Cardboard spacer

[D D]

Has any one used cardboard for spacer in a eight frame box to make a five frame nuke

[little john]

Similar.  I once used a suitably cut-down cardboard box wrapped in thick polythene (and well taped down) to reduce an 11-frame box (deep super) to 5. 

But if you don't cover the cardboard in something 'bee-proof', then in a few days you'll find that cardboard outside the hive entrance in hundreds of tiny bits.

Top side:



Underneath:




Pretty grotty - dunno why I kept it, as I use half-width boxes now.
LJ

[D D]

Thank you little John for that info  I'll keel that in mind.     DD

[yes2matt]

Corrugated plastic "corex" like from cheap yard signs. Should be whole lotta political signs available end of November. I'm gonna stock up.

When I got my new boxes, I routed a 1/4 slot for a splitter before I put them together. 

[tjc1]

Corrugated plastic "corex" like from cheap yard signs. Should be whole lotta political signs available end of November. I'm gonna stock up.

When I got my new boxes, I routed a 1/4 slot for a splitter before I put them together.

The slot is a great idea! When you need it, it's there, and no harm when you don't need it - except they might fill it with propolis?

[little john]

When I got my new boxes, I routed a 1/4 slot for a splitter before I put them together.

Of course, you can always retro-fit a groove into an existing brood box. ...

I router grooves into brood boxes after making them, using a 'jig' (well, a plank of wood of precise width ... ) thusly:




I've photographed the 'jig' upside-down, in order to show it's stepped edge.  I found this edge was necessary in order to clear the bead of glue which remains in the corners after I've run waterproof glue into all the cracks and gaps to seal them prior to painting.

I find unused grooves completely trouble free - the girls don't propolise them as there's nothing there to seal, and they don't draw comb as there's not enough room.
The only time they lay down propolis is when there's a divider present in the grooves, so smearing the sliding areas with Vaseline(tm)/ Petroleum Jelly is a wise move, especially if the divider is made of wood.
LJ

[Acebird]

I like propolise.  Put a fabric hinge in the middle of your 1/4 inch divider board and you can just break it out any time you want.

[Jim134]

Has any one used cardboard for spacer in a eight frame box to make a five frame nuke

   Why not use follower boards? And in the void place just placed on Post newspaper.

        BEE HAPPY Jim 134 

[yes2matt]

I like propolise.  Put a fabric hinge in the middle of your 1/4 inch divider board and you can just break it out any time you want.

Ooooh good idea! How do you keep the hinged divider straight while it's in the box?

[Oldbeavo]

In a 8 frame box we put 70mm thick piece of polystyrene to take the place of 2 frames, so putting one piece in gives you a 6 frame and 2 pieces give you a 4 frame.
The bees don't chew out the polystyrene unless they run out of room. When they fill the 4 frames, pull out one piece and add 2 frames.
Works well as it also insulates the spare space

[Acebird]

I like propolise.  Put a fabric hinge in the middle of your 1/4 inch divider board and you can just break it out any time you want.

Ooooh good idea! How do you keep the hinged divider straight while it's in the box?

You could melt some wax in the seem, just enough to hold it.

[yes2matt]

Corrugated plastic "corex" like from cheap yard signs. Should be whole lotta political signs available end of November. I'm gonna stock up.

When I got my new boxes, I routed a 1/4 slot for a splitter before I put them together.

The slot is a great idea! When you need it, it's there, and no harm when you don't need it - except they might fill it with propolis?

Just FYI, a virgin Q can get thru that gap when you put the divider in. Which can make your "queen castle " more like just a single nuc (I  had some disappointment)  so you need to either put a tab on the divider to cover the gap, or route the slot deeper.

On my boxes, a deeper route goes thru into the handle cutout, so I opted to make tabs on my dividers.

[little john]

Corrugated plastic "corex" like from cheap yard signs. Should be whole lotta political signs available end of November. I'm gonna stock up.

When I got my new boxes, I routed a 1/4 slot for a splitter before I put them together.

The slot is a great idea! When you need it, it's there, and no harm when you don't need it - except they might fill it with propolis?

Just FYI, a virgin Q can get thru that gap when you put the divider in.

Can she ?






Not if you make the dividers properly ...
LJ

[little john]

Here's another example - this time of a divided box made before I owned a router, showing the 'external groove' and the method of blocking access behind the hardwood runners.




But - life is SO much simpler when you own a router.
LJ

[yes2matt]

Not if you make the dividers properly ...
LJ

^^ that's what I meant by put a tab on the divider. LJ you have excellent woodwork! and always great pics!
EDIT: ^^ and I notice your divider is taller than flush, so that your inner covers come against the sides.  This also is a design detail I learned thru disappointment :/ :)

[yes2matt]

Not if you make the dividers properly ...
LJ

^^ that's what I meant by put a tab on the divider. LJ you have excellent woodwork! and always great pics!
EDIT: ^^ and I notice your divider is taller than flush, so that your inner covers come against the sides.  This also is a design detail I learned thru disappointment :/ :)
[/quote]

[little john]

LJ you have excellent woodwork! and always great pics!

Thanks for the compliment - not sure it's deserved though - the blue paint which you can see splashed about betrays 'running repairs' - as in 'making things fit again' after the wood has warped/ settled-down/ weathered etc.

and I notice your divider is taller than flush, so that your inner covers come against the sides.  This also is a design detail I learned thru disappointment :/ :)

You're not alone - many have discovered this the hard way ... I know I did.  Wide dividers (say, where two half-width boxes are placed over a divided full-width box) obviously need to be made flush with the top - but - thin dividers really do need to project above the top, with the crown boards/ inner covers pushed-up against them.

So, for the benefit of any other folk out there who may be tempted - here's a shot of how NOT to do it:



The movable divider here is only 8mm wide, and the problem with movable dividers is that they can very easily move at the wrong time - like, in the middle of an inspection ! 
So I made a fixed 'slot' for them with 2 pairs of oval nails at each end.  But it's still a dog's breakfast - and I keep planning to raise the divider height and trim the crown boards to suit.  One of these days ...
LJ

[Dabbler]

"   But it's still a dog's breakfast "

Just wanted to say thanks for increasing my lexicon as well as my beekeeping knowledge.
I can definitely foresee me using  the phrase in the future.   

Spence 

[rwlaw]

I had to google it to understand what the phrase was. I like it too, lot's better than FUBAR. LOL

[BeeMaster2]

"dog's breakfast" I also had to look it up. "A Mess"
I will have to start using that one.
Thanks.
Jim