I seen plans for supers that are 9 1/2" wide. The ones you buy are 9 5/8" wide. Is 9 1/2'' wide enough for the bees? The frames are 9 1/8" so that will leave about 3/8" if I am right. Thanks for any help.
Should work ok. My guess is whoever is making them 9 1/2 rather than 9 5/8 is doing so because they want to use 10" boards (which are really 9.5) rather than having to rip something bigger.
1X10 is 3/4 X 9 1/4
1X12 is 3/4 X 11 1/4
Johnny
Because of all the waste, I find it cheaper and easier to just buy the boxes, unless you have a good source of free or cheap scrap lumber.
A standard deep box is 9 5/8" deep (and 16 1/4" wide) A standard frame is 9 1/4" deep. That leaves 3/8" beespace. If you cheat that down to 9 1/2" and the frame down to 9 1/8" (as many of the manufacturers have done) then you still have 3/8" beespace.
Mine are all 6 5/8". For some reason they never cheat on this. Also, your lumber comes out much better with a good inch less waste.
And the boxes are lighter. :)