Bee shed

[Etton]

Any advice on ‘sheds’ for beekeeping. Mainly to be used for honey extraction. I will be able to connect to electric, I have a 20 frame electronic extractor. Thinking of getting a stainless steel sink to go in the shed. Looking at a shed measuring 10 feet by 6 feet.

 

[Murox]

Any advice on ‘sheds’ for beekeeping. Mainly to be used for honey extraction. I will be able to connect to electric, I have a 20 frame electronic extractor. Thinking of getting a stainless steel sink to go in the shed. Looking at a shed measuring 10 feet by 6 feet.

Make it beeproof with wash down surfaces and hot water source if possible. A warming cupboard too. Is 10x6 big enough?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Make it beeproof with wash down surfaces and hot water source if possible. A warming cupboard too. Is 10x6 big enough?

My extraction unit is 10x7 and is only really big enough for an extractor, settling tank, double sink and uncapping bench. I would really like room for a wax press and melter. Ideally a 20 x 8 container would be needed.

 

[pargyle]

My extraction unit is 10x7 and is only really big enough for an extractor, settling tank, double sink and uncapping bench. I would really like room for a wax press and melter. Ideally a 20 x 8 container would be needed.

Plus another 20 x 8 for storage and overflow !

Parkinsons law applies .. the more space you have the more you find to fill it and the more space you need. Beekeeping is exponentially space filling ... you probably need a Tardis ....

 

[drex]

My 12x8 shed was barely big enough

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My 12x8 shed was barely big enough

I wouldn't go for anything smaller

 

[Etton]

Thanks for the feed back , so it’s 12’x8’ min then. Prices range hugely on overlapping or tongue & groove sheds, any recommendations anyone…or ones to avoid?

 

[Murox]

Thanks for the feed back , so it’s 12’x8’ min then. Prices range hugely on overlapping or tongue & groove sheds, any recommendations anyone…or ones to avoid?

A lot of them are very thin wood and with wind the rain will penetrate, it might be good to wrap the frame in tyvek or similar before planking it. We did that on summer house because of rain penetration, we learnt that the hard way.

 

[wookie_73]

How practical are you?
there a few websites that design a shed from your inputs and will produce drawings and a BOM.
This is one of them:
https://www.diysheds.co.uk
A winter project?

 

[JamezF]

In my experience, if it's online and cheap then it's probably junk. T&G is probably far better than lapped boards, but even so I think I'd want to see some real-life examples first. I saw a review for one recently that offered a ten year anti-rot guarantee. It suggested that was no major risk for the vendor because it would have blown down within the first twelve months anyhow. Roofing felt is often paper thin and the floors made of thin OSB supported on 30mm square battens if you're lucky. The roof can be inadequately supported too and sags under its own weight before too long. It seems common for the entire thing to be held together with cheap staples. Oh, windows are often nasty bits of thin plastic rather than a decent sheet of polycarbonate or anything like that. The doors are rarely weatherproof and with the walls can become even less so because they're made with inadequately dried timber that shrinks badly.

We've bought three since we've lived here, the first to keep beekeeping kit in, the second (bought by my father-in-law) as a garden shed and the third because we needed some temporary storage space for the contents of the cellar when it was being tanked and made habitable. I've replaced the entire roof on all three, including adding bracing so they don't sag. Two have had the floor replaced. When I've had large offcuts of OSB I've screwed them to the insides of the walls to stiffen the structure (which makes a big difference).

If you have the tools and the skills, building one from scratch quite possibly gets you a much better end product. For a 12x8' shed you can probably get away with a 2x2 frame and you can use lapped featheredge boards in that case if you want, because they can be put on a lot more carefully and won't warp like crazy within six months. And use EPDM rather than felt to cover the roof.

I moved my bee shed last winter and at the same time as replacing the floor and roof I lined the walls with breathable membrane and added a covered area open on the long side for storage of brood boxes and supers.

