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wightbees

Queen Bee
Beekeeping Sponsor
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
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Location
Isle Of Wight
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
How long is a piece of string
Hello everyone
I am new to this forum and too bee keeping .
I am looking at making my first hive and thanks to this forum have found some plans.I am looking at the langstroth and md hive as this seems the easy one to build . I am pretty good with a hammer and drill so the DIY route makes sense to me.

My Q is , is this a good hive to use . Not knowing a great deal about anything at the moment but i got to start somewhere :)

Thanks for any help

regards
 
Langstroth is perfectly good for beekeeping, and is very popular everywhere else in the world.

Getting Langstroth parts (frames, foundation, etc) is slightly harder than National stuff, but not too tricky. Getting Nucleus colonies is much easier on National but there are ways to transfer from National to Langstroth afterwards, so no great problems there either.

Langstroth can be easier for some bee breeds where 1 brood box is a good size vs 1 and a half National brood boxes which is a bit trickier to manage.

Hope this helps.

FG
 
Congratulations on taking a hive project on...Yesterday I bought two full WBC's and some other bits and pieces from Thornes for £506 - I wish I was more practical and could save some cash.

I imagine that someone far more knowledgeable than myself will be along to tell you the pros and cons of a Langstroth, but from my limited knowledge it is a very popular choice. In my local area most of my beekeeping contacts seem to use Nationals or Langstroