Brood Chamber

Back to hive construction. In this post I'll go through how to make a brood chamber. I'll be making it to standard National dimensions with bottom bee space, but it would be fairly easy to adapt the design to another standard.

Start off by cutting a strip of 18mm thick plywood 225mm wide. Then, from this strip cut two pieces 460mm long. These will form the front and back walls of the brood chamber.

Now, for the sides of the brood chamber, cut a strip of plywood 169mm wide, and from this strip cut two pieces 424mm long. You'll also need some other softwood sections to complete the sides. There are:

• 32mm x 18mm x 424mm long (2 pieces required)
• 32mm x 12mm x 424mm long (2 pieces required)
• 44mm x 18mm x 424mm long (2 pieces required)
• 12mm x 6mm x 424mm long (2 pieces required)

I found all these softwood sections readily available at my local DIY store (which is why I used these sizes). The following photo shows all the parts required to make up one side of the brood chamber.

Take the 44mm x 18mm section and glue the 12 x 6mm section to it as shown in the following photo. Then nail through the 12 x 6mm section to the 44mm x 18mm section at 3 or 4 locations along its length.

This will form the bottom side rail of the brood chamber. You'll need 2 of these, one for each side.

Now take the 32mm x 12 mm and the 32mm x 18mm sections and lay them together as shown in the following photo (the 32mm x 18mm section is lying flat and the 32mm x 12mm section is standing on its edge).

Mark a pencil line along the inside of the corner where the two sections meet. Separate the sections and then on the 32mm x 12mm section mark and drill three locations along the length of the piece to take the screws.

Glue and screw the sections together as shown in the following photo. These will form the top side rails of the brood chamber.

Now take one of the 169mm wide plywood sides and lay one top rail and one bottom rail along the edges as shown in the following photo.

Mark a pencil line along the inside of the corner where the top and bottom side rails meet the plywood side. Separate the sections and then on each side rail (top and bottom) mark and drill three locations along the length of the side rails to take the screws (you can just about see the screw holes in the following photo).

Now glue and screw the top and bottom side rails to the plywood side. Repeat the process to make the other side of the brood chamber. The completed sides are shown in the following photo.

Lay the 460mm x 225mm flat plywood front (or back) of the brood chamber on the bench and stand the sides on their ends as shown in the following photo.

Take a pencil and mark where the sides meet the front of the brood chamber. Remove the sides and mark and drill four locations where the front of the brood chamber will be screwed to the sides (I've gone over the pencil lines with a red marker so you can see them clearly in the following photo).

Glue and screw the sides to the front of the brood chamber as shown in the following photo.

Now do the same thing for the back of the brood chamber. The following photo shows the partly completed brood chamber just before the back is screwed on to the sides.

The following photo shows the completed brood chamber. You should check the brood chamber is square and true before the glue dries.

It just remains now to nail frame runners on to the sides of the brood chamber. I would recommend using metal runners instead of plastic ones - they are only marginally more expensive and you don't have to remove them if you want to sterilise the brood chamber by scorching the wood using a blowtorch.

The following photo shows the completed brood chamber with a standard BS frame in place. The top of the frame should be flush with the top edges of the brood chamber, and there should be a bee space between the sides of the frame and the brood chamber walls, and also a bee space under the bottom of the frame.

Now, if everything has gone according to plan, the brood chamber should be a perfect fit on top of the open mesh floor which you have already made.

Personally, I like to attach the brood chamber to the floor using strips of metal pre-drilled to take screws. I find that attaching the brood chamber to the floor makes moving the hive much easier, and it is a simple enough job to remove the screws and lift the brood chamber off the floor if required. The following photo shows the strips of metal fitted to the hive I built last year.

Next time I'll build a super for the hive. The super is very similar to the brood chamber, but shallower. Happy hive building!