Nuc Beehive Box From Pallet Timber

I am interested in bees and as such I follow groups which exchange ideas and experiences in this area. I read some books about this and watched some videos and tutorials. I live in the countryside and have some 30 olive trees and some 10 fruit trees. Seeing the super activities around the flowering orange trees now (April 2024) and knowing that the olive trees would start doing the same, I decided to help the bees by creating a nuc box, A Nuc (nucleus) box is a mini beehive that is being used by the beekeepers to split a big bee colony or to catch a bee swarm. A sort of temporary accommodation for any bee family. I must say that as I am not around here all year round, I am inclined to manage a proper bee hive here, and get into full beekeeping.

Searching for simple instructions to construct a nuc box did not produce lots of results, so I decided to build one from information I picked from various sources.

My place here is near a light industrial area and I'm blessed with finding lots of nice wood pallets from time to time. I always take them apart and keep the nicer timber pieces. I gathered some timber that was treated only by heat (HT stamped) so as not to expose the bees to any chemicals.

I decided to construct a 5-frames Nuc Box, with the approximate measurements (see  drawing):

Side walls: 266 x 501 mm

Front/Back walls: 240 x 190 mm

Base: 220 x 550 mm

Top cover: 230 x 510 mm

Handles: 220 mm long

Note that I am very imprecise and do not care if the result is not super square or neat or nice, for me, as long as it does the job, it is fine. The box would look more natural and blend better in nature.

The pallet timber thickness is normally 15mm thick. I am using only screws to connect everything, so I purchased some 3x30mm wood screws and I always use a 2 mm drill bit as a pilot hole. 

I love the usage of the small wood circular saw disc which is loaded onto a normal basic side-grinder, as the saw, instead of a jigsaw. ONE MUST BE MUCH MORE CAREFUL WHEN USING THIS TOOL but it is very quick and efficient and easy to use once you learn how to handle it. (especially WAITing until it completely stops before going to the next step).

• 3 x 30 mm wood screws (up to 150)
• lots of pallet timber pieces
• Electric saw (either a jigsaw or side grinder with proper blade)
• Electric drill
• Screwdriver
• right-angle.
• measuring tape

Side walls: Start by creating the two side walls. I noticed that the width of pallet timber is normally between 75 and 100mm, so try to combine three straight lengths that would sum to the desired total width of the wall.

The front and back walls: Find the two pieces with the total desired width and attach each one to a side wall pieces, and by doing this fix the side walls as walls (see picture). Important to note that the front and back walls line up with the base of the side wall, therefore leaving a gap at the top (front and back walls height are shorter than the side walls height).

The handles: To actually create a four walled box you would attach the handle(s) on top of the front and back walls and the handles will hold the two pieces of the front/back walls together (see picture). The top handles are lined with the top of the side walls and by doing this create the internal ledge on which the frames would sit.

Bottom: Is made of length pieces covering the bottom to the box. Note that you need the length of the pieces to be LONGER than the length of the box by about 50 mm to create a small front balcony or landing area for the bees at the base of the front wall.

Top cover: Exactly like the bottom cover but making the cover bigger than the box top by about 5 mm on ALL sides. You would need two or three top cross bars to hold the top cover pieces together. After making the top cover, make and attach an edge strip, with a width of about 30 mm, around the top cover.

At this stage you should have the box ready and stern. Enjoy your creation.

Now, when you open the box, you can see where the frames would be. You can measure the total space for them. Divide it by 5 and take off two three mm for imprecise…).

Frames:  note the frame size from the drawing and make sure they would fit in your box. You would need to sow some lengths of the pallet timber pieces, as the frame top bar should be around 35 mm wide and the three pieces making the frame under the top bar should be around 25 mm wide. After finishing the frame I drilled 2 mm holes at the top bar and bottom of the frame (three holes at each scratch) and thread a strong string to create an aid to build a wax comb (see pictures).

Entry and exit holes: drill a 19 mm hole at the BOTTOM middle of the front wall (as to allow any water that might gather inside to drain from the box. Drill the exit hole around the middle of the back wall (as far that you can from the top back handle as the bees tend to hang around the holes, after a busy day like we stand outside around the pub door).

In my case the imperfection of the pallet timber created some gaps of around 1 mm in certain places. In the meantime I leave it like this, but if the bees complain along the way, then either me or them sort this with glue/filler/wax etc. I like the “ventilation” it has now for the warm summer here. Winter here is not too harsh.

I had installed the box on the thick branches/trucks of an olive tree, secured it with strong strings so it would not topple or fall, and placed a big stone on top to prevent the strong winds we got here to open the box. I managed to place the box at a very slight, two degrees, slant to the front.

Naturally, if you want to start beekeeping as a hobby, do get in touch with the local beekeeping groups, “advertise” your box on group sites and go catch yourself a swarm. Or you can purchase a colony. ENJOY.