# Observation Beehive Build - Ongoing



## Teht

Hey everyone.

You may have seen my build pictures from my observation hive: http://imgur.com/a/8K60h

Well, the bees LOVE that hive, and even though I've been pulling out full frames of brood and food and replacing them with blank foundation, they just never have enough room! I had so much fun building the first hive and I've learned so much both in woodworking and beekeeping that I've decided I want to build a new hive and move my girls over. The new hive will feature the following improvements:


Single-frame cartridges instead of doubles - I want to be able to see both sides of every frame.
Vented cartridges so sealed up cartridges can breathe during transportation to my outdoor hives
A handy handle on each cartridge
An "airlock" between each cartridge so I can remove any cartridge without affecting other cartridges
A mid-hive mason jar feeder with plexiglass viewing area
More frames, I'm currently planning the new hive to have room for two rows of 6 one-frame cartridges
A set of two over-sized cartridges on the top designed to accommodate Flow frames for honey on-tap from my observation hive

I plan to post my build pictures here as I go so you all can follow along and see how I'm doing. Keep in mind, this is my third woodworking project, so while I've picked up a lot of skills I still consider myself a novice. Thanks for checking it out!


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## Teht

My first step was to design the hive I plan to build in SketchUp, which is a program that lets me draw in three dimensional space, complete with measurements. I've saved a lot of wood by planning out what I'm going to build very carefully because I can make sure everything is going to fit and make improvements before I start cutting wood. Just like my current hive, the new hive will be modular, meaning I can pull out a frame full of bees inside the house without any bees getting loose. I call these frames "bee cartridges" and they work great, although they are time consuming to build! The design for these cartridges is very similar to the ones I've been using, but I'm making some improvements. Below you can see the design for the cartridge and the different cuts of wood I need next to it.










Last night I started building the first cartridge - I'll be making lots of these, because the hive will hold 10 of them. I'll also be making a larger cartridge for the top two slots that will hold "Flow" frames, but that's a story for another day. The first piece I cut is for the handle end of the cartridge, and it's the biggest piece.










The plexiglass windows will slide into this piece on the inside edge of the cartridge, so the next step is to use my table saw to cut a 1/8 inch wide slot on either side. Luckily my table saw blade is exactly 1/8 inch wide!










Next, I need to cut out the receiving hole into which the frame's hanging lip will fit. I did this with my chisel set - in the past I would use a screwdriver for this kind of cut, but the chisels make the job MUCH easier!










This is the first time I've used a proper set of chisels, but it went very well! The hole is perfectly rectangular and exactly 5/16 inch deep, just what I needed.










One of the things I noticed with my old cartridges is a lack of proper ventilation. To fix this problem I'm putting two mesh-covered vent holes in each cartridge. To make these holes, I'm using a 1.5 inch forstner bit.










I like forstner bits because they cut very quickly and leave a clean hole without the fuss of removing the cut blank from a holesaw. These holes turned out great.










Next, I cut the piece for the other end of the cartridge. It's a little narrower than the first piece, because this side will not have slots for plexiglass - the window will slide next to this piece.​










This piece needs a half-inch wide, 5/16 inch deep lip cut into​ it which will hold the other side of the frame's hanging lip will rest. To do this I put my dado blade on my table saw.










To finish the cuts for the cartridge, I cut 4 pieces of long 3/4 inch wood. Two of these each will make the top and bottom of the assembled cartridge. 










These pieces will hold the plexiglass windows on either side, and also will hold a strip of plexiglass used to close off the frame so the bees are locked inside the cartridge when I need to remove one. That means each of these pieces needs two 1/8 inch slots cut length-ways - I'm so glad I have a good table saw!










Now that I have all the pieces cut, I can start assembling the cartridge. Since there are so many small pieces of wood, I don't want to put this together using nails or screws. Instead, I'm using wood glue and clamps to make sure the cartridge is strong. To make this easier, I've secured a length of 2x4 on the tabletop which I can use as a brace when clamping glued pieces together.










This method of construction requires patience, because you have to wait at least a few hours after gluing each piece to make sure it cures in place. However, you don't have to worry about a screw torquing the pieces you're attaching around. With a flat surface and a good set of clamps you can join pieces very accurately










Another bonus of this method - if you run out of clamps you can screw 2/4 blocks right to your work table to keep pieces aligned while they dry!










