Open mesh floor - Part 1

Ok, here we go. The open mesh floor is arguably the most complicated part of the hive to make, but I think it makes sense to build the hive from the bottom up.

Cut a strip of 18mm thick plywood 100mm wide. If you are cutting from a full size sheet of plywood, this strip will be 100mm wide by 1220mm long. Cut this strip in half length wise at an angle of about 30 degrees as shown in the photo below.

These two pieces will form the sides of the open mesh floor. Using your square, mark a perpendicular line across each piece where it starts to taper to a point. Measure and mark another line 460mm from the first line and then cut along this second line. Cut another 100mm wide strip of plywood from the sheet and cut a piece 424mm long from this strip (the plywood I'm using is 18mm thick and the 424mm dimension is derived from 460mm minus twice the thickness). This piece will form the front cross member of the floor. Finally we need another piece of wood 424mm long and 18mm x 21mm in cross section. This will form the rear cross member. You could cut this from plywood, but it is more convenient to use a planed white wood section of these dimensions. Now you should have four pieces of wood as shown in the following photo.

Drill three holes (about 9mm in from the edged or from the perpendicular line across the angled end) in each side piece and partially insert screws as shown in the photo below (I have used 35mm long screws with countersunk heads).

Using PVA wood glue, glue and screw the front and rear cross members to the sides as shown in the following photos. Fit the rear cross member so that the 18mm side is horizontal (at the top) and the 21mm side is vertical (down the back). Ensure that the floor is square and adjust as necessary before the glue dries.



Now we need to cut another strip of plywood to form the landing board. This strip needs to be 170mm wide, but with one edge angled at approximately 30 degrees as shown in the photo below.

You should be able to adjust the angle of the blade on the circular saw to cut at the required angle. After you make the angled cut set the blade back to 90 degrees and cut another strip 170mm wide to leave you with a square edge on the plywood sheet (you can keep this second strip for use in future hives and it will save you having to adjust the blade the next time). Now cut a piece 424mm long from the 170mm wide strip. This will form the landing board.

Drill two holes in the angled sides, about 9mm in from the edge and partially insert screws as shown in the following photo. Then glue the angled edge of the landing board and also the ends.

Now insert the landing board into the front of the floor and screw together as shown in the photo below. Check that the floor is square and adjust as necessart before the glue dries.

You may notice that the angles sides extend beyond the landing board slightly. using a hand saw, cut the sides off flush with the landing board as ahown in the following photo.

That is the basic structure of the open mesh floor completed. Next time we'll fit the metal mesh and finish the floor off.