Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: watercarving on April 24, 2008, 10:57:32 pm

Title: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: watercarving on April 24, 2008, 10:57:32 pm: Just cut all my bars. I wanted 1 3/8" but I have a crappy table saw and ended up with some bars being 1 3/8" on the ends and 1 5/16" in the middle. A few are 1 1/4" in places. (Don't ask). I tested them out and while there are a few gaps of 1/16" and a couple that are 1/8" none of them are very long and nowhere near all the way across.

Anyway, nothing smaller than 1 1/4". I will have small cell bees that have been this way for generations.

Is this a big deal?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: Understudy on April 25, 2008, 12:57:16 am: The bars are one thing. What about the hoffmans that act as the spacers on the sides of the frame?

Sincerely,
Brendhan
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: watercarving on April 25, 2008, 09:16:04 am: I don't have any spacers. These are just straight bars for a top bar hive.
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: Understudy on April 25, 2008, 09:37:03 am: Quote from: watercarving on April 25, 2008, 09:16:04 am
I don't have any spacers. These are just straight bars for a top bar hive.

Then it is probably not a big deal.

Keep an eye on the building of comb. If they start to build over two bars then you might want to correct that problem. I assume there are starter strips with these.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: watercarving on April 25, 2008, 09:53:22 am: I've got a thing piece of wood with wax rubbed on it. I'm going to use existing nuc frames to force them to center.
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: Understudy on April 25, 2008, 10:02:56 am: You should b e fine then. However remember bees may have different thoughts. It won't be a reflection on the cuts of your wood. :)

Sincerely,
Brendhan
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: watercarving on April 25, 2008, 10:23:21 am: I understand. I know they'll do what they want and I'll have to help train them. I just don't want to screw it up before I even start. Thanks!
Title: Re: Bar Width - did I screw up
Post by: Michael Bush on April 26, 2008, 10:07:24 am: They will propolize the gaps. That may make it slightly harder to separate them but they would have propolized them together anyway.