by Texas Homesteader ~
Spring is an exciting time in beekeeping. The bees are finally able to get out of the hive & forage from the blooming plants. The hives grow by leaps and bounds this time of year too. It’s a good time to split the hives to keep them from becoming too crowded.
But spring is also a time when some hives will swarm. Sometimes when we capture a swarm we put the bees into an empty deep hive box with frames and let them get busy. But sometimes so many swarms are caught that we don’t have a deep hive box available. Let’s make some 5-frame nuc boxes for temporary housing for them. They’re super quick to put together & you can build four nuc boxes with a single sheet of plywood!
Materials Needed
Each completed nuc box will hold five full-sized frames. A 4×8 sheet of 1/2″ plywood will make 4 complete five-frame nuc boxes. You’ll need a skillsaw, measuring tape, marking pencil, framing square, some wood glue and paint.
We already had a half sheet of plywood leftover from another project so we decided to use it to make a couple of 5-frame nuc boxes. The cuts were all basic and accomplished quickly using just a skillsaw. (Plans to build these nuc boxes were found online at BeeSource.com)
Measure & Cut Pieces
For each nuc box we marked off and cut:
- Two 10-1/4″ by 19-1/8″ pieces for the sides,
- Two 7-1/2 by 9-1/2″ pieces for the front & back.
- One 9″ by 22″ piece for the top.
- One 8-1/2″ by 20″ piece for the bottom to allow for a landing board for the bees.
- Two 8-1/2″ by 2″ pieces for cleats to hold the frames inside
- Two 3/4″ by 8-1/2″ cleat pieces to finish the lid.
After all pieces were cut we marked & cut RancherMan drilled a 3/4″ hole for the bees entrance into the front of the box. Each nuc box only has these few pieces to assemble:
Now it’s finally time to start assembling our nuc box. We added a hearty bead of wood glue to the edges before attaching the boards securely with 1″ x 1/4″ staples. That glue will help to keep everything sturdy in the years to come. There now, let’s stand back & see how it looks… Yeah, I like it!
We’ll probably build more nuc boxes and have them ready for any additional swarms we catch. I’m thankful that the boxes are easy and inexpensive to make. Give it a try!
~TxH~
BEEKEEPING SERIES:
- Preparing For the Hives
- Obtaining Your Bees
- Inspecting Your Hives
- Feeding Bees With A Frame-Feeder
- Expanding The Langstroth Hive
- Performing A Walk-Away Split
- Performing A Frame-Swap Split
- 5-Minute Beehive Stand
- Adding A Honey Super To Your Hive
- Catching A Bee Swarm (With Video)
- Varroa Mite Treatment For Your Apiary
…And MUCH More!
See All Our Beekeeping Posts
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