Hi Mark and All Just thought I would share a few tips I have found in making homemade hive bodies. First it is good to have one commercially made hive on hand, to enable one to make the best copies. Secondly, instead of buying expensive metal sheeting for hive lids coverings, it is easiest to go to the local newspaper printing press and ask them for the negative printing sheets they use. These are large aluminium sheets with newspaper text burnt onto them. Usually the press recycles them back to the suppliers, but they are usually happy to sell them to a beekeeper (with the aid of a bottle of honey or promise thereof). I pay about US$0.15c a sheet, which makes one cover. For bottom boards it works out cheaper to use corrugated plastic. This is the stuff many signwriters use. If you know an estate agent, or advertising company, ask them for their old signs. Otherwise the stuff can be bought, for about a quarter the price of the same area of timber. It is also quite handy for inner covers. Anyhow, those are my tips. (This newspaper one is especially fun. Everytime you go to a hive, you will be reminded of specific things - eg Local Residents Confused by Mysterious Yellow Spots on Windows etc) Keep well Garth --- Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Apis melifera capensis Grahamstown 800mm annual precipitation 6139 Eastern Cape South Africa Phone 27-0461-311663 On holiday for a few months Rhodes University Which means: working with bees 15 hours a day! Interests: Fliis and bees Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post in no way reflect those of Rhodes University.