Commercial beekeepers have a lot of equipment to assist the putting together and preserving of supers. They can be stapled together, paraffin wax dipped at 130 degrees centigrade for five minutes, lifted out of the wax dipper and immediately painted with a spray gun using cheap (tint rejects) water based paint. As the super cools the wax and paint are drawn into the wood providing a protective coating. These finished supers can be put on the hives the next day.

Hobbyists, unless they are close to a commercial beekeeper, have to use different techniques to protect their woodware. There are many fungicides on the market and some are easy to apply. The easy to apply ones need more treatments to keep up the protection. I want at least twenty years services from my supers so prefer to use a mixture of mineral turpentine and metalex (copper naphthenate 5 to 1 mix).

Some beekeepers paint this mixture on to the supers but I prefer to dip the unassembled parts in a bath. This requires quite a lot of solution and is expensive so try to get a number of beekeepers together and share the costs.

The actual amount of preservative you require will depend upon the size of the container. Liqueur wholesalers have used 30 litre square plastic containers that they either give away or sell for a few dollars.

With this type of container you will need: 6 litres of copper naphthenate (metalex), 24 litres of turps, a large heavy plastic bag, lots of thin fillet timber, rubber gloves and old cloths. Metalex stains everything, concrete, clothing, hands so be prepared.

Cut the top off one container put in the woodware and carefully pour in the mixed preservative until almost full. Leave for a few hours or until all the bubbles stop coming out of the wood, then (using gloves) turn the timber end for end so the other end of the timber is submerged. Pop in the fillets and top up the preservative. When all bubbles cease, remove the woodware and allow to drain. Then take the large plastic bag and stack the wet woodware flat, inside the bag between the fillets (put a fillet at each end and in the middle of the sides). Seal the plastic bag and leave for another two to three weeks.

If the timbers is stacked outside in the air, the turps tends to evaporate quickly but if stored in a plastic bag, the preservative continues to be drawn into the timber thus providing better protection.

Take the woodware out of the plastic bag after the prescribed period and allow another couple of weeks to completely dry. The supers and woodware can now be assembled or stacked ready to be assembly later.

When assembling don't skimp on nails, 5 or 6 - 75 mm flat head galvanized nails should be driven into each corner.

Assemble on a square object or against a wall. Select two sides and two ends. Place an end on the flat surface against a 90-degree support. Run a bead of waterproof glue along the flat corner joints if you wish. Select two sides and look down at the end grain. Wide pieces of flat timer tend to warp away from the centre core of the tree so that the grain lines straighten up. Place the sides on the end board with the centre grain of the tree facing out. (bow inwards). Then put a bead of glue along the top edge of the sides (optional) and place the other end of the super on top to form a square.

Take care to make sure the top bar groves are facing the same direction. Seems fundamental but try putting together 100 supers and you will find one or two will have the top bar grove reversed. When this happens you need to router out a new grove as taking the super apart is not possible unless you have a nail puller.

Hold the super square (you can use a clamp if you wish), drive a nail into each corner so the end and sides are held on place. Caution - On the top bar edge of the super, place the nail a little further away from the corner to stop splitting.

Flip over the super and nail the corners of the other end. Check that the super is square then drive the rest of the nails working around the super. It you wish. The other nails can be angled a little so that the nails are skewed in to give greater strength.

Paint the outside and edges of the super to give weather protection. Supers can be put on a hive when the turps smell has dissipated.

Please be careful when making your own woodware. Many beekeepers get injured through careless use of power tools. A saw blade doesn't feel any pain so you have to take precautions. Use guards and aids. A moment's inattention can take months to heal. Keep saw blades sharp. Wood shouldn't need to be forced through a saw blade; it just needs a slight pressure with a push stick. When you are tired, accidents happen so don't work too long on a saw bench.

Frank Lindsay