> I'm becoming a new beekeeper next month. If a box is 9 5/8" deep and the
> frames for it are 9 1/8" tall there will be 1/2" space above and below the
> frames. This is 1/8" more than the maximum allowable bee space. People
> recommend this size equipment but when I email them this question I get no
> reply. How is this supposed to work?

I think you will make a good -- but often puzzled -- beekeeper.

I've had to deal with the same questions over the years, and the reason for many
things is "That's how we've always done it".  Often there are better ways or
understandings, but they are beaten down by convention and old saws.  The books
often just repeat the same old baloney.

As an example of the kind of thing you are up against in learning this ancient
craft of beekeeping, let me use a modern example of how people think, and the
stupid things we do when we know better.  If it does not fascinate (and scare
you a bit), just skip the next paragraph.

The Y2K thing was an *obvious* and serious eventual problem to any thinking
person as far back as the seventies when I was programming early micros.  At
that time memory and storage was scarce and expensive and the year 2000 was far
in the not too certain future, and using two digits was an understandable.  What
was not as obvious was why the programmers continued to use two digits right
into the nineties when memory and storage and communication lines were cheap and
the year 2000 was only a few years away.  The Cold War was over and it looked
like the year 2000 was an unstoppable sure thing.  The reasons?  One was that
the subroutines underlying the higher level languages was a bit difficult for
current programmers to understand and modify and was also widely distributed,
but the main reason -- and the one that blew me away -- was this: when asked why
the vast majority of programmers did not deal with it well in advance and
proactively, the response was, "We did things the way we were *taught*".

That is what is the problem here.  People do what is done (copy) without
knowing -- or caring -- why.  There are good reasons why the super is 9-5/8
inches high, but the reasons are no longer current and few know what the
original (good) reasons were.

Softwood -- which is the only wood suited to supers due to weight, cost, and
other factors -- shrinks, often unpredictably in width -- sometimes as much as
3/8" to 1/2" on a box from the time it is freshly cut, and not always uniformly
over the length of a board.  Even using dried wood -- which good box makers
do -- it is hard to guess what the final shrinkage will be in advance.
Moreover, the ripped edges which were originally perfect will sometimes not be
quite straight after curing.  Boxes cut to our demanding tolerances at the time
of original manufacture might be found shallow within weeks of assembly.  Also,
if the fit is not perfect, sometimes a little needs to be shaved off the top and
the bottom on different sides to get things right after assembly.  Extra
material allows for adjustment.

Suppliers know that anyone can make a box shallower in a few moments, but most
don't like to nail on thin, vulnerable strips to make a new box taller, and
since nowadays they are cutting down from nominal 12" boards anyhow, they still
err on the safe side.  Since they are box makers and usually not beekeepers,
they don't know any more than that they get many fewer complaints vs. when they
make a box too shallow, and the solution -- to anyone bothered by their
generosity and a few extra sixteenths -- is simple.

At one time cured planed boards were widely and cheaply available at 9-5/8".  So
boxes were 9-5/8" and the frames a bee space less in height.  But lumber varies
across the grain when drying, not much lengthwise (end bars), so the frames were
made 9-18" not 9-3/8" and the assumption was that the box could be cut shorter
if necessary, since stretching the frames in height was not an option.

With a 9-1/8" frame, the minimum box depth should be between 9-5/16" and 9-1/2".
Therefore the box was made at 9-5/8".  After the box was made and had shrunk or
been trimmed, it would be sure not to be under the 9-5/16 depth that would give
the minimum permissible 3/16" bee space.  Bee space AFAIK is 3/16" to 3/8"
although some will argue. At any rate the extra height is there to allow for
trimming or for shrinkage.

Years back, after our standard sizes were widely accepted, the lumber changed
dimension and also became inferior in quality.  The size of a finished 10" board
is now supposed to be 9-1/2" but is often under that, and the quality is poorer.
Unfortunately the 9-1/2" boards are sometimes not dry and will shrink below
9-1/2" in service or even before.  Because of the uneven edges and knots, most
box builders buy 12" boards and cut them to -- you guessed it -- 9-5/8".

This is a somewhat technical explanation to a fascinating question from a man
who has made his living building furniture and was also the original founder of
a large bee furniture building business several decades back. (Me).

Next you will ask if the bee space goes on the top or the bottom, but that is in
the logs.  Hint: there is no reliable answer or standard.  Anyhow, I personally
don't care much.  We have some on top, some on bottom, and therefore end up with
double space sometimes and none others.  It's not ideal, but we get by.

allen




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