DIY Nuc Boxes

[riverbee]

rodmaker~
"Blue i use a skill saw bot i clamp a straight edge to the plywood and use that as a guide cuts very straight that way."

i was going to jump in earlier blue on this and yes what rodmaker said.  we have a contractor grade skil saw, purchase a good plywood blade, and use a clamp on straight edge guide from rockler woodworking (they come in different lengths, we have 3 or 4 of them) easy to unclamp, slide, adjust and saw.  we have cut all sorts of sheets of plywood thickness's (length and width) and also birch, oak and maple......have to say a perfect clean cut every time.

ps, the guides hang nicely on the garage wall and come in handy quite frequently for other tasks.......

[apisbees]

I spent the better half of the afternoon whipping up a prototype for this 5-frame nuc with 3/4" pine boards.  I didn't have any 1"-12" lumber.  So, I busted out the Kreg pocket hole jig and laminated some board to the widths I needed.  I will modify the lid on the next one to attach the lid end on the bottom of the lid like you would see on the plywood version.  I have found that the best way to position/fix the ends on bottom of the lid is to place is to attach all four side of box, place the lid upside down on work space and then the box on top.  I then affix the ends to the lid aligning them ever so slightly away from the box end to allow for some expansion (maybe 1/32") but remain snug enough also.

I placed a thin coat of Titebond glue on the exposed plywood grain last season before painting and let it dry overnight to assist in keeping the water out of the end grain.  I have used the boxes for swarm catching but plan on using them for splits and wintering over this season.  If the plywood nucs decay, I will just build more.

Dave going back to post 19. I hope you are going to put some 3/8 X 3/4 strips on each end to stop the frames from sliding end ways while it is being moved. As it is, the frames can slide misaligning the shoulders on the end bars and this will allow the frames to come together and you will loss the bee space and could crush bees. As well end up with larger spaces between the combs and have the bees fill the extra space with bur comb.

[BoilerJim]

In the mood to build some NUC boxes. Everyone who built NUC boxes out of plywood in 2014, how are they holding up?  I always used pine boards and was afraid of plywood. If they held up all these years then I will give plywood a whirl.

[Zweefer]

I got 3 years out of mine.  then they delaminated on the outside to the point where there were flaking off layers, so i ditched them rather than sand and repaint...
Personally, I'd stick with the pine.