Today, a variety of materials are used to build beehives, and not just traditional wood. Plywood hive is considered to be quite a popular design among beekeepers. It is convenient, practical, with proper assembly durable.
Plywood belongs to the category of environmentally friendly materials, since it consists of several layers of veneer of the same wood, therefore, bees live and thrive in such buildings.
Beehives are strong and durable, warm and dry. With additional treatment of the outside with natural moisture-resistant impregnations can last a very long time without major repairs.
The main advantage of plywood construction is its light weight. Beehives, built of this material, are relatively easy, which greatly facilitates the work of the beekeeper to maintain the apiary throughout the season.
If you need to transport insects or during the nomadic period, light weight and ease of handling equipment are crucial. The use of plywood as a raw material for hives becomes the most profitable.
Plywood does not belong to warm materials, but is simply combined with polyfoam sheet. It turns out an insulated light hive, which without additional thermal insulation can be used in regions with cold long winters. In summer, a layer of insulation prevents overheating of the interior of the bee house and will help insects maintain a constant microclimate there.
If you buy finished products, then it is cheaper than wooden counterparts, as the price of the material itself is small. Quiet, who makes houses for their bees on their own, in plywood beehives attracts low cost of raw materials and speed of installation of a design of any type.
in addition, homemade version can be made, maximally adapting its design to the conditions of the case, make it the most convenient to use for yourself and comfortable for living and productive life of bees. Knowing, how to make a beehive out of plywood, it is possible to equip an apiary inexpensively in a short time, convenient and functional beekeeping equipment.
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Finnish beehives - what you need to know
Beehive made of plywood: assembly rules
First you need to decide on the type of construction, which is planned to do, study the drawings and deal with the required values. Wooden hive designs can be used as a basis for construction, but with that calculation, that plywood will be used instead of wood. Only the internal parameters of the models will be needed.
Beehive route. Features of construction and wintering
The easiest way to make a double-hulled hive. It is made under 12 framework, accordingly, the internal size of the housing will be equal in width and length 450 mm and 310 mm in height. External dimensions may vary and depend on the thickness of the material used.
And now how to make a beehive out of plywood with your own hands.
- First you need to mark and cut 12 fragments, which will have dimensions 450 on 310 mm and 4 element 450 on 306 mm (for front and rear walls).
It is recommended to use plywood 8 and 10 mm, so the bee house will be stronger and warmer. - Now you need to put each of these elements together, gluing them with wood glue. They must coincide on one edge, on another on a forward and back wall notches - folds are formed, which will be needed to set the framework.
- In the middle of the front panel is cut a round hole for the upper fly with a diameter of k 15 mm At the bottom is cut a square recess the size 250 on 5 mm - for the lower flight. They don't do it, if the bottom of the hive is supposed to be removable.
- On the upper outer side of the parts of the first body and the inner lower side of the elements of the second are also made folds, which will be needed to install the blocks on top of each other.
- When the blanks are ready, you can start assembling boxes. To do this, the joints before the connection is smeared with glue and fastened with nails or screws. You can use construction brackets and corners for fixing, fixing the last on external perimeter of the case.
- The bottom of the first box is equipped with a bottom, which is made of plywood, focusing on the external dimensions of the case. The collisions are well sealed at first, and then finally fixed with the main mount. If the bottom becomes removable, it is made according to the available drawings and the case is installed on it.
- The roof of the hive is made so. First, measure the dimensions along the outer perimeter of the upper body. These will be internal parameters, for which the strapping is made. Its four plates are mounted similarly, how elements of cases fasten. A sheet of plywood is fixed on top with glue and self-tapping screws. It will serve as a roof. That plywood did not become unusable ahead of time, on top it is covered with roofing material, film or sheet iron.
- The arrival board is made of a piece of plywood, cutting out the necessary piece and fixing it in the fly.
- Beehive handles can be made of several layers of glued together, nailing them to the side walls of the buildings.
For long and trouble-free operation external details are painted with paint or processed by natural waterproof impregnations. After control assembly of all beehive and placement in cases of frameworks, can be run there to house bees.
Other types of hives are collected in a similar way, only other dimensions are taken for calculations.
Trailer for bees: specifics, requirements and self-manufacturing
Insulated beehive made of plywood
The double-walled plywood beehive with additional thermal insulation by polyfoam mats is also popular among beekeepers.. To make it you need sheets of material with a thickness of 4 mm, insulation from 20 mm and above, wooden beam with a cross section equal to the intermediate layer of polymer.
As in the previous case, you will need drawings and the exact dimensions of the selected model of the bee house. The framework gets off a bar, which determines the dimensions of future elements of the hive. Glue straps to the inner walls, self-tapping screws or nails mounted plywood sheets. The front and rear slats are made smaller by the size of the folds under the frame.
You can immediately make an eye, along the perimeter protecting it with a bar, for, so that the bees do not bite off pieces of insulation. On the side walls in the area of the handles flush with the frame, it is desirable to nail the bar, which will serve as a reliable basis for their further installation.
It turns out a box without a bottom and a roof, with voids for insulation on the outside. Polyfoam is laid without gaps under all the free space in the walls.
Next is another layer of plywood, which is fastened at the joints with screws and glue. Similarly, the installation of other structural elements - shops, roof caps, if they are in the project. The bottom and roof of a double-walled hive are also insulated, laying a layer of foam between two rows of plywood.
The finished structure is externally covered with acrylic paint to prevent premature delamination of plywood material. It turns out easy to make, warm and comfortable model for insects. Bees live well and winter in such hives, even in the harshest conditions.