Bee Box Math

[Troy]

I'm good at Math, but having a problem with the bee box Math.

I was trying to figure out how wide to make a 3 frame nuc box, and I just keep getting hung up.

According to the beesource site a standard Dadant frame is 1 3/8 wide at it's widest point. I reasoned that I should be able to add up 10 of those plus an extra bee space at the outside edges and it should total the size of a 10 frame langstroth right? Then just use the same math to figure out a 3 frame...........

Here is my cypherin'
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A 10 frame box has 10 frames plus half a bee space on each side. That's 3/16 + 3/16 = 3/8 extra space, plus 10 times 1 3/8.

3/8 + 10(1 3/8)

3/8 + 10 + 30/8

10 + 33/8 ............... 8 times 4 is 32

10 + 4 + 1/8

14 1/8

But it is actually 14 3/4 so we are short
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What did I miss? Do I have the frame size wrong or is the bee space allowed a little bigger for some reason? Please set me straight here.........

[okb]

Troy, I'm not sure about all that but I did mine as follows. However it probably isnt right but it works for me.

3- frames at 1 3/8" = 4 1/8
So I added 3/8 to 4 1/8 for "wiggle room" and have 4 1/2
inside measurement.
Then addes for my sides.

[HVH]

I'm good at Math, but having a problem with the bee box Math.

I was trying to figure out how wide to make a 3 frame nuc box, and I just keep getting hung up.

According to the beesource site a standard Dadant frame is 1 3/8 wide at it's widest point. I reasoned that I should be able to add up 10 of those plus an extra bee space at the outside edges and it should total the size of a 10 frame langstroth right? Then just use the same math to figure out a 3 frame...........

Here is my cypherin'
------------------------------------------------------
A 10 frame box has 10 frames plus half a bee space on each side. That's 3/16 + 3/16 = 3/8 extra space, plus 10 times 1 3/8.

3/8 + 10(1 3/8)

3/8 + 10 + 30/8

10 + 33/8 ............... 8 times 4 is 32

10 + 4 + 1/8

14 1/8

But it is actually 14 3/4 so we are short
-------------------------------------------------------


What did I miss? Do I have the frame size wrong or is the bee space allowed a little bigger for some reason? Please set me straight here.........

Your math works for me. If you put new frames in a box there is enough extra space left in the box where your math seems about right. If the frames fit tighter, it may be difficult to spread two frames and pull one out. The 5/8" of slop you discovered divided by 10 is only an extra 1/16" extra between frames. So I guess you might want to shoot for 7/16" between frames in your nucs.

[Troy]

OK, I see what you are saying. Add in an extra 1/16th between each frame for wax and propolis buildup.

OK, there are 9 spaces between the 10 frames that is 9/16ths more than the 14 1/8, that I originally came up with; so that is 14 11/16 - if we just went with 10 it would be dead on at 14 3/4.

Seems odd that Langstroth came up with this design and the numbers seem a bit fudged. It obviously works and I will proceed with bldg. some nucs using the numbers from this thread.

Thanks,

[Hobie]

The bees can build the comb thicker/thinner to make the beespace they desire. That takes care of the majority of the box area.

[drobbins]

they add more than 1 beespace so you have room to get the first frame out when inspecting
it's 10 x 1.375 = 13.75
use decimals not fractions
plus an inch = 14-3/4"
shove all the frames together in the center

Dave

[Michael Bush]

MINIMUM space for x number of frames is as stated above 1.375 per frame plus a 3/8" bee space at the end. But this is pretty crowded. A little extra is nice for a box. Not more than another 5/8" though unless you want to slip in a follower.