# My TBH build



## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

I'm new to bee keeping, and after many helpful suggestions on this board, I built my TBH. I didn't use a specific plan, rather I incorporated different aspects. The interior dimension is 42" L, 17" W, and 10" deep, 60 degrees. I made my tolerances too tight, I should have allowed more for seasonal expansion and contraction of the wood. I have 3 1" holes opposite of the observation windows, and a divider is in place for now. I used scrap lumber (untreated), treated the outside and left the interior as is. I used a rubber paint for the roof and painted it with an outdoor white primer. I'll darken the roof a little as I would like to keep it a bit less conspicuous.


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## krista45036 (Oct 7, 2014)

looks good! now for the bees..... :thumbsup:


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## Troop (Jun 4, 2015)

nicely done.


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## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

Yes, the bees.


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## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Mine is not going to look nearly so nice --- Deeply disappointed in my skills.

What is your roofing material.

I don't know how your roof is attached but you may want to consider strapping the roof the hive and the hive to the ground.


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## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

crmauch said:


> Mine is not going to look nearly so nice --- Deeply disappointed in my skills.
> 
> What is your roofing material.
> 
> I don't know how your roof is attached but you may want to consider strapping the roof the hive and the hive to the ground.


My roof is 1/8" plywood coated with a roofing rubber cement and painted with white primer. I'll take a pic with it open, but it hinges up from the end of the hive. I haven't see anyone do it this way, but I wanted to access it from either side.


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## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

Beau Diddly said:


> My roof is 1/8" plywood coated with a roofing rubber cement and painted with white primer. I'll take a pic with it open, but it hinges up from the end of the hive. I haven't see anyone do it this way, but I wanted to access it from either side.


Although I might change when I actually see your picture, it sounds very much like a video I saw on YouTube.  As someone said on these forums recently, there's nothing (or not much) new that hasn't been done or tried yet.


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## threepingsthree (Mar 3, 2014)

I have learned to make my hives and stand separate like Wyatt Mangum. Because when it is time to move a hive it is nearly impossible without being able to break it into smaller pieces. A full 4FT TBH without legs is a two man lift and it's still tough.


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## Pale Rider (Apr 14, 2016)

You mean like this one I just built?


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## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

Pale Rider said:


> You mean like this one I just built?
> View attachment 24258


Yes, yes, my apologizes if anyone misunderstood me by assuming I was claiming originality for any design. I was careful to state that I had not seen it, not that it doesn't exist.

3pings3, I used lag bolts for the legs fastened to a threaded T-nut. This allows for quick removal to be replaced with a wooden/rope handle that uses the same upper 2 bolt holes. I don't envision I will ever move it, but just in-case, I can do it...with a friend.


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## threepingsthree (Mar 3, 2014)

That is a wise decision. Two years ago I made the mistake of permanently mounting legs on my first THB. I finally got the bees out of it, and it sits inside my workshop to this day waiting on me to do something with it. It is mostly a shelf now.


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## Chuck Jachens (Feb 22, 2016)

Nice clean looking hive. Do you have any with observation windows?

I use screws to attach the legs. Moved two hives this spring in the back of a truck. Two person job but doable. I sold one new tbh and we just unscrewed the legs so it fit in the back of the suv. They reattached legs when they got home.

Wyatt Magnum's moving of tbh for pollination is amazing. I have read his book a couple of times in the last year. Chasing pollination contracts is not for me.


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## Pale Rider (Apr 14, 2016)

What I meant is that this is Jon Peter's design. He has two excellent videos on Youtube regarding how to construct it. No windows because the bees kept attaching their comb to the ones he put windows in, and you couldn't really see much after that. As far as the legs being attached. I'm only putting two in my backyard. If the bees don't survive, I'm not moving it very far, and I'll just get another swarm or package. no worries.


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## Chuck Jachens (Feb 22, 2016)

I get a few days over 100F and full sun until about 5 pm. My side are angled at 25 degrees and get very little comb attachment to the windows. Glass is better than plastic for attachment IMO. It will interesting to hear how your hives do over the summer. Are you going to use follower board(s)?


