hello this year is my first year using lang. hives prev. i have used top bar hives . i decided to assemble my hive bodies( bought from mann lake ) ive already assembled them and i just realized they are not square . i can stack them up and though not straight and nice lines there are no open gaps or uncovered parts due to not being square . they just have to be stacked somewhat slanted to make sure they line up as best they can. will this still work ?
did i just mess up
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ya a few of mine came out wonky. i am putting the best ones on the bottom since they will be there the longest and keeping the most screwy for my last super.
as long as there isn't a giant gap then it's fine. they will seal up anything they don't like anyway.
as long as there isn't a giant gap then it's fine. they will seal up anything they don't like anyway.
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If you glued the joints when assembling, don't worry about it. The bees could not care less if the boxes are square, it's a beekeeper thing. 
If you nailed the boxes together with no glue, then as Mr.Beeman said, you can try to square it up with a little pressure. Measure diagonally from corner to corner to determine which way is the longest. Those are the two corners you want to push together to try to get both measurements closer to the same length.
Set one of the corners on the longer measurement on the ground and push down a few times on the opposite corner. Check your measurements again, and repeat if needed to square it up. Not too much pressure, just push down firmly a few times. You don't want to break any of the corner pieces. I use the same procedure when assembling boxes before the glue dries to make sure they are square.
/\
\/ Push down on the corner, like this.
If you nailed the boxes together with no glue, then as Mr.Beeman said, you can try to square it up with a little pressure. Measure diagonally from corner to corner to determine which way is the longest. Those are the two corners you want to push together to try to get both measurements closer to the same length.
Set one of the corners on the longer measurement on the ground and push down a few times on the opposite corner. Check your measurements again, and repeat if needed to square it up. Not too much pressure, just push down firmly a few times. You don't want to break any of the corner pieces. I use the same procedure when assembling boxes before the glue dries to make sure they are square.
/\
\/ Push down on the corner, like this.
Box joints are not self-aligning, you have to get them square and flat before you nail them up.
Best way to do this is to put one nail in the end of each board (eight nails per box), with the joints glued. Take a good square and verify that the box is square, the make sure it sits flat on a flat surface (note that concrete floors are NOT usually very flat!). With only two nails per side it's easy to rack it around to get it square, but there is enough "grab" so that it likely won't move much while you drive the rest in.
Boxes that are "racked" -- high on two corners -- will usually flatten out pretty well in use. Out of square will usually stay that way without "help", but so long as the bees can't get in the cracks, are fine. The bees will fill any gaps with popolis anyway.
Don't sweat it too much, the bees will be fine. They often live in much less well constructed spaces.
Peter
Best way to do this is to put one nail in the end of each board (eight nails per box), with the joints glued. Take a good square and verify that the box is square, the make sure it sits flat on a flat surface (note that concrete floors are NOT usually very flat!). With only two nails per side it's easy to rack it around to get it square, but there is enough "grab" so that it likely won't move much while you drive the rest in.
Boxes that are "racked" -- high on two corners -- will usually flatten out pretty well in use. Out of square will usually stay that way without "help", but so long as the bees can't get in the cracks, are fine. The bees will fill any gaps with popolis anyway.
Don't sweat it too much, the bees will be fine. They often live in much less well constructed spaces.
Peter
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