shim

[tngold]

I am looking for some deminsions for a shim for laying a frame on its side when raising queens. I think MB uses this. I think this would be worth trying. I would like the min distance from the top bars to the bottom of the cell frame? How many cells would be good for a hive with two full deeps of bees,shook down into one? Thanks in advance for the help.

[Michael Bush]

Mine is made entirely of one by threes.  The only fancy cut is the dado for the end of the top bars to fit into:

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/HopkinsShim.jpg
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/HopkinsFrame.jpg

I cut mine to fit a five frame nuc (which is the size of my swarm boxes) but you can cut it to fit a ten frame box if you like.  The boards on the end hold it up and they are just one by threes laying flat.

[tngold]

Thanks MB . You have some great info. Thanks again for sharing.I like your long hives. Ibuilt one last spring. I built mine to hold 30 deep frames. I used it two queens on bottem, three nucs on top for winter. All have done well so far. Going to see how well they pull wax as soon as the weather permits. Again thanks.