James

 

[Newbeeneil]

In my experience, if it's online and cheap then it's probably junk. T&G is probably far better than lapped boards, but even so I think I'd want to see some real-life examples first. I saw a review for one recently that offered a ten year anti-rot guarantee. It suggested that was no major risk for the vendor because it would have blown down within the first twelve months anyhow. Roofing felt is often paper thin and the floors made of thin OSB supported on 30mm square battens if you're lucky. The roof can be inadequately supported too and sags under its own weight before too long. It seems common for the entire thing to be held together with cheap staples. Oh, windows are often nasty bits of thin plastic rather than a decent sheet of polycarbonate or anything like that. The doors are rarely weatherproof and with the doors can become even less so because they're made with inadequately dried timber that shrinks badly.

We've bought three since we've lived here, the first to keep beekeeping kit in, the second (bought by my father-in-law) as a garden shed and the third because we needed some temporary storage space for the contents of the cellar when it was being tanked and made habitable. I've replaced the entire roof on all three, including adding bracing so they don't sag. Two have had the floor replaced. When I've had large offcuts of OSB I've screwed them to the insides of the walls to stiffen the structure (which makes a big difference).

If you have the tools and the skills, building one from scratch quite possibly gets you a much better end product. For a 12x8' shed you can probably get away with a 2x2 frame and you can use lapped featheredge boards in that case if you want, because they'll can be put on a lot more carefully and won't warp like crazy within six months. And use EPDM rather than felt to cover the roof.

I moved my bee shed last winter and at the same time as replacing the floor and roof I lined the walls with breathable membrane and added a covered area open on the long side for storage of brood boxes and supers.

James

I agree with james, the garden sheds you can buy are generally cheap cr*p.
The honey room I built was built of 18mm t&g sheets from wickes internally, braced with 2x1 roofing battens every 1’. Because it was within a barn it didn’t need roof or external cladding just a ceiling made from 11mm OSB screwed to roofing battens.
My external equipment storage shed however is of similar construction with Tyvek stapled to the uprights and cedar cladding (1/2”) on the exposed sides The roof was originally 11mm OSB with cheap felt but that failed within 12 months so I just screwed some lengths of seconds 32/1000 box roofing sheets on which have been brilliant as they overhang and give me storage for timber and supers over winter.
I think using this type of construction you could get the materials for a 20’x8’ shed for no much over a grand.

 

[Antipodes]

T&G is probably far better than lapped boards

You hardly ever see T and G here. So much weatherboard. They last.
Our only Prime Minister (Joseph Lyons) was born in this one...
It's actually hand split weatherboard. Really old and rare.

A lot of them are very thin wood and with wind the rain will penetrate, it might be good to wrap the frame in tyvek or similar before planking it. We did that on summer house because of rain penetration, we learnt that the hard way.

agree about the tyvek or similar.

 

[Etton]

Great feed back, thanks all.
T&G then and not buy cheap!
And inspect before buying!

 

[roche]

I put up a 12x8 this year, Shed link, upgraded to heavier floor and walls. Shiplap walls, T&G floor and roof. I reinforced the floor with 4x2 and put on a corrugated iron roof. All up about 3k. I would have been better off building it from scratch. The material cost would have been similar, the quality would have been better, but the time to do it would have been greater, and there was urgent need. All in all, not an exercise to repeat, if possible.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My association bought one off ebay a few years ago (Midlands company) it was 'acceptable' is all I can say, a few gaps in the T&G walls and the floor was on 2' or more spaced stringers so was fairly bouncy - it was tanalised though and a reasonable price.
I was lucky to have a local company make up my shed. 20mm T&G tanalised timber, marine ply floor and roof. with the roof on 4"x2" joists, even with tanalised timber it's still advisable to slather it in a good few coats of oil based treatment from the outset - having a trade account with Barretine meant I got 22 litres at a bargain price.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Great feed back, thanks all.
T&G then and not buy cheap!
And inspect before buying!

My son's workmate just had a 16 x 8 shed supplied and erected near Hull. He's delighted with his new space and the quality. Apparently it came from a company near Smith and Nephew. He described the location as on the left of the A63 heading West. I think he meant at the run up to the Hessle Road flyover so not too far from the OP. Sorry I've no further details