Emily Pruyn writes: " Is there any reason not to put some sort of handles on the hive boxes to give a better purchase for lifting." **************************** I have always been reluctant to do this because I was sure that putting two pieces of wood together would cause rot in the wood-wood joint. I just peeled two wooden hand-holds from an old hive body that I have been using for ten years and I found no obvious rot. Do people who add hand-holds to hive bodies treat the wood? How long does the hive body last? I have used a dado blade on a table saw to make deeper hand holds in home-made honey supers. Perhaps a router would work, too. (Another solution to the lifting problem is to use medium-depth supers as brood boxes. This topic was discussed recently on Bee-L and should be in the archives.) Tim -- Tim Sterrett [log in to unmask] (southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA