Does size matter that much?

newbee07 · June 18, 2007, 09:24:44 AM

I was wondering if a 5 1/2" wide board for a shallow work out okay or does it really have to be 5 5/8". I can only find 5 1/2 or 8" and rip it down. The only reason i'd like to use 5 1/2 is beacause it is already the width and my dados at 5/8 come out perfect. Any suggestions.

thanks

Ross · June 18, 2007, 10:18:43 AM

yes, it matters. Bee space is bee space. They will glue the frames top to bottom. Rip it to 5" and glue on a 5/8" strip. Or buy 12s and rip twice.

Bennettoid · June 18, 2007, 06:15:49 PM

My father in law did it the easy way and made 5 1/2s. Then he had to custom make all his frames.

I inherited them, and about the only thing they are good for is covering top feeders.

doak · June 18, 2007, 07:08:58 PM

Just fasten two together and cut the bottom excess off for deep or medium. Then make or buy or make some new ones the right size. If you cannot redo the frames to the right size, use for kindlin for getting the BBQ grill going.
If you start out with homemade odd sizes you will have problems the rest of your bee keeping carear.
If you use 8 inch planks you have the strip for all kinds of things. Make slatted bottem rack. Use for sides for telescoping cover. Rip out 3/4 inch rails for bottom boards, then you have the right size for makiing entrance reducers. And the list goes on.
doak

Bennettoid · June 18, 2007, 07:54:24 PM

Quote from: doak on June 18, 2007, 07:08:58 PM
Just fasten two together and cut the bottom excess off for deep or medium. Then make or buy or make some new ones the right size. If you cannot redo the frames to the right size, use for kindlin for getting the BBQ grill going.
If you start out with homemade odd sizes you will have problems the rest of your bee keeping carear.
doak

Which is why I don't take BK gifts from Dad in law until I inspect and measure them first.

Michael Bush · June 18, 2007, 11:25:19 PM

Actually a shallow is 5 3/4" or 5 11/16" depending on who you buy it from. It's NOT 5 1/2", nor is it 5 5/8". The shallow frames will leave less than 1/4" between the boxes at 5 1/2" which is less than minimum beespace.

Buy one by eights and make the 6 5/8". :)

newbee07 · June 18, 2007, 11:30:00 PM

If i glue and brad nail a strip thick enough to make the difference up will it hold up for me. As i said i have the boxes at 5 1/2 so that isn't very much to add so it will be thin. I think it will hold up though what about you all?

Ross · June 19, 2007, 10:16:26 AM

That's why I recommended rippeing them down further and then glueing on a strip. It's pretty hard to accurately rip strips of less than 1/4".

Brian D. Bray · June 20, 2007, 05:59:26 PM

I was once given a bunch of supers designed for use with comb honey. There were still a few that still had all the balsa dividers etc. I ended up tacking 1/2 inch strips on the bottom and turning them into shallow supers. the distance between the bottoms of the frames in one box and the tops in the frames in the box below it was a little more than the normal bee space. Still, I didn't have any more problem with burr comb than any other supers. I've found that bees will actually accept anything from 1/4 to 1/2 inch as bee space. Anything over 1/2 inch seems to incourage burr comb--except where the bottom board is concerned. I've had bottom boards deeper than 1 inch and still did not experience burr comb.