Looking for ideas for building 8 frame medium bee boxes. Have limited tools available so must be simple.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.:)
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Looking for ideas for building 8 frame medium bee boxes. Have limited tools available so must be simple.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.:)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ZDT2dIO04
I am no bee keeper but the above design is said to be very innovative. You might look up the original plans online or build your own facsimile from cedar to repel unwanted bugs
Thanks for the link, it has great info
I am a beekeeper, and id say if you want simplicity and cheapness, the ware hive is the exact opposite of that. It looks very cool, but to be honest its the most complicated and therefore expensive hive. The good old fashioned langstroth is about as basic as it comes, and there is a good reason why it is the most popular choice of hive in the world, and that beekeepers have literally been using it for centuries without much change. The biggest disadvantage with the ware and top bar hives, is the single bar instead of a full wired frame. This makes extraction basically impossible without destroying the comb, Which means you cant reuse it, are all your poor bees hardwork is constantly being destroyed. In terms of adding boxes from the bottom instead of the top, you can do that with a langsroth too. But again i question the wisdom of forcing the bees to move there brood nest every time you add a box....sorry if that's more info than you asking for, but my suggestion, if you want cheap and simple is download a free langstroth plan off beesource. Build it using the cheapest wood you can get, and use box joints, coat the whole thing in wax dip or waxol.
Thanks Lenny for your input. I had looked at the ware hive info and decided it was not for me, but the link I used also had many other things on it that were helpful.
I guess it depends how many hives you want to build. If you're just wanting to have one or two, then by all means, you can afford to take the time to make intricate designs, like sloped roofs, and glass inspection windows, etc. The top bar, wbc, ware, etc are in my opinion not neccessarily better, but the WBC for instance is very pretty, and the inspection window on the ware, is a lovely little feature. But they arent practical if you going to be building and maintaining lots of them.
More on the topic of your question, exactly what woodworking tools do you have? Do you have a router or a circular saw?
If you have one of those you can use box joints, which are incredibly strong, second only to dovetail joints. You could make them by hand with a saw and chisel but it will take forever! The reason why joints are prefered, in beehives is because they are very exposed to the elements, and I've used butt joints with glue and screw, but that usually only last a year at best, before the wood warps and the joint fails. But if you don't have tools, you can try that in the mean time, just make sure you seal your wood as best you can, to try an keep the moisture out.
We have 5 old used hives we bought but they are 10 frame deeps and I just have a great deal of trouble lifting them. I think we are going to go to 8 frame mediums so they won't be so heavy.
Yesterday I went out to check on them and found Yellow Jackets killing the bees so now I'm just hoping to save the bees from them.
I reduced the entry and taped up all the cracks I could find. Then went and got a bunch of yellow jacket traps and hung them.
Will try to find the nest, but have had no luck at that so far.
We have a skill saw, hand saw, and other hand tools.
Okay so probably the easiest will be just building boxes with butt joints. Use a good waterproof glue, and lots of screws, make sure you pre-drill pilot holes though first. If you can afford a wood that can handle moisture well that would be preferable. Then as I said earlier concentrate on getting good waterproof coating. If you chat to other beekeepers, ask if there is not someone locally who can give your hives a wax dip in paraffin wax. It will safeguard your bees in case any of those old hives had AFB, and it makes the wood basically impenetrable by water.
Yellow Jackets are a pain, I'm also trying to find a nest near our apiary.
BTW, have you visited Beesource.com - Beekeeping resources for beekeepers since 1997!. It's the largest beekeeping forum on the internet, and extremely helpful.
I used a torch on the boxes as that was recommended by someone who had bees before.
I have visited Beesource, am trying to learn as much as I can so the bees will have as good a chance as possible.
This what I like about this forum. The huge variety of interests has curious members like me learning stuff on an almost daily basis.
Sounds like you're on the right track. If you in the Northern Hemisphere, i.e going into fall & winter. Do some reading up about feeding and preparing your bees for winter. If you in the Southern Hemisphere, you have less to worry about, as the bees will look after themselves from here on until autumn again. Don't beat yourself up too much if you get one or two colonies absconding it happens to everyone, and it's a learning curve. And catching new swarms in the spring is easy, and fun...unless you're a commercial beekeeper (they hate it, cos it's time consuming, and new swarm will take at least another year or two before it produces honey properly)Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarabian
Thanks for the correction and explanation Lenny. It would be nice if some more people chimed in when questions are asked. I hate seeing questions asked and no replies at all are given.
As to the different design in the boxes,I was explained (by another non bee keeper) that the Warren hive was some how less destructive and less rebuilding for the bees. So it is interesting to hear contrary. Also that parafin can be used to seal the wood is a little surprising. I would have thought that the parrafin would be mixed in to the combs and honey on warmer days.
For a cheap supply of wood in the USA heat treated pallets can be found free and in abundance. In other countries I would be cautions of how the wood is treated if it is not heat treated, which means pesticides.
Hey Jere,
Cool anytime, glad I can help. It's a great forum.
There's all sorts of techniques where people make claims, that it's less stressful on the bees etc. I find most of these claims difficult to prove. So with the Ware hive you might fiddle less with the hive configuration, but come harvest time you basically going to destroy half the hive. The reason traditional langstroth frames are full frames, with wire supports, is so that the comb can be de-capped and then spun in a extractor and the basically returned to the hive. But if you only have a top bar or you don't have support wire in the comb, the comb will simply break to pieces in the extractor. If you choose to extract by hand you going to have to crush the comb anyway. So don't really understand how that can be lest destructive than traditional hives.
I mean Paraffin wax not pure Paraffin/kerosene (that would probably kill your bees). Only the hive box is dipped in wax, not the wooden frames, so the beeswax never really comes in contact with the paraffin wax. Ideally if you could dip in beeswax, that would be the best...but the cost would make it impossible. There is a natural oil based sealer in South Africa called waxol which is partly made up of beeswax, and it works very well.
Adding glue strips in each corner, maybe 1/2" square will add a lot of strength to the joint. I use Titebond II almost exclusively for my glue jobs, but any good wood glue would do. Years ago I started using it as a finish for some of my wood stuff, thinned 50/50 with water, still use it on the canes I make, holds up well, and dries quickly, so I can put on 3-4 coats in little time. I got curious and asked the manufacturer about using it as a finish. I was told that a number of wood carving artists that display their works outdoors use up to seven coats or so of the glue, unthinned, and the works hold up nicely.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lenny