Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[mefgbee]

Made this out of old pine (200 year old) which had been old shelves in alcoves.

It had gotten very dirty and black over time and wasn't nice to work with initially until I'd planed it all over. Wide boards though. I'd been keeping them in the garage for the last 10 years and never found a use for them. A lot of work planing the wood, to thickness.

In some ways to I wish I'd just bought some cedar from the builders yard as it would likely have given me a stronger, more durable hive. Roof, legs, window and comb guides cost me, but other than that it was free.

Finished the outside with linseed, and torched the inside as I didn't want to use shellac. Eco floor and long observation window.

It was a fun project. Just need some bees now!

[greengage]

Nice piece of woodwork there

[JamesW]

Beautiful looking hive there!

[ingo50]

Nice looking TBA, neat woodworking.

[mefgbee]

I decided to make a couple more hives for the 2016 season, this time using cedar. One at 1.5m, the other at 1.2m. Both scorched internally, and linseed externally. Hinged roof, that can be lifted and removed, as well as tilted. This 1.2m hive will be the new home to my nearly overwintered bees that started in a plastic flower pot (collected swarm) and then were housed in a temporary wooden bait hive a few days later. The viewing windows are 10mm and 12mm perspex.

Here are a few photos for anyone interested:-

[Barbara]

Oh WOW Mike! How gorgeous are they? I'm going to be so embarrassed when you see my poor efforts!

[mefgbee]

Thanks Barbara. I don't think the hive look really matters, it was just that after using up my old pine last year I was pretty fed with the prep work getting it to size and flat. So I cheated this year by using 8"x1" lengths. It takes me a while to make everything so I figured I might as well choose cedar over pine.

[Ollie]

WHOW WHOW WHOW factor.... when are you delivering to Ireland?

well done

[mefgbee]

Thanks Ollie but I can't see me going into business with these as it takes me too long!

[Trip]

Your hives are gorgeous, but I really really love the workbench in the pictures.

[Ollie]

soo busy looking at the hives I missed the work bench Trip ....

think that's another whow factor....

Don't know why he won't deliver one..... lol

[Craig Howard]

Nice workshop skills and great looking hives.

I am on my first build and its comforting to see some of your design and construction ideas are similar to my own.

Hoping to have mine finished in a day or three. Will post pix later.

Fitting a window today and mounting end boards to sides. Top bars and comb guides done, Entrances done, "door step' done..

That leaves base, legs and gabled roof plus timber treatment

Yes...they do take a surprising amount of time to construct!!!

[tickie]

Those are absolutely fantastic looking hives - nice one.

I can see you've made a neat fitting removable section for the bottom of the hive. Is that literally just a trough that you can take off and check for mites? Is there still a membrane at the base of the hive?

[mefgbee]

Hi, yes the removable bottom is just that - an extra space that is filled with leaves, soil, twigs etc to mimic what may be in the bottom of a natural hive. Check out Phil's eco floor idea for more information.