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Adapter Plates for different sized bee hives

Most of my hive boxes are the standard OATH design which makes it quite a simple task for matching up boxes for splitting but occasionally I’ll make an odd shaped box that I need to get a colony in to. I could transfer a colony in but I find that a bit messy and you’re just transferring a colony from one box to another so you still only have one colony. Another option is to do Budding which can be slow and has to be monitored. I prefer to split in to the new box so you end up with two colonies and I find this method very simple and easy as it behaves like a normal split.

To get two different shaped or sized boxes to join up together I use adapter plates. This involves cutting a piece of plywood that sits between both odd shaped boxes removing any gaps which provides security for the colony. This is quite a simple procedure that could be used on just about any two different sized boxes.

Once the new box is ready to be split, it’s just a normal split and the odd shaped boxes can be paired up again with it’s matching partner.

Example 1. OATH vs Octagonal Box

Example 2. OATH vs Narrow Tall Pillar Box

Hivecraft - Australian Native Bee Supplies

Native bee boxes available at www.hivecraft.com.au

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