Mitered corners?

[Pre-Bee (Rowan)]

Does anyone use mitered corners when building their hives?  Why or why not?

[sawdstmakr]

I have thought about it but haven't tried it. Not sure if it will be strong enough. The last thing you want to happen is to have a super full of frames and bees, break on you. If it happens and you aren't fully protected you will take a beating.
Jim

[BabcockFarms]

A mitered box joint is pretty weak! If you were to use a biscuit joiner it would help some.  If you are looking for a simple and strong joint, I would go with a rabbit joint. They are simple and require a minimal amount of equipment. I am building boxes using a dovetail joint. I have a dovetail jig already so it was the best joint I could make using the equipment I own.

[windfall]

As mentioned, miter corners are inherently weak. Splined miters are a bit stronger but still not very tough.
Assembly gets slower since there is no self reference, and it is easy to have faces slip past each other as you clamp and fasten.
I can't see a good reason to use miters for a hive, if you want quick and easy rabbits and screw/nails area well tested approach.

[derekm]

As mentioned, miter corners are inherently weak. Splined miters are a bit stronger but still not very tough.
Assembly gets slower since there is no self reference, and it is easy to have faces slip past each other as you clamp and fasten.
I can't see a good reason to use miters for a hive, if you want quick and easy rabbits and screw/nails area well tested approach.

depends on the thickness of the foam and the coverage of the glue used
with 50mm foam and 100% resin joint its strong
with bamboo pins and tape or ally angle corners its more than strong enough

[windfall]

I assumed the OP was referring to wood. Working in foam/resin and metal is a completely different animal.

[BlueBee]

I just use butt joints, glue and screws.  Sometimes not even the screws when making my poly hives.

They might not last forever, but neither will I. 

[BabcockFarms]

Pre-Bee-

What do you have access to for wood working equipment? If we knew what you had we could give you some suggestions on what may work best for you.

[Sundog]

Does anyone use mitered corners when building their hives?  Why or why not?

Haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would be difficult keeping the box square and perpendicular while the glue dries and that it would require (predrilled) nails or screws.

I only have two hives to support, so I don’t need much woodwork.  After making a box with box joints and nails (just like the big boys), I decided that was too much trouble and used butt joints and blind dowels, Tightbond II and clamps.  No hardware, and only six feet of board.  Although dowels cost a couple of dollars.

Have fun!

[Pre-Bee (Rowan)]

Honestly I don't know what equipment is lurking around.  I'm sure I know someone who will have whatever tools I need, but I don't know which tools I should be asking about. 

[S.M.N.Bee]

You need top of the line wood working equipment for making miter joints. Cheap equipment will not produce a tight joint.
Use rabbit joints or box joints. They are easy to cut and strong enough for a hive.

John

[BabcockFarms]

John is right.

My vote goes for a rabbit joint. It doesn't take a lot of equipment and would be much stronger than miter joints and far easier.

If you make a rabbit joint or a dovetail you can get 2 hive boxes out of 12' lumber. If you make box joints you are unable to get 2 boxes out of 12' lumber as the total length would be 1/2" longer not including the saw blade width. I was curious as to which joint is stronger so I looked a bit online and found a lot of opinions as to which was actual stronger. They are both strong joints and I don't think for the purpose of what we are using them for is not going to make much difference.



Here is a picture of a dovetail joint I am using for my boxes. Once I had the jig setup and wood cut to size it took less than 10 minutes per box to make the dovetails.