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## Pale Rider (Apr 14, 2016)

We're usually the same with temps, although we can get many more 100-degree days than that. My sides are at 18-degrees. Yes, from what I've read glass is the way to go for a window. Plexiglass is a waste. I will use one follower board since my entrance is on one end of one of the long slides. I'm using a 6-inch, 3/8" wide slot for the entrance. I got that from a Les Crowder book.


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## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

Chuck Jachens said:


> I get a few days over 100F and full sun until about 5 pm. My side are angled at 25 degrees and get very little comb attachment to the windows. Glass is better than plastic for attachment IMO. It will interesting to hear how your hives do over the summer. Are you going to use follower board(s)?


Another fellow on the board recommended Lexan over pexiglass or glass. As he said, what will you do the day that you break the glass with your tool. The Lexan, hinges and hardware cloth are the only things I bought. The wood was construction trash and the plywood was extra laying around my garage. I'm also using #8 hardware cloth (8 squares/linear inch) and a hinged bottom.

I'm using a follower board to divide my hive in half. I have a slight gap between my screen and the bottom of the follower board. I thought about thumb-tacking it, but I noticed they would drag the dead bees under the follower board to the empty side. I may just leave it as is.


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## Pale Rider (Apr 14, 2016)

Looks like another Jon Peters special!


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

Beau Diddly said:


> My roof is 1/8" plywood coated with a roofing rubber cement and painted with white primer. I'll take a pic with it open, but it hinges up from the end of the hive. I haven't see anyone do it this way, but I wanted to access it from either side.


I got a couple that hinge that way but not a full size.


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

Steve56Ace said:


> I got a couple that hinge that way but not a full size.
> 
> Sorry but uploader only lets me post one pic at time.


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

Sorry but uploader only lets me post one pic at time.









All my FL KTBHs have lids that are fully insulated w/ styrofoam. Making another one presently.


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

All my FL KTBHs have lids that are fully insulated w/ styrofoam. Making another one presently.[/QUOTE]


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

Looks great. Bees will propolize the gaps but you don't want SHB living and escaping to the unused side.


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## Beau Diddly (Dec 28, 2015)

Steve56Ace said:


> Looks great. Bees will propolize the gaps but you don't want SHB living and escaping to the unused side.


How would you suggest I manage the unused other side of the TBH?


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## Steve56Ace (Sep 5, 2014)

Beau Diddly said:


> How would you suggest I manage the unused other side of the TBH?


Well some actually use it as another hive. I put a IR camera and clear double paned follower board so I can watch them from my office. Also- "plexiglass", Lexan et al are basically the same and IMHO has nothing to do with side attachment. That is about angle. Mine is 22.5º w/ 19" bars. But glass works better in the aspect of cleaning it. You can scrape the propolis off w/ a razor blade, not wanting to use chemicals in the hive, you scratch plastics if you try that. I used Makrolon and did double panes for insulation.


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## tenleez (Jan 23, 2016)

Like Beau D, I took a little bit of this and that and came up with my own design. I wanted to see if I could build a TBH with and inner and outer wall that I could slip solid insulation board in between for snowy winter weather here. Used a Kreg jig to construct the frame then attached both walls to it. Used a 4 x 8 sheet cut crosswise so I have a 48" length hive. The inner wall is about 14 1/2" tall spaced to hold a 19" top bar. Before adding my Italian package I rubbed the inside walls with lemon balm. Still have to figure out a design for the roof and bottom.


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## SWAT253 (May 11, 2015)

Your bees _should_ survive here in Texas. This time last year, I captured my first swarm and they are going strong today. They have taken the entire TBH and have swarmed/split twice. I was lucky to lure the last swarm into the original swarm box that I caught the first swarm in. On my third queen in the TBH and ready to transfer the new swarm into a TBH.

Trick was... I didn't take any honey last year and I left it all for them to feed on over winter.


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## Apismellifera (Oct 12, 2014)

Beau Diddly said:


> I used lag bolts for the legs fastened to a threaded T-nut. This allows for quick removal to be replaced with a wooden/rope handle that uses the same upper 2 bolt holes. I don't envision I will ever move it, but just in-case, I can do it...with a friend.


So how does the handle attach? Do you have captive nuts on the inside or something like that? I've been installing cheap fat handles on my fullsize hives, nice to move them around empty, but I don't think I'd trust 'em if it were chock full for more than a few feet. I'd try to get that puppy from the bottom with two folks and move slow.


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