Stainless Steel "Z" Springs, for hive clipping

These springs are readily available from the appliance trade. They are strong and secure enough to hold a hive together for transport purposes. They are quick and easy to use and aid productivity and efficiency, without costing much.

The three diagrams at top left shows how I used these springs in the latter part of my beekeeping career, (with this layout there is the opportunity to use 9 mm thick or 18 mm thick items between the boxes).

The reasoning behind their use can be seen on the page that deals with

The "Rational" Roof.

The screws used are of two types:-

19 mm x 4 mm Round Head are used
for the pivot and latch positions.

19 mm x 3.2 mm Pan Head are used
as the "pegs" for the spring to lip over.

The smaller screws are used for the pegs so that the springs will pass easily between the pegs when the lower screws are being used.

The 4th and 5th diagrams give the details of the fixing as described in the leaflet that I produced when I used to supply this item commercially.

When I first used this type of spring there was no method of incorporating a queen excluder or any other item between the boxes.

I decided it would be useful to provide the means to accommodate a 9 mm thick framed queen excluder (or any other 9 mm thick device).

The 6th diagram shows the method intended by the original manufacturer.

There have been many times when I was glad of the extra facilities provided by the extra screws, particularly when moving bees.

The 7th and 8th diagrams show a modification to enable two half sized nuc boxes to be securely fitted over a standard size box or another pair of nuc boxes.

I use a drilling jig for speed and repeat accuracy, but if only a small number of boxes are involved the pilot holes could be marked out using a pencil and rule.

(The first few hundred boxes that I kitted out with these springs were marked out using rule and pencil.)

These springs can be obtained from...
B. J. Engineering.