Assembling and Making Frames
We decided from the start that it would be a false saving to make our own frames. The inherent cost of wood and the amount of work involved persuaded me to continue to make them up from flat pack.
Assembling frames is the first acquired woodworking skill for bee-keepers, and is a very simple task requiring only a pin hammer, a woodworking square and a stanley knife or similar for trimming excess wood (a pair of fine pliers will remove any pins that go astray).
A finished frame will be held together by 8 pins and a further 3 hold the top strip over the foundation wires.
As our brood and super boxes had slightly thinner framing than standard (see brood box) I had to reduce the length of the top bar of each frame by about 2mm. This is a simple job with a handsaw. I've now reduced all of our frames to this length so that they are all interchangable between the hives I made from flat pack and those I made from scratch.
Addendum
Since increasing to 4 hives, and with the prospect of having more, the number of frames we need has risen dramatically, and so I re-evaluated my decision not to make my own frames. Costing home-made v bought frames shows that a very significant saving can be made. Currently Thornes Manley BS frames retail for £18 for 10, and with Wickes' 15% discount day coming up, I can make them for £5 for 10! So...time to start making frames.
Firstly, given the number of frames to be made and the fiddly nature of making them there is definitely a need for making some jigs first. A jig is a device (often made from wood) intended to hold or manipulate the piece of wood being machined or assembled in a helpful way. These can be made from any offcuts of wood, the important thing being that they don't warp or bend easily.
We have standardised on 2 frames - Manley for the Supers and DN5 for the Brood. We consider these to be the best for the job and although slightly more expensive than others are well worth the extra.
The jigs I made from the start were: 1 A push cover for cutting the slot in the frame sides 2 A jig for cutting the slot in the top of the ends (Manley) 3 A jig for cutting the slot in the top of the ends (DN5) 4 A jig for cutting the slots in the bottom of the ends (Manley) 5 A jig for cutting the slots in the bottom of the ends (DN5) 6 A jig for cutting the slots in the ends (Manley & DN5) 7 A jig for cutting the notches in the ends of the bottom bars (Manley)
Rather than make individual jigs 2, 3, 4, and 5 a single adjustable jig could be made. I simply prefered to make individual jigs which need no adjustment and produce good reproducible results. I made them all from offcuts of 18mm thick mdf as I already had them and they are very stable, smooth and square. Details of each jog is given where it is first used. These together with the width fence on the table saw and end stop on the mitre saw meant that most cuts could be 'set' and then rapidly used over and over.
The frames I made were slight modification on the standard Manley and DN5 design and the diagrams given here are for our frames. The reasons for the modifications are as follows:
1 The top bar is 2mm shorter than standard (as mentioned above). This is because the wood I used for the Brood and Super box 'frames' was 12mm thick rather than the standard XXmm and so the frames are slightly too long.
2 The timber I used for the frame sides was 12mm thick and I couldn't see that the work and time involved in reducing this to 10mm was worthwhile, so I kept the outside position the same (to maintain the 8mm bee space around the frame), and provided a deeper slot for the foundation although I expected to have to reduce the foundation by a couple of mm before fitting.
DN5 frames were made from wickes 12mm x 32mm plus some offcuts of timber for the bottoms and top 'bars'. Manley frames were made from wickes 12mm x 32mm, 12mm x 44mm plus some offcuts of timber for the bottoms and top 'bars'.
Universal Top Cut from 12mm x 32mm timber. 1 Cut a length of 430mm on the mitre saw 2 Cut down width to 27mm on the table saw 3 Cut down thickness to 10mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser 4 Cut slot 11mm wide by 7mm deep, 37mm in from end on table saw using jig 1. Repeat 4 times to give a slot in either side and at both ends 5 Cut in from end to slot 2.5mm from side. Repeat for all 4 corners
Two bars 1 Cut 2nd length of 12mm x 32mm of length 334mm on mitre saw 2 Cut down width to 27mm on table saw 3 Cut down thickness to 8mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser 4 Cut down centre on table saw to give two lengths 5 Glue one length onto bottom of topbar keep other to pin in place when foundation has been fitted
Manley End
Cut from 12mm x 44mm timber. All measurements are taken from one edge as the overall width will be reduced to 41mm at the end of the sequence. Two pieces required per frame.
1 Cut a 6mm deep slot 19mm from one edge down the full length of timber (2.1m) on table saw.
2 Cut to length of 140mm on mitre saw
3 From same edge cut slot 13mm wide x 10mm deep in top edge 14mm from edge on table saw using jig 2
4 From same edge cut 2 slots 6mm wide x 8mm deep in bottom edge, one 13mm in and the other 22mm in from edge using jig 3
5 Cut down width to 41mm from same edge on table saw or planer/thicknesser
Manley Bottom
Cut from offcut of scrap wood at least 358mm x 12mm x 8mm. Two required per frame.
1 Cut to length 358mm on mitre saw.
2 Cut down width to 12mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser
3 Cut down thickness to 8mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser
4 Cut out notch at end on band saw using jig 4
DN5 End Cut from 12mm x 32mm timber. All measurements are taken from one edge as the overall width will be increased to 36mm later by attaching a fillet to one side. Two pieces required per frame. 1 Cut a 6mm deep slot 16mm from one edge down the full length of timber (2.4m) on table saw. 2 Cut to length of 215mm on mitre saw 3 From same edge cut slot 12mm wide x 10mm deep in top edge 12mm from edge on table saw using jig 5 4 From same edge cut 2 slots 6mm wide x 8mm deep in bottom edge, one 10mm in and the other 19mm in from edge using jig 3 5 Shape both sides on band saw 6 Glue on and pin strip from step 5 to side above shaping 7 Cut down width to 36mm from same edge on table saw or planer/thicknesser 8 Chamfer one side front and back to give 5mm chamfered edge
DN5 Bottom Cut from offcut of scrap wood at least 358mm x 6mm x 8mm. Two required per frame. 1 Cut to length 358mm on mitre saw. 2 Cut down width to 6mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser 3 Cut down thickness to 8mm on table saw or planer/thicknesser