Nail placement on bee frames seems to be a bit of a thorny issue --- either that or it's just difficult to explain.  The best description I came across is here, but even that one gave me fits.

These photos show my best guess of nail placement.  I put eight nails in each frame --- two in each side of the bottom bar (see below), and four through the side panels into the top bar (see right.)

Note that the top bar is asymmetrical due to removing the foundation-retaining wedge, so the nails which go into the top bar are placed asymmetrically.  Although many websites recommend putting nails through the middle of the top bar, I was sold on horizontal nails for two reasons.  First, nailing vertically through the top bar doesn't give the frame any structural support against the weight of the honey pulling the frame apart vertically.  Second, one website mentioned that nailing into the top of the top bar makes it difficult to scrape the frame clean.

Frame nailing has definitely been the most tricky part of the hive assembly process.  I hope I did it right!  Meanwhile, if you want a bit more procrastination before you begin your work day, you should totally check out this blog entry about the new White House bees.

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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