[Ben Brewcat]

I'm making a long hive to put 30 deep frames in (sick of heaving deep boxes around ). As I look at rabbeting for the frame rests, it occurred to me that I could make a deeper rabbet (7/8" instead of 5/8) to leave 3/8" beespace on top of the top bars (and adding 1/4" to the width of the boards to compensate), since there won't be an inner cover to add the 1/4". Thoughts? I've made a few top-entrance migratory lids with shims like Michael Bush's design and they seem to work fine. But what I'm thinking of won't have the shim to elevate the lid off of the topbars, and on a 30-frame long hive, I'm concerned that they'll propolize the migratory lids down if there isn't beespace on top of the frames. Or maybe even just that the ventilation will be better with beespace on top.

Sure I'm over-thinking this, but since I'm making the rabbet anyways, why not make it for migratory lids?

 

[jjgbee]

Back to the basics one more time. Bee space is 5/16 to 3/8 inch. So much sloppy box making has gone on until the basic rule has been lost. When the box is setting on a work bench, the frames should rest on the frame rest and the bottom bars should be just touching the work bench. There should be 5/16 to 3/8 inch between the top bars and the top rim of the box. A 3/8 beeway should be on the rim of the bottom board and a flat top on the top. Everything else; 1/4 space on inner cover or reversible bottom board with 3/4in bee space, metal frame rests which add 1/8in to the frame rest are variations which will cause burr and brace comb.

 

[doc25]

On my long hive I made a starched burlap cover sheet to sit on top of the topbars/frames. Mine is 3 mediums in size. The theory is that the bees will stick the burlap to the top bars allowing you to remove the migratory top and just peel the burlap back. I think I got this idea from Warre hives and the recipe for the starch mix is in the book also.

 

[stangardener]

it's just like a lang box but longer. cut the rabbets 5/8"-3/4".
make the box deeper to make up for the 3/8" bottom board. for a deep instead of 9 5/8" deep make it 10" or more.
if your sick of lifting lang deeps just wait till you get to move a deep long box

 

[Ben Brewcat]

it's just like a lang box but longer. cut the rabbets 5/8"-3/4".

I guess my question is not so much about long/horizontals as much as migrating lids. Wouldn't losing the gap provided by the inner cover mean you need a deeper rabbet in using a migratory?

 

[jbw]

I think a 6 1/4 inch frame in a 6 5/8 box with a 5/8 rabbit would leave 1/8 inch top clearance and 1/4 inch bottom clearance on the bottom. I don't think the frames should be touching the bench as a previous poster mentioned. You might consider making the long hive 1/8 inch taller and the top rabbit 1/8 deeper which would leave 1/4 inch plus or minus on the top and bottom. This should be sufficient given the fact that it is likely you will gain a bit of dimension as it isn't really an exacting science.

Jack

 

[Michael Bush]

I cut mine for my long hives, 3/4". That leaves a 3/8" space. If you cut it 7/8" you'll have 1/2" space.