How To Make The Beehive

What you need: Strong cardboard (about 1 mm thick), beeswax, a rounded wooden barbecue stick, two cocktail sticks, small piece of white paper, a bead, glue and white acrylic paint.

Cut these pieces out of the cardboard:

Front of beehive: 3.5 cm x 4.0 cm; with a 2.2 cm x 2.8 cm rectangular hole in the centre

Back of beehive: 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm

Two walls: base 2.0 cm and the long sides (which are parallel to each other) 3.9 cm and 3.5 cm. The top of the wall is slanted, its length is something between 2.0 and 2.1 cm, but just measure the other three sides and then draw a line to join together the ends of the long sides.

Base: 2.0 cm x 3.5 cm

Roof: 4.7 cm x 3.2 cm

Door: 2.9 cm x 3.4 cm

Glue the two walls onto the base (the 2 cm sides against the 2 cm sides), so that the walls actually stand on top of the base, just inside the edge of the cardboard; not so that the base is in between the walls. This is to make sure that the pieces fit together and there are no extra bits of cardboard sticking out at the end. The beehive is easier to make if you let it dry in between glueing the pieces together.

Glue the back of the beehive onto this, so that the 3.5 cm sides of the walls are against the back. The base and walls should be on top of the back of the hive, again just inside the edges of the cardboard.

Then attach the door onto the front piece. (The instructions get rather complicated, but as long as you do not spread glue on the inside of the fold, they should become clear as you go on.) Cut a strip of white paper, about 3.0 cm x 0.6 cm. Fold it in half lenghtwise, and spread a thin layer of glue on one side of the fold. Press this onto the longer side of the door (the paper still folded, with the fold towards the edge of the piece). Now spread glue onto the other side of the fold (keeping the paper still folded up) and place the door onto the front piece of the beehive, positioning it so that it is closed and the glue sticks the paper just outside the long side of the square hole. The strip of paper acts as a hinge, so the door can be opened and closed. Glue the bead onto the door for a handle.

Now glue the front of the beehive onto the walls and base. Again, the front will be on top of the walls and base.

Cut four pieces of equal length from the barbecue stick, and glue them on the base of the beehive to make the legs. When the glue has dried, paint the beehive both inside and outside. Also paint the roof on both sides.

Cut out pieces of beeswax, about 1.5 cm x 3 cm each. Five pieces should be enough to fill the beehive. Punch a hole through each end of the pieces and put the cocktail sticks through the holes to make a stack of beeswax sheets, as shown in the picture. If the sheets slide on the sticks, apply some glue to attach them to the sticks.

Put this stack into the beehive through the roof. The sheets of beeswax should be large enough to support the pile against the walls. Glue the roof onto the beehive so that about 7 mm protrudes over the front of the hive. Attach the beehive onto the base with a drop of glue at the base of each leg.