Building Hives & Supers

Parts of a Super

We are getting ready for the arrival of our two bee nucs later this May. Last weekend my Mom and I put together our hive boxes, supers and frames. They are all made out of pine which won't last as long as cedar but is certainly a lot lighter and cheaper. Once these are boxes are have full frames of honey, the lighter weight will be a blessing. We bought a package from a local beekeeping store that gave us all the necessary parts - we just had to put them all together. We went with Langstroth hives, which are pretty standard. 

Each super or hive box has four side pieces and two metal edges that act as frame rests. We nailed the sides all together, added the rests and then 

worked on assembling the 60 frames.

Adding foundation to our frames.

The hives came with a set of instructions that were pretty minimal. My mom did a bit of research online beforehand and discovered that each frame has a small wooden piece near the top bar that needs to be removed before you can add the foundation. In the set of small images here you can see the piece still attached, then after we removed it (they pop off pretty easily by hand), then you slide in your sheet of foundation and then nail that small piece back with some small finishing nails. This holds the foundation securely in place in the frame. We also added a small nail to the bottom of the frame to help hold the foundation tight. 

We've got our boxes, frames, bottom boards and lids all assembled. Next step is to add a coat of paint to the outside of the hive that will help the pine last a lot longer. Then we will be all set for the arrival of our bees! 

Almost finished!