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Hive body assembly??

32K views 41 replies 22 participants last post by  Soapstone 
#1 ·
I have about a 1000(+) hive bodies to put together. I have never put that many together at one time before. I am looking for a timely and efficient way to assembly these boxes.
Do you commercial guys assembly with a jig or just free hand it?
If any of you use a jig, can you describe it?
How long should it take one man from start to finish to assembly one hive body?
All the boxes have 'finger joints', if that matters.

Thanks for any help.
 
#4 ·
If Charlie wasn't such a cheapskate he would buy one like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqYbmvz1ww&feature=related

But of course, since HabitatforHoneybees.org is a non profit organization, probably the funds for that kind of investment are spent on saving the bees, not expensive jigs.
 
#6 ·
Job specialization = efficiency

Put all the sides and ends in stacks and first dry-assemble a few dozen hive bodies, using a slightly modified deep hive body as a fit-up jig to hold the end pieces in place at the right width while you bump the long sides into place. Then staple them after dry assembled. Better yet, pay somebody a low wage to dry assemble while you staple, can easily do hundreds per day this way. The only limitation is your staple gun-holding arm. I can upload a pic but it's really pretty simple.
This is much faster than assembling and stapling each box individually.
 
#10 ·


I built this box press about 12 years ago. It was supposed to be a prototype and every time I use it I remind myself that I am supposed to make a final edition of it. Never happens.
I have nailed about 1800 boxes through this press and I love it.
Boxes come out PERFECTLY square and squeezes the glue out of the super tight joints.
Yes I glue my boxes. :p
I have never paid attention to how fast it will go; I worry more about doing a good job.
 
#12 ·
The dowells are cams that have a flat spot. You can see that there is a black line on the end that aligns with the flat spot. In the first picture the flat spot is against the ram(the board with springs holding it back and in place ) which means the press is open. .
In the second picture, the cams are rotated thereby compressing the ram forward and tightly clamping the box joints together for nailing.
Notice also, if you look carefully, there is a relief in the lower corners so that glue does not build up that is sqeezed from the joints.
If I actually ever get around to making the really nice one it will have 2, 2 x 12s. the uprights will be 4 x 6s and the braces will be 4 x 4s
I suppose I will end up making that down the line when I don't need one anymore.
 
#15 ·
Harry, that is the most cleaver jig I have ever seen! I was trying to figure out how to do the ends so that the fingers that stick out would not hit the end and rack the box. Is there handles on the ends of the dowls or do they just stick out so that you can get a good hold on them? Maybe post a side shot so I can steal your idea. Biggest problem with building of jigs is the storing of jigs.
 
#17 ·
I will tell you how I nail and why, but that doesn't mean you have to do it the same:
First, I glue up the finger joints with TiteBond-III, tap the box together with a hammer, slip it in the press, SQUISH!!!!!!!
Now nail the two fingers in the middle on both sides of the top.
Unclamp, flip the box over, reclamp, nail the two middle fingers on both sides of that surface.
At this point, remove box from clamp, lay it on the long side on the bench and nail the two middle fingers, flip over and repeat.
You now have two nails on each corner / side in the middle.
Instead of nailing all of the fingers on one side, I continue to nail outward from the center, two nails at a time and rotating the box on the bench until you are done.
By radially nailing, this pulls the joints even tighter like a zipper!
It may take a few more seconds; but where's the fire?
As I was growing many folks would say somthing like, "You won't be able to do it this way when you get big".
They were wrong.
Being commercial does not mean doing things any sloppy old way just to get done.
If it does, you have too many bees.

Minz you will want some kind of handle on the end of the cam dowel. Remember; mine is a prototype. I still just clamp Vice-Grips on one end. :(
 
#22 ·
Version 1.2 begins with two 2 x 12 clear boards laying 3.5" apart.
Then there are two 4 x 6 uprights nailed in place similar to where the 4 x 4s are in the picture.
They are sandwitched inbetween the 12s
Each upright is braced with a 4 x 4 that again is slid inbetween the 12s and nailed at an angle similar to the picture.
The ram and cams remain the same but with some sort of handle.
The idea is to produce as rigid of a press as possible. But not so heavy that you have to call Keith over to move it around with his Swinger 1k. :)
 
#24 ·


Another thing "they" used to tell me when I was getting started:
"The bees don't care what the boxes look like".
Well guess what? I do.
And so do my growers.
Our hives are rented all year long from February until September, and every year I get compliments for sharp, uniform equipment.
Dumpy, pethy, dry-rotted junk is not a good reflection on ones outfit.
While it probably makes no difference in pollination strength, my growers compliment my hive appearance almost every year.
That can't be bad.



Nothing like a little fire to cleanse one's soal from time to time.

 
#27 ·
I know, that burn pile picture brought tears to my eyes. I could have gotten twenty more years out of those boxes.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Like a lot of other issues in beekeeping when it comes to equipment the biggest factor is always the budget. After 20 years of borrowing a neighbors jig and having assembled over 5000 boxes on it we decide to splurge and get our own. If you are going to assemble a few boxes go cheap like on the previously recommended videos or jigs. Since I figured we would assemble another 20k boxes over the next twenty years I decided to splurge. We bought one of the ones sold by the guys in SD at
Hivebodies.com

See the item at http://www.hivebodies.com/fixture.html.

See the video at http://www.hivebodies.com/fixture video.html.


Our Box assembler loves the thing. The fixture as well as the stand could use a couple of refinements in order to enhance it ergonomically. An adjustable brake position at foot level ( as opposed to being welded in place) would make it nicer for a left or right foot dominate person. Brake also needs a better "grip" pad.

Over all I would give it a A-. Price wise its a little steep but when divided over 20,000 boxes its only a handful of pennies a box for increased speed and ease of build. would I buy another one? For sure. :thumbsup:

The only thing I can say is that if you buy one don't copy the guy doing the demo in the video. If you pay close attention you will notice he staples 5 sides of the Box during the demo. :scratch:Both sides at that.:scratch::scratch: All the supers we put together have 4 sides.
 
#32 ·
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