Anyone good at woodwork?

[BeeJayBee]

2 x 'pot' blocks (concrete) and 2 suitable lengths of 3" x 3" fence post, (about 4ft) no sawing required.
blocks tend to be more stable than 4 legs, and less prone to sinking into ground.

We use breeze blocks, at least I think that's what they're called. The ones that are weatherproof rather than the lightweight internal ones. A lot cheaper, but not as good looking, as the walling blocks.

 

[tonybloke]

I'd agree but get 3x2 tannalised if its slightly cheaper and have them 6ft long for ease of manipulation ( 1 hive each end and room for another complete hive, lid with supers, or even two nukes, in between).

yeah, but I get 3 x 3 for free (hardwood used under loads on lorries) only about 4ft long, though

 

[Swarm]

Length of wood irrelevant, just place a pot block at required intervals, 4ft, 6ft, 12ft, whatever suits your apiary.

 

[alldigging]

Doesn't this all assume your apiary is level?

 

[tonybloke]

Doesn't this all assume your apiary is level?

nope, it assumes you can use a level, and adjust as needed

 

[Swarm]

nope, it assumes you can use a level, and adjust as needed

Yup.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Doesn't this all assume your apiary is level?

No, ours is anything but level. It was easy enough to use a spirit level and smaller bits of wood to raise the longer bits of timber to horizontal.

If you don't have a spirit level you can use a container of water, or a length of water-filled hosepipe, same as for levelling the top of a pond.

 

[alldigging]

No, ours is anything but level. It was easy enough to use a spirit level and smaller bits of wood to raise the longer bits of timber to horizontal.

If you don't have a spirit level you can use a container of water, or a length of water-filled hosepipe, same as for levelling the top of a pond.

I think I'm trying to visualise this type of stand on our apiary.
It slopes off a bit at the edges - so I'm visualising a wedge of wood almost to make the top level.

Do you have a piccy of yours?

 

[REDWOOD]

2 wedges are better than one for making things level and a nail or screw to stop them moving

 

[REDWOOD]

sliding wedges

 

[BKF Admin]

If you are bad at woodwork or cannot get any wood wedges I would of thought a couple of the level plastic wedges like they use to level caravans/campers on a campsite would do the job.

 

[alldigging]

2 wedges are better than one for making things level and a nail or screw to stop them moving

Ah I see - thanks for the pic.

 

[psafloyd]

posts just sitting on the blocks, plenty stable enough with the weight of a hive or two on them

Can you add a Link to the kind of blocks you mean, please? I have used these in the past:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/213641

 

[BeeJayBee]

I think I'm trying to visualise this type of stand on our apiary.
It slopes off a bit at the edges - so I'm visualising a wedge of wood almost to make the top level.

Do you have a piccy of yours?

I haven't got any pictures of ours, sorry, but there's one of Tonybloke's on this page http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=19263&page=2&highlight=hive+stand

 

[Ely]

I just make my stands out of any old scrap. Won't last forever but easily replaced with more scrap

 

[tonybloke]

use blocks like these
http://www.cemex.co.uk/bp/pdf/Masonry_Hollow_Std.pdf

 

[alldigging]

Thanks for the link to Tonybloke's stand.

We saw some metal stands at Heaton Park that looked nice - looks like they have long legs that go into the ground - but they were single hive ones.

I like the idea of having a wider stand that more than one hive can sit on!

 

[REDWOOD]

you could always add a few of these
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/240385/?source=123_75

 

[psafloyd]

Another benefit of the pot block is that a strap can be run through the holes, allowing the hive to be well secured.

So, how do you set up the blocks at the end, please?

The blocks are generally about 17.5" wide, so not quite wide enough to sit rails on for an 18" national? You can't tie down the hive as easily, from what I can see.

I suppose if you have two blocks one on top of eachother and two more up 6-12" apart you could have the rails 18" apart more easily. So, that would be 8 blocks per stand. Have I got that right?

 

[Swarm]

So, how do you set up the blocks at the end, please?

The blocks are generally about 17.5" wide, so not quite wide enough to sit rails on for an 18" national? You can't tie down the hive as easily, from what I can see.

I suppose if you have two blocks one on top of eachother and two more up 6-12" apart you could have the rails 18" apart more easily. So, that would be 8 blocks per stand. Have I got that right?

I use a wooden frame (3"x3" or 3"x2") as wide as the blocks' length and as long as I require, with brace struts along its length. One block high is plenty IMO, either one at each end or with another supporting the middle. If you have the voids to the side, you can pass a strap through the hole and around the hive.
If the block is 17.5" long as you say, does that really matter? A quarter inch overhang front and back is nothing to worry about, especially at each end where the frame sits on the entire length of the block.