# Migratory pallet questions?



## ApricotApiaries (Sep 21, 2014)

Hey Billy Joe,
We are having some pallets built this year as well (I went through the Pallet Co. in Fresno, CA--but thats probably not realistic for tennessee). I talked quite a bit with my mentor about how his are built. The last couple years we used his pallets to go to California, then had to give them back and hand load the rest of the season at home. 
Others with a bit more experience will probably have some good things to say. 

We went with untreated wood, but the pallets are going to be wax dipped. I also live in a very dry climate. 5/8 CDX seems like a good choice. I think we went with 3/4
As for the cleatwork on the deck, we are using 3/8 inch lath because that is what was available. On the flip side, as the lath wears out/rots, vince (our mentor) has been replacing all the wood lath on his pallets with 3/8 inch strips of trex. A bit more expensive up front, but never going to rot. 
As for entrance reducers, alot of guys have the lath wrap around the front of the hive closing off the entrance partway. We went with a small block in the center which helps keep the hive from sliding a little better. As for an entrance reducer, we cut a whole bunch of wedges out of a 2x4 (about a 30degree angle). The wedge fits in really nicely to reduce the entrance in fall winter and early spring, easy to remove, easy to store, very cheap. 
We also put a drain hole in the deck of the pallet in the back of each hive. 

Beyond the pallet--a thought on w-clips. My understanding is w-clips help keep your boxes from rotting substantially compared to u-clips. An often overlooked detail is your lids. If you are going to w-route, you might consider making your lids 1/4 inch wider than your boxes. This way, the extra lid size fills the 1/2 inch between the two boxes made by the w-clip. The issue is when you strap, you dont want the straps to pull your hives together. Also, the overhanging lid will help keep some of the junk from falling in the space between the hives. Something can probably be improvised if you find it necessary and don't want to rebuild all your lids. Either tack a strip on your lids, or maybe just put a stick or block between the hives when you strap them. 

Also, depending on how your bottom boards are built, you might be able to do a pallet that accommodates your bottom boards. There are a few guys on here who have "migratory bottom boards." Basically, instead of a reversible style bottom, there are cleats on the front/back of the bottom and the pallet deck is made to line up with the cleats. This gives alot of flexibility to palletize or unpalletize as needed. But if you have a forklift, I don't think you will find any desire to unpalletize very frequently or ever.


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## georgiabees (Feb 2, 2010)

An example idea for you

























NO perfect answers just what works best for you and the materials budget you have.
Here in the Southeast pressure treated is a must for moisture humidity ants termites.

John Pluta http://GeorgiaBees.blogspot.com Just Say NO To Deadouts


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I don't think you need the extra 1/2in when using the W clips. I make my pallets 33 in. and use the W clips and everything works out just fine. I use the 3/4in pressure treated furring strips from Home Depot to go around the outside edge of the pallets. I also use 3/4 in pressure treated plywood for the decking. If your going to paint the decking anyway I don't see where it's going to hurt the bees. I've been using mine for 1yr now and can't tell any difference from the hives that are on the pressure treated pallets V/S the ones on regular bottom boards.


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## red (Jan 15, 2013)

If you use screws to fix your decking to the middle runners it's easyer to put on new decking in the future.


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## dunbarb (Jan 23, 2015)

Hey Billy Joe, any update on what you learned from this experience? Would love to hear what you went with and how it worked out.


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## Makin' Honey (Sep 13, 2010)

Seems to me if you paint before you dip in wax you are sealing the wood off from the wax? If you don't paint you can re-dip in wax anytime you want. 
Pressure treated wood now days is safe for bees, the problem years ago was the arsenic they used in the treatment.
I agree with Georgiabees, pressure treated to stop rot. I use pressure treated then in several years I dip in copper naphthenate.


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

I use concrete form/HDO/mdo ply 3/4 . Most companies that make concrete form HDO will sell their blisters and blows 20-30 bucks a sheet. Usually 90%+ is usable. Copper dip the bottom runners if you cant wax dip. Ours are always reduced 3 inches. Keep in mind, you will need a drain hole on the back corners. No glue and we use coated deck screws so we can easily replace any part of the pallet.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

I use pressure treated 5/4 deck boards for the deck as well pressure treated 1x4s &2 X4s - main runners are landscape timbers cut in 1/2 - have not observed any ill effects on the bees - I also make bottoms & tops from the same 5/4 boards.
Last forever


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