To put the last two pieces in place, I cut several 5/16 shims to space them out properly. This means I could clamp everything in place while it dries and everything will be aligned properly.










Tonight I'll be finishing up the cartridge including plexiglass windows, venting mesh, and handle. After the first cartridge is done, I'll need to make about 11 more of them! I may begin prepping the first pieces for the hive frame as well, including the first "bee airlock".


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## Teht

Hello again!

I've made good progress on my project over the past few days; time for an update. When I left off I had glued and clamped the last of the pieces for the first "bee cartridge." In this episode I've finished construction of the cartridge and also started construction of the first "bee airlock" which will allow bees to travel from one cartridge to other cartridges without getting loose in the house.

For starters, here's a picture of the assembled cartridge after the glue finished drying.
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To make sure the cartridge was build correctly and my measurements were sound, I test-fit a Langstroth frame into the cartridge. This frame will hold a sheet of beeswax, on which the bees will "draw comb" to build their hive. I've built a 5/16 inch bee space on all sides of the frame so the bees can navigate their home.
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Next, I cut the first plexiglass window and tested to make sure it fits. The plexiglass slides smoothly into the 1/8 inch slots I cut and fits flush on all sides. The bees will do the rest of the work - when they make themselves at home they'll glue the windows in place, or "propolize" them.
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Because I've decided to vent the cartridges, the vent holes must be meshed over. To this end, I've cut and stapled a narrow-gauge aluminum mesh to the handle side of the cartridge. I may secure the mesh further with a bead of wood glue, but for now it appears to be sufficiently well attached.
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Finally, I attached the handle to the cartridge. One cartridge done, 11 more to go!
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The next step in my project is to start building the frame which will hold the cartridges. Since this project is going to be fairly large, during the design phase I quickly identified I would need to build it as modules which can be put together as I go. With this in mind, the next part I decided to build is the "bee airlock" which I'll call a "beelock" from now on. The beelock's main function is to provide a path for the bees to travel between two frames, and its secondary function is to allow me to close off a section of the hive so I can remove a bee cartridge for maintenance or inspection. Finally, I wanted to be able to see the bees as they move from one part of the hive to another, so I decided to incorporate plexiglass windows into the beelock.

As always, I designed the beelock in Sketchup before I started cutting wood. You might notice in all my designs there's no plexiglass included - I find it's easier to just plan the slots where the plexiglass will fit without going through the trouble of drawing it in the design.
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The first step of building a beelock is to cut long pieces which will hold the plexiglass windows.
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Since these pieces will hold plexiglass on two of their surfaces, I next cut 1/8 inch slots with my table saw.
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Next up, end pieces.
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Since plexiglass will be joined with these pieces, I slotted them on their interior edge to match up with the top and bottom pieces.
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Then I cut and mounted the first piece of plexiglass to see how the pieces will fit together. Everything is fitting together almost as perfectly as Legos!
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Next, a mockup with both pieces of plexiglass and both endcaps installed before I start gluing.
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## Teht

On to gluing - the first encap is the most difficult to glue because there's nothing holding the pieces in the correct position but your clamp. To help make sure the proper spacing is maintained I again used 5/16 inch spacers to keep things aligned.
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Next I glued the top pieces to the endcap. Again I used spacers, and the plexiglass pieces already installed helped keep the beelock further aligned.
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At the midpoint I decided to shore up the design so there wouldn't be too much pressure on the plexiglass, so I cut some bracing spacers.
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Then I glued and clamped the spacers in place.
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There will also be bracing spacers in the horizontal slot - these spacers will provide reinforcement and also prevent bees from escaping when they move horizontally through the beelock.
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Horizontal spacers installed, glued, and clamped.
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I had to wait for the spacers to dry before I could continue on to the last endcap, so the completed beelock will be featured in the next episode. I will also be building the base of the hive in the next episode, including fitting the hose assembly the bees will use to venture outdoors.

Thanks for looking!


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## Teht

Since many of my friends and family have been interested in what I'm doing, I've decided to switch over to a blog format for this. Episode 3 is up and posted to my blog, visit http://indoorbeekeeping.blogspot.com/ to check it out!


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