Beekeeping on the cheap. Some tips and please add yours.

[Poly Hive]

I always use self spacing frames. No need for spacers which fall off, get lost whilst extracting and are in the overall picture a complete pain.

I make floors if needed.

I make Crown boards with no holes.

I make clearer boards (oddly with holes) LOL

I pay honey for my Apiary and a bottle of malt at Xmas.

I only produce comb honey so no fancy kit required.

I have a mind set that says, "Do I need this for anything? Or can I make it?"

I give as much as I can to others, as what goes out comes back in spades.

Over to you

PH

 

[BeeMoustashe]

As a beginner don't get carried away with kit...

 

[Winker]

I always use self spacing frames. No need for spacers which fall off, get lost whilst extracting and are in the overall picture a complete pain.

I make floors if needed.

I make Crown boards with no holes.

I make clearer boards (oddly with holes) LOL

I pay honey for my Apiary and a bottle of malt at Xmas.

I only produce comb honey so no fancy kit required.

I have a mind set that says, "Do I need this for anything? Or can I make it?"

I give as much as I can to others, as what goes out comes back in spades.

Over to you

PH

Spoken like a true Scotsman

 

[bees4u]

I always use self spacing frames. No need for spacers which fall off, get lost whilst extracting and are in the overall picture a complete pain.

I make floors if needed.

I make Crown boards with no holes.

I make clearer boards (oddly with holes) LOL

I pay honey for my Apiary and a bottle of malt at Xmas.

I only produce comb honey so no fancy kit required.

I have a mind set that says, "Do I need this for anything? Or can I make it?"

I give as much as I can to others, as what goes out comes back in spades.

Over to you

PH

agree with all that plus I make my own lifts for feeders which are gravel trays from B& Q and cost £1.60, the lifts I made out of pallet wood. If you want to see feeder look on the Albums page, cat litter trays work too, 95p or from the pound shop!

 

[Poly Hive]

Aye the kilt is hanging next door but one day I may share a wee tale with you of how the Germans developed their leather slapping dancing... as witnessed in a Beehaus! A proper one that is.

PH

 

[Brosville]

Top bar and Warre hives (home build), no frames, no foundation, no bought in sugar, no "chemicals", populated by swarms - honey extracted by "crush and strain" - use recycled jam jars....... (got to 3 colonies with a total outlay of under £150 for everything)

 

[Queens59]

Cat litter trays with bunny bedding (clean) in as a feeder...and every other super frame empty for the bees to fill (saves foundation)

 

[Finman]

.
When you need mating nucs, split a normal polybox and make missing walls from insulating board.
Screw it and use polyurethane glue.

Use normal frames. They are very flexible when you make nuc and return combs to normal hive.

Make solitary mating boxes. Succes rate is high with them.

 

[rog]

Top bar and Warre hives (home build), no frames, no foundation, no bought in sugar, no "chemicals", populated by swarms - honey extracted by "crush and strain" - use recycled jam jars....... (got to 3 colonies with a total outlay of under £150 for everything)

 

[Erichalfbee]

every other super frame empty for the bees to fill (saves foundation)

How did that work for you? I want to try two frames thus in one super but if it works with more I would give it a go.

 

[madasafish]

 

[newportbuzz]

mate your own spare queens and then be generous who gets them as poly said it comes back in spades nothing like you SAVED my beehive to your name.

when asking for wood say you make beehives out of it. opens way more doors than you would think......

borrow other peoples books and lend yours.

and lately make your own frames. altho i think this might actually cost more than it saves (loverly new tools)

make do with small borrowed extractor.

give candles as xmas pressies

 

[JamezF]

But why does PH make his clearer boards oddly?

James

 

[Poly Hive]

Oddly in what way?

No moving parts. Nothing to jam. Never fail. Just plain work. Odd?

Odd is Porter so called bee escapes. A real piece of rubbish.

PH

 

[JamezF]

I read the suggestion in another posting that unwanted national brood frames could be cut down to use in supers if they were sterilised. I want to start moving to 14x12 next year which will leave me with around 300 self-spacing standard brood frames. It's very tempting to at least give it a try, given the cost of buying 300 new super frames. I could probably buy three more poly hives with the cash saved. I'm just trying to work out if I can cut the mortices for the bottom bars easily, or whether I should just cut the sides off flush and just nail the bottom bars in place anyhow.

I too have used the plastic tray method as a feeder. I usually cut down the polystyrene packing sheet from a ready-made pizza to float on the top so the bees have somewhere to land or to climb onto if they fall in. I also roughen the inside walls with sandpaper so they can grip on it.

James

 

[JamezF]

Oddly in what way?

I was attempting to make light of your line "I make clearer boards (oddly with holes)", PH.

And failing miserably, obviously

James

 

[johnandyrob]

Check that any of the odds and sods you are about to buy (from a beekeeping suppliers) have a different use because it could be a lot cheaper if bought from some where else

 

[Poly Hive]

Sell the frames and start over.

KISS

PH

 

[mbc]

I read the suggestion in another posting that unwanted national brood frames could be cut down to use in supers if they were sterilised. I want to start moving to 14x12 next year which will leave me with around 300 self-spacing standard brood frames. It's very tempting to at least give it a try, given the cost of buying 300 new super frames. I could probably buy three more poly hives with the cash saved. I'm just trying to work out if I can cut the mortices for the bottom bars easily, or whether I should just cut the sides off flush and just nail the bottom bars in place anyhow.

James

Use standard national broods as supers.
KISS

 

[newportbuzz]