Timber and plans for bee hives

[Johnny253]

I am thinking of making some home made boxes from timber that I have on hand. Why is it necessary to have the sides 22mm thick? Would 19mm suffice? I would not think bees would care that much. Also, does anyone have some good plans for making bee hives?

[OzBuzz]

Many go with 22mm simply for the extra durability that it provides - 19mm is fine... There are some good plans online - as well as a few links to plans on here - have you done a search? i can't remember any posts/sites off the top of my head - sorry

[prestonpaul]

Beesource forum home page has a good list of plans etc in their DIY section, they'll all be in inches though 
Paul.

[yantabulla]

Just make sure the internal dimensions are the same to ensure bee space is OK

[Johnny253]

Thanks guys. I'll do a search for some plans. I will use my current hives for dimensions but I'm not that happy with the design.

The landing board is small and bees coming in with a full load often land on the edge and then fall off so have to fly up again and crawl in. I intend on using large tapered landing boards which I think will work much better.

The hives I have also have a large airspace in the lid. Is this really necessary? Why wouldn't a flat piece of timber work?

The other point is ventilation. My hives have no ventilation at all (apart from the entrance which isn't all that big) and I have had problems with mould during winter in small colonies. I'm looking for ideas of how to get around this too.

[bernsad]

My lids which also have that empty space in them have two vents on each end, I'm guessing that the extra space above the frames aids the ventilation.

[nella]

http://www.beesource.com/build-it-yourself/10-frame-langstroth-barry-birkey/