman46408]

I bought a stacked dado blade from "Harbor Freight" for $20. and it works fine but I have made a lot of boxes with just the regular blade doing the doubble cut, I only use rabbet joints.

[Walt McBride]

Danny, check out Los Angeles Honey Company. Their wood mill and beesupply is located in Madera CA., some 100 miles from you. There main store is located in Los Angeles. They have been in business for years and years. Their phone # is (559) 673-1361.
Walt

[dickm]

Danny,
Welcome to the club.

Dickm