Build Your Own - 10 Frame Deep (Minimal Tools)

A friend of mine Bill Reynolds, who administers the Northern Beekeeping Facebook group asked me to design a simple to build hive that required minimal joinery work. Taking inspiration from the Coates Nuc Box design, we end up with a simple butt jointed box with no rabbets, dados, or fancy joinery of any kind. I elected to use barn board in combination with 3/8" plywood for added strength (10 frame deeps are much heavier than nuc boxes), as well as for a little more thermal protection. Another nice thing about this design is that with the exception of the handles, it does not matter what thickness of material you use for the sides the dimensions stay the same!

You will need 

Plywood 3/8" - 4' x 8' (makes 30 pcs)
Barn board (1" thick, 12" wide) - at least 38 3/8" long (you will need a little extra scrap)

Lets start by ripping down the 3/8" plywood into 9" strips (or 14 3/4" strips you will still end up with the same amount of pcs). This is best accomplished with a tablesaw, but a circular saw will work just fine (try to fashion a fence out of scrap lumber to keep your lines straight, as these will be your frame rest and dimension is critical). If you ask nicely at your local lumber yard, they might cut the strips down for you. Most good old Mom and Pops places probably will, Big box not so much.

Then cut those 9" strips down to 14 3/4", you should end up with six. Set those aside.

 Next rip the barn board down to 9 5/8" strips, these will serve as the sides. Save the remaining strip as these will serve as handles.

Cut the remaining strips to 16 3/4" for the handles. You will need two extra strips of wood this length so use what scrap you have. Note: The strip is actually 1 7/8" if you use the strip from the barn board you cut.

Assemble the box as shown using wood screws. I recommend at least 2" wood screws, as these are what is carrying the weight.

Attach the plywood using screws, making sure you keep the dimensions for the frame rests as perfect as possible.

Modification

Instead of using scrap or wasting wood for the bottom strip. You can cut an extra piece of 3/8" plywood 7 3/4" by 16 3/4" to use as the front. I feel this is a stronger joint and provides better thermal protection. It does make the project more costly. Make sure you lay out your cuts on the plywood first to make the most efficient use of the material.

Note: The width of the handles is simply convenience and using the 1 7/8" strip from the barn board, they can be made out of anything you feel is strong enough for the job.