Week 8 - Milestone 1 - Deciding on what materials to use

Nails

I believe the best nail to use to build my hive will be the round head nails. I have decided to use this type of nail because of its availability and because it varies in size.
This will allow me to get replacements or order more nails if needed and I also have a lot more of a choice in what size will be best for the hive. It is also a very strong nail that focuses on strength, which is ideal for when the hive is heavy with honey.

round head nails - Bing images

Screws

I believe the bugle head screw is the best screw for me as it provides the most strength than the other screws and requires the least amount of work to drill in. They have good
holding power so it is less likely that the materials will come apart. This type of screw is also widely available everywhere in the UK and you don’t need any extra drill bits for the screw.

buggle head screw - Bing images

 

Glue

For the glue to use I believe that Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue is the best glue to use for the building of my hive. This glue is considered one of the strongest wood glues on the market. It is also very water-resistant, so it's great for exterior use because it is so tough. This makes it ideal for my hive as it will be great at holding the wood together for long periods of time. It can also be sanded down with ease if needed and dry’s fairly quickly and offers a very durable bond. Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue is also non-toxic and is also solvent-free and cleans up with water and is FDA approved for indirect food contact. Although the glue has a cure time of 6 hours which is longer than the Titebond II wood glue but Titebond III Ultimate glue is much stronger.

 

Paint

For paint, I will need to look for a type of paint with a low VOC that is under 50. This is important as a Paint that has VOC’s that are higher than 50 can off-gassing which is a process when the paint is drying and releases chemicals in the air which can be harmful to humans and also animals. This is why I need to find paint with a low VOC so it cannot harm the bees. So milk paint and chalk paint is probably the best type of paint for my beehives as it is eco-friendly and also doesn’t release any VOCs’s so it is non-harmful and is the best option for my beehive.

Wood

The wood I believe will be the best for my hive is cedar. This wood is commonly

used for beehives because it has natural oils which help protect the hive from the weather, rotting and other insects. Cedar is also good in humid conditions because it doesn’t change shape and remains straight and flat. It is also very light which is useful when the hive is full of honey and helps to keep the weight of the hive down. A negative of cedar is that it is not as widely available as other woods, like oak for example, and because of this the cost of the cedar is more than other wood.

cedar wood - Bing images

Joining

For joining wood together, I believe that the Dovetail joint is the best way to join wood for my hive. This joint is considered the strongest of all wood joints as it provides the most strength. The different sections of wood interlock which make it hard for them to come apart providing a lot of strength. I can also use wood glue and nails/screws to provide extra strength. Although I am not very skilled with this joint and it is very unlikely that I will use this joining method.

Cutting

For cutting the wood and joining them together I believe the bevel cut is the most suitable. The cut is at a 45-degree angle along the wide side of the wood. This is useful because if you have two pieces of wood cut at a 45-degree angles and put them both together they should form a 90-degree angle; which means it will create a right-angle corner. This makes the wood very strong and is also very simple and also looks good.

Tools

The tools I have decided that I will need to build my hive are:  a Carpenter’s hammer, carpenter’s square, tape measure, a wood saw, a circular saw, a power drill, drill bits (for the screws), wood nails, screws, wood glue’s and a clamp (to hold pieces of wood together once glued). These are all of the basic tools that I will need when building my hive.

Also this week I have completed milestone 1, this was to research different ways to join and cut wood and to decide which wood and style of hive to use. This week I have decided which wood, glue, nail and screws I want to use for the hive. In previous weeks I decided that the British National Hive will be the best style of hive to use and I also researched different ways to join and cut wood in the previous weeks as well. But I completed it a week after the scheduled completion date which was the 8/11/21. But this does not mean I am behind schedule as I am still up to date with my timetable which stated to complete this milestone this week. This could be because I changed the timetable after I finished the proposal and is why the dates don't match up.

How this helped me?

This has helped me as it has clarified for me which materials I will need and therefore be using to make my hive. In the information above, I have stated all the benefits I have learned from all the research for selecting that material and whether it will benefit the bees and the hive. This research has also given me a much greater understanding of all the different materials and their benefits, therefore enabling me to choose the best materials and equipment for the job. 

I can say that before this research I didn't know that much about the benefits of the glue and the paint and that this has all helped me greatly and has improved my knowledge on the benefits of wood glue and paint.