Let’s Build A Hive

So my friend calls me up and tells me: “Why don’t we have two hives instead of one? Two times the hives, means two times the bees, means two times the learning and two times the honey! Why not?”

So I placed a call to Jerry Fisher, Vice President of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association and Maryland Department of Agriculture Apiary Inspector one more time to ask specifics about the number of hives one can keep in Baltimore County. He previous had told me about zoning regulations and a 200 feet requirement, for which we built a wall to encircle and enclose the area of my friend’s yard. But this time, Jerry told me that as long as the hives were placed in a closed off area, one could keep as many hives as one desired. For our purposes, two beehives would be sufficient for our purposes. So I called my friend and we headed off to buy some supplies at Miller Bee Supply.

My friend bought all the necessary items and even bought an order of bees. But one thing my friend didn’t know how to do, was how to assemble to hive frames. After all, assembling the hive is a cinch; assembling the beehive frames however, is another story.

But if you’re reading this blog and you’re like my friend who didn’t quite know how to assemble the frames, you’re in luck, because I decided to post instructions and photos on how to assemble the hive frames. Let’s begin, shall we?

Step 1) For each hive you will need 4 pieces of wood, cut in these specific proportions. These will provide the walls of the frame. You can’t see it right now, but the long piece at the bottom of the picture will eventually be the top part of the frame

Here’s a closer look at each individual piece of wood:

These, two wide pieces will provide the walls each frame

This piece is the bottom piece I mentioned earlier, that would in turn, become the top part of each frame. The corner slit you see here will have to be cut from the rest of this piece (more on that later), but right for right now, just notice the slit

This piece is the skinny top piece, which will eventually become the bottom of each frame. Notice the wide groove in the middle of this piece. The actual frame which the bees will use as the foundation for their comb will be lodged in here (more on that in just a minute)

Step #2) Take the bottom piece mentioned in Step #1 (shown here)

Take your knife

Cut the small slit of wood and break it off from the rest of the bigger piece of wood. Keep it off to the side until later. Do not discard this thin piece of wood! It is thin and fragile, and thus, more susceptible to breaking. Keep it out of reach until further notice

Step #3) Now take your four pieces of wood and connect them together. They should all fit and interlock into place. Begin with your bottom piece and lock the two side pieces on both sides

When both are locked into place, the frame should look a little like this

Next, take your top piece and lock it into place on the top of your side pieces. Make sure that the wide groove mentioned in Step #1 is facing inwards, not outwards. In other words, when the frame is assembled, the frame should look just like it does in the picture below (i.e. the groove will be on the inside part of this top piece, not visible if you’re looking at the frame from the top). In the end, your basic frame should look a little like this

Step #4) Nail the frames securely into place

Place each nail in the center of each end, so that each piece is fastened together tightly

Repeat the process for each corner. Make sure that each nail snuggly fastens both pieces of wood. This of course, requires four nails. In the end, you should end up with a tight-fitting wooden frame

Step #5) Take your frame board and fit it into your wooden frame (Some beekeepers like plastic, but I like wired wax boards. Initially, I had decided to go with plastic boards, but some research suggests that wax frame boards are better suited to help the bees when they build their combs and their hive. Feel free to use either plastic or wax)

The wax board should fit perfectly into the grooves of the top frame

Remember I mentioned in Step #3 that the top part should have its groves inwards? If you nail the top part with the middle grove outwards, the wax board will not fit

Another shot of the wax board fitting in as it should: into the groove of the top part

Step #6) After inserting the wax board into place, we have to nail them securely only to the frame, otherwise, the board will wobble and provide an unstable foundation for the bees to build their home. Below is a picture of the wax board looking down at the bottom part from above

Let’s return to Step #2: Remember we took the bottom part, used our knife and cut off a thin portion of wood from off the side? I then told you to keep it off to the side

So take your thin piece of wood

And fasten the wax board (and its wires) to the bottom part of the frame

Then take your tiny nails and attach the thin piece of wood to the bottom part

Be sure to place one nail in the direct center of thin piece of wood. Place another two nails in place, one on the right and another on the left, like so

Step #7) After the wax boards are in place and they have been securely fastened and secured to the frame board, the final step is to balance and further secure the boards to the sides of the wood frame through clasping pins

As seen in Step #1, the sides of the wooden frame have four holes, reserved for four clasping pins. In reality, you will only need to use the two middle holes. These pins should slide right into the holes, but sometimes they will require an extra push

These pins are designed to grab and clasp the wax board and to secure them onto the side pieces, but instead of clasping them into place, what I like to do is to place one pin in front of the wax board and one behind, like so

Here is another shot, from a different angle

The bees will eventually build wax over the clasping pins, so no need to worry about them sticking out or making the frame look awkward. From my experience, it’s better that they hold the frames in place this way, than actually clasping the wax, because sometimes the pins don’t always hold the wax boards straight and often tear the wax boards

Once you have finished following these steps, you have successfully completed building your first frame. Like I mentioned earlier, the top part will eventually become the bottom part of the frame. Of course, this was impossible to really see when the frame was incomplete. However, once completed and placed into the hive body, it becomes clear how the top piece becomes and bottom part of the frame and the bottom piece becomes the top part of the frame.

Once you have completed about 9 or 10 frames, you can call it a day . . . and a hive.

Note on the Bees: I ordered my Bees two weeks and now I’m waiting for them to arrive from Georgia on the 29th of this month. I ordered Italian Bees, but my friend ordered Russian Bees. Apparently, they will eventually cross-breed, but that’s beside the point. Since this is all a big learning experience (one that will be properly documented) and will be having two hives (one Italian, one Russian) it’s going to be an awesome opportunity to see what type of bees are better, not just for their honey, but for growth, production, winter resistance and progress.

Stay tuned! My next post will describe the difference between bees that you may want to order