# Gap between hive bodies...



## BeeOld (Apr 7, 2009)

You should have 5/16" between the bottom of the frame in the upper box and the top of the frame in the lower box.


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

Pretty typical that they don't fit exactly flush. Here in the south, any gap that big is an invitation for pests. I use EDPM weatherstripping (home depot) that self-adheres & that I staple on as well. Works great and nothing eats it. If you don't have pests, that's a great location to use your hive tool in prying the boxes apart.


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

In my opinion, any gap is too big. A gap either allows pests into the hive or creates a wonderful place for the bees to fill with propolis. If the bees fill it with propolis it will create a heck of a mess when taking the hive apart. 

I can't remember ever buying or building a box that when stacked had more than maybe 1/64 inch gap. If so i would shave the boxes until they were flush.​


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## Scrapfe (Jul 25, 2008)

bernt_one said:


> I'm building my first ...hive and am wondering... Is 1/8" to much? [gap between boxes] ...Are they supposed to be perfectly flush when stacked?


My background is in the automotive field. I like it when the specifications are tight and right on spec.

I have seen feral bee colonies or hives in older beeks yards with cracks or openings you could toss a cat through. But it does allow for more or easier access by pests than a tight or well-built hive. Some of my homemade hives have perhaps a 1/16 inch wide crack between boxes, and some of my store bought boxes do as well. 

Neither my store bought woodenware nor my homemade hives sit perfectly level on each other, but that is the specification. I think a little straight edge assisted looking with the help of a level, a low tech feeler gauge, and perhaps a few licks with the right sand paper may improve things a lot. 

Don’t get carried away with the sand paper, you can make matters worse. Besides you don’t know if you are dealing with an 1/8 inch gap in one box or Two 1/16 inch gaps between both boxes. Use something like an iron or steel table saw table as your straight edge and don’t try to custom fit box-to-box unless the interchangeability of boxes is un-important to you.

The next time I build boxes I will rip my boards to their final width on the table saw, but only AFTER I have glued and screwed the boxes together. Then I hope to get an even tighter box-on-box fit. This is just my human vanity showing, remember bees are neither human nor vain. 

Your boxes will likely work as well or perhaps better than a tighter hive depending on your local temperatures, rainfall, wind conditions, average humidity and other variables so complicated that no mere human can grasp them. At any rate if these boxes stay occupied until the Fall, and I think they will, your bees will tightly glue everything together. So tightly, in fact that you will wonder where the void went, or as the fellow from Mississippi said today, "...Better sharpen your hive tool."


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## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

The bees will fill it in with propolis


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

Sometimes the weight of a few boxes will make a box settle down and rest nicely. On the other hand, there is always duct tape! :lpf:


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

If you were in SHB country I'd say worry about that gap. Since you're not, don't worry about it. Beehives are not built like pianos. I live in big time SHB country and I wouldn't worry about a gap that size, or maybe I would slap some duct tape over it.


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## T HarborBeek (Feb 7, 2011)

If you have one a quick pass on a jointer may fix the problem


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## Scrapfe (Jul 25, 2008)

Bee Bliss said:


> ... there is always duct tape!...


Do not forget that despite the fact it has been cut down, sawn, kiln dried, and milled, lumber is still a living and breathing thing. Two boxes that once fit tightly in the damp east Texas piney woods, may not fit tightly at all in Amarillo, Galveston or California.


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## Scrapfe (Jul 25, 2008)

Scrapfe said:


> ... The next time I build boxes I will rip my boards to their final width on the table saw, but only AFTER I have glued and screwed the boxes together. Then I hope to get an even tighter box-on-box fit...


You know this will likely solve two problems for me. It will shorten my set up time because I will only need to set up my dado blade once to cut three 3/4 inch wide dados each 3/8 inch deep on the end hive panels instead of two 3/4X 3/8 inch dados and one 5/8 inch X 3/8 inch dado. Then by trimming 1/8 inch (the width of the saw blade) off the box top, the frame rest depth is re-set to the correct 5/8 inch depth below the super's top lip instead of 6/8 or 3/4 or 0.750inch. But I must make sure my saw fence and blade is a true 90 degrees to the saw table and parallel to each other or else I could be building the next leaning tower of what's you call it? :s


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## bernt_one (Feb 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the help, it's much appreciated!  I think I'll end up shaving a little off the bottom of the offending box so that it'll be closer to flush.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

Much ado about nothing.


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## bigbore (Feb 25, 2008)

for a brand new colony, I like a nice tight fit when I add the second box. once they have some size, I don't worry, they can deal with it.


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## raosmun (Sep 10, 2009)

Scrapfe: "The next time I build boxes I will rip my boards to their final width on the table saw, but only AFTER I have glued and screwed the boxes together." 

That is what I have been doing, it works very well. Only thing to keep in mind is cutting the frame rest deeper. I just cut the rest 3/4" X 3/8" along with the setup for the side boards, then trim off the 1/8" after assembled.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

I put mine together before triming, I just line the tops when mailing (oh my first cut is 9 3/4 or 6 3/4)


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