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Boxes won't fit.....help please...

6K views 24 replies 17 participants last post by  postie 
#1 ·
Hello All,
For whatever reason I have a deep hive body that has somehow warped slightly out of shape. I used this box last year and had no problems (I run two deep brood boxes). A couple of weeks ago I split a colony and the half with the established queen is doing excellent and has filled her box nicely. I NOW need to add her second box but one corner is at least a quarter inch off so the top box rocks back and forth, not to mention it is far more than the bees can fill. Does anyone have any suggestions what I can do??? I don't feel I can move all the established frames and queen into a new box (too much disturbance for a relatively recent split) and I don't know how one would shim up something for a good fit. I'd appreciate any advice or help as I MUST get the top box on to make some room for the massive brood being produced!!!! Thanks ahead! :)
 
#6 ·
How would you place the shims (I'm thinking of the popsicle sticks)? If I place the top box on, three corners touch nicely, while the fourth corner would sit up about 1/4 inch (and obviously you could rock opposite corners back and forth). Standing BEHIND the behive, it is the front left corner and the rear right corner that will not stabilize. Thanks again. :)
 
#7 ·
If the choice is to not use the box or shim it, then shim it. One way that I might do that is to drive a flathead screw into the 3/4" thick edge of the box. Screw it in enough until the screw acts as leg to stop the rocking. If you then want to block the gap, screw some scrap to the outside edge of the warped box to close the gap, It may not be pretty, but it will be functional.
 
#12 ·
The quarter inch was too much...with the gap on the corner and the unsteadiness of the top box, the bees were flying out the sides. I'm pretty sure this would leave them wide open to robbing and also leave some room for burr comb.

If I use weights on top, what I would be doing is warping the top (empty) box to fit the warped (full) bottom box...that might make both boxes unusable for interchanging later, not sure. What does sound good is the shimming ideas and then tape up the distance, I'd just want to be sure not to put any of the "sticky" towards the inside of the gap where the bees would stick. We are having high winds and rain for today, so the girls will have to wait at least one more day...I sure don't want to chase down any more swarms! All the ideas are great ones and definitely giving me some options I would have never thought up...I'm always open to creative ideas and usually I'm not too good at that!
 
#13 ·
If you want to take them out of one box and put them into another I say go for it. What's the harm? No different than pulling frames for inspection. I have a bottom board that is like that. Just used a ratchet strap to pull it together tight.
 
#18 ·
I would verify which box is the culprit and if your bottom box is warped then it is possible it is due to the bottom board. The weight on top will work but you might need to shim from underneath bottom board to get all boxes back into square. If it is just the bottom box then the top box with weight will realign without warping your top box if you distribute the weight evenly on the top.
 
#22 ·
I agree with what has been said. Put the box on, put some weight on it, the bees will fill in the details.

It happens all the time. If you keep your boxes in stacks regularly, they will tend to stay better aligned in that way, but they do change shape with humidity and temperature. It is the nature of wood.
 
#25 ·
I whittled some thin shims and stuck them in at each corner then ran a strip of duct tape around the box. It looks pretty neat (not as in "cool"), but as in tidy. When I get a chance to change out the box at some later date, I will do that. For now, seems to be working well. I also put some blocks on top. I just felt in a crunch for time because the bottom box was a split that DID have the queen and was wall to wall brood....plus, swarms everywhere. I was just brain dead I think. I APPRECIATE all the ideas and will put them all to good use over time. :) Thanks everyone!!!
 
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