Langstroth Build

[waynesgarden]

I'll stick with the faster-deteriorating finger joints. I'll be needing something to do 20 or 30 years from now.

Wayne

[2PUPs]

This is the finnished pic of langs all painted . I have some handles that will be put on the boxes , I made a few extra supers for the person that is getting this . I hope to be going up this weekend Saturday
to give it to him . I also have ordered all the hive frames for each one for him . Now I need to make my own Langs. Below is a pic of it .

[Oldtimer]

Well I hope he appreciates it!

Looks so clean you won't want to let any messy little bees near it!

[rrussell6870]

2pups... looks great! Suggestion.. cutting handles into the supers helps greatly when standing supers on end to work the hives... exterior handles will make them tip over or have to be propped up causing a messy situation... if you were to cut handles into them, how much??? Keep in mind that I order hardware in lots of a thousand at a time. ;-)
Ps... how did you post the pic??? I have been tryin to figure that one out myself...

[odfrank]

exterior handles will make them tip over or have to be propped up causing a messy situation

I have exterior handles on hundreds of supers for 40 years and most do not tip over when stood on end. Mediums and deeps are fine, shallows can tip over as there is not enough super below the handle to make for a support. I install the handle near the top of the super but low enough as to not interfere with a telescoping cover. At the right height, access can often be had below the handle into the cut out hand hold. I put a slope on the top and bottom of handle, which makes it possible to grab empty supers one handed. I think a lot of complaint about supers being too heavy is becasue they don't have handles, the cut outs are useless for a full super, fingers tips are not that strong. This pic shows the handles.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...nk/7-07002.jpg

[rrussell6870]

I also have a few hundred supers with handles like those... to each his own, I just have over sixty locations and most are very uneven ground with lots of leaves and/or pine straw and sticks and such... to me the flat surface is easier. I handle grooves supers with one hand just fine, even when they are loaded, but my grip has come from a lifetime of handling them and is probably a little more stout than most. Lol. Nice tower by the way.

[Roadstar]

The hives look great.........any Bee would "bee" happy to call those home! Thanks for sharing the picture........nice work!

[MastoDon]

It appears from your first few photos that you built a solid bottom on the base, rather than a screened bottom board. Am I missing the screen? or did you decide not to do the screen? If the latter, can you share your reasons for making that decision?
thanks.

[AstroBee]

Definitely paint the edges. Water does sit in between boxes and will accelerate rot.

FWIW, I too prefer boxes without cleats. When I build my own boxes, I just set up a dado blade to the proper width and height and cut the hand hold - not as nice as factory hand holds, but not bad.

[George Heath]

Could anyone tell me what is a good clear finnish to use on the wood to keep the wood natural looking .

Boiled Linseed Oil

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

Astro Bee. You can make the factory look handles with a skill saw very quickly, easily, and safely.

Send me your e-mail address and I will send you the plans to build the jig and instructions. Costs about 50 cents to make the jig, then takes about 30 seconds to make each hand hold. If you are making your own boxes, it is the fastest, best method, I have found to make commercial looking hand holds.

cchoganjr@scrtc.com

[tommyt]

Cleo C. Hogan Jr
Could I get a copy of how you cut the handles

Thanks
Tommyt

[Darxus]

Video of how Cleo cuts his handles with a skill / circular saw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaWRjpJ5f0w

[cerezha]

Hi 2PUPs,

I totally agree with Oldtimers comment about boxes with finger joints rotting quicker.
I've got many boxes which are 40 or 50 years old -I bought them from a (then) 76 year old beekeeper who had himself sourced them from a major British Honey Farm when it closed it's doors, so their history is pretty certain. The interesting thing is that while they are showing their age the best ones are those with the simplest butt joints such as you've already used: no rot or movement, as square as the day they were made.

Best,
Roland

Interesting
I was observing a few discussions on this matter on beesource. The conclusion was that old box/finger joints are the best for beehives. I was never able to understand the reason, but many people voted for box joints.

2PUP - great job, very nice woodwork!

Sergey

[psfred]

Box joints, when properly cut, assemble easily (and square and flat) and when drilled and nailed, are very strong -- try taking one apart some time if you doubt that.

They will rot faster only if the joint is not sealed -- it's not the end grain exposed that causes the tendency to rot, it's the open space between the "fingers" that allows water to penetrate and keep the wood saturated. If you glue them with TiteBond III, and cut them to fit very well (they should require a bit of effort to got together, not just slip and rattle) and then prime and paint them properly, or heat treat with a wax/rosin mixture, they should last a very long time.

The main reason box joints are standard is that before the development of modern waterproof adhesives, nailed box joints were by far the strongest joint available.

I will repeat, rot prevention has everything to do with preventing water penetration of the joint and little or nothing to do with joint design. Sealed off from water and not abused, bee boxes should last indefinitely.

Peter