# Waxed cardboard deep for bait hive?



## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Cardboard nucs make great bait hives because they are light and weatherproof. But the best size is approximately the size of a deep. Any way around this?


----------



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

I would not waste your money on waxed cardboard, if you have one use it until it falls apart (there are threads that say they won't hold up). A sheet of ply or house siding is around 20 bucks and it will make 4-5 nucs. 

The best size according to T Seeley is 40 liters cavity which is the size of 7 deep frames. All thing equal; If given the choice the swarm will pick 7 frame deep over another size. I used about 50 5 frame deeps and 5 10 frame deeps and noticed no difference in the percent caught or the size of the swarms. I can hoist the a 5 frame nucs up in a tree much easier to where I get better percentages the higher in the tree I go up to around 20 ft. 

Using 5 frame nuc boxes also means I have extra equipment that I can use for splits and swarms.

>Any way around this? 

Yes make your own out of ply and make them 7 frame deeps.

T Seeley;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnnjY823e-w


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

They work just fine as a five frame, this came in within three hours of placement, not much shelf life however:


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

In my climate they are good for about one season...


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I have not tried a Jester Nuc for a bait hive but they clearly would hold up longer. OK, I will set one out this year as a test.


----------



## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

FP you might check your math..... when I crunch the numbers a 8f deep is 35.5 L and a 10f deep is 42.75L


----------



## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

I haven't caught anything yet.

I've made all my bait hives (). Some were out of cardboard and some wood (and one plastic). I painted all of them w/ two coats of paint. This was not adequate for the cardboard. I waxed them on the outside with a combination of paraffin and beeswax. The cardboard then seems to hold up fairly well. Although I'm leaning more towards the wood ones as time goes on. Since I'm piecing the wooden ones out of pallets, they take a little while to build.


----------



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

msl said:


> FP you might check your math..... when I crunch the numbers a 8f deep is 35.5 L and a 10f deep is 42.75L


I see that. 

Here's a link on the cavity sizes that T Seeley tested; 
Along with other bee preferences. 

http://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2653/2/Bait Hives for Honey Bees.pdf


----------



## buzzedbees (Aug 8, 2013)

Jester EZ Nucs are great. Much sturdier than cardboard. I'm asking all the Los Angeles supply houses to order them.


----------



## Fishmaster50 (Apr 30, 2015)

I got two 4x8 sheets of that material vote signs are made out of and made a couple ten frame swarm boxes out of that. Weigh less than 3 pounds without frames. These were for coming soon or opening soon signs for dollar general. Keep an eye open for them!!!


----------



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

>> The best size according to T Seeley is 40 liters cavity which is the size of 7 deep frames. 

A standard 10 frame deep is 42.7 liters (without subtracting for any volume occupied by frames). Using a 10 frame (or perhaps 8 frame) deep that you may already own seems to me a better solution than making a special oddball size for a swarm trap.

And here is Seeley's Bait Hive guide ...
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/2653/Bait Hives for Honey Bees.pdf


----------



## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

The bait hive being light weight is important especially when you may have to carry it 1/4 miles through the woods or up the side of a mountain.


----------

