Author Topic: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!  (Read 6588 times)

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Offline Zweefer

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DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« on: June 29, 2020, 11:23:16 am »
I'm not really sure who came up with this style of inner cover, but I discovered them from LazyBkpr when I was at his place... He says a beekeeper named Tim Wilbanks showed them to him... before that, who knows?

Anyways, the nice thing about this style is it has a shim built right into it for winter use. just flip it over and away you go.  I like them because I use all mediums in my apiary, and with the extra space the one side provides, when feeding with mason jars, one medium is enough to cover the jars and be able to add the telescoping cover, something that is not possible with a traditional inner cover. I was finally able to get rid of the last of my deep boxes when these started seeing use!

**DISCLAIMER** I am using OSB for the inner portion of the cover.  This is because it is what I had laying around, as I made these for the express purpose of this post, and didn’t feel the need to go out and buy new plywood or lauan, OSB it was.   There have been discussions on the use of OSB for beekeeping woodenware in the past, and from what I have read, the chemicals that were most often cited were no longer in use for OSB after 2004. Another study stated that the highest emissions from the glue occur 6 weeks after manufacturing, so if you aren’t buying brand new stock, you should be good to go.
I personally wouldn’t use it, not because of a fear of chemicals, or degassing issues, but due to longevity.  Once moisture gets in them and then winter hits up here, OSB never lasts too long after…
Anyway, on with the post!

Materials needed:
1x4 6ft long.
Flat stock at least 18 7/8” by 15 3/8”
Table saw
Glue
nails or screws

Rip the 1x4 down to 3".  cut to 2 pieces at 16 1/4, and 2 at 19 1/8".


Dado the width of your material (1/2" in my case) 3/8" deep, and 1/4" from the bottom edge of each piece.
Rabbit 3/8" (1/2 width of the board) down 3/4" (width of the board) along the end of the 16-1/4" pieces. 


If you plan on having an upper entrance, this is the time to add one.  mark the center of one of the 16-1/4"  pieces on both sides of the dado, and cut an entrance 1-1/4" wide by 1/2" deep.

Cut your inner cover material to 18 7/8" x 15 3/8".  Mark the center for whatever hole you plan to cut.


Cut your hole.  I do not use porter escapes, so I cut mine to take the mason jars i feed with.


The hole will just fit the cover of the jar...


Assemble the sides, with the board sliding into each dado.  here is the "shim" side...


And the traditional 1/4" side.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2024, 01:16:29 am by Zweefer »
Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2020, 10:38:41 pm »
HEY! Well done!!!
   OSB absorbs moisture and eventually starts to break down is the ONLY reason I haven't used it (again)......   :laugh:

   Original; https://www.outyard.net/inner-cover.html

  You get all fancy with rabbits and grooves.. Groovy Rabbit Inner cover!  Okay its a dado.. Groovy sounds better!
   1/2 inch on the traditional side?  Questioning your mathmatical skills! Or is it because of the rum?  I think most guys make them 1/4 - 3/16 inch if their frames sit down lower than the edge of the box so they end up with 3/8 bee space or somewhere in that neighborhood.

   You never met Tim Wilbanks when you were down here Zweef?  He grew up in Claxton Georgia...   Where a lot of us get our packages from!

 
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

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Offline Zweefer

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2020, 11:28:35 pm »
Never did meet him. 
As for the measurements, they were taken from the inner cover you sent home with me after my first visit!  :laugh:  I’d be happy to make a correction.  I must be the luckiest guy in the world then, as I don’t get burr comb between the tops and the inner cover...
Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau

Offline Zweefer

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2020, 11:31:09 pm »
I have corrected the post to reflect 1/4 inch.
Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2020, 07:24:18 pm »
why am I not surprised....   I blame the rum...  :-[    Bee space is typically 3/8 of an inch.
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

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Offline Zweefer

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2020, 03:38:53 pm »
I just figured you gave me the one that kept making burr comb for you for some reason. :laugh:



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Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2020, 08:09:17 pm »
LOL I wouldnt do that to you!!! Maybe Ted! But not you!   :laugh:
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Offline iddee

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2020, 10:49:54 pm »
Speaking of Ted, where the heck is he? He hasn't been on since last November.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Zweefer

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Re: DIY Inner cover - LazyBkpr style!
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2020, 08:36:23 am »
That’s a very good question...


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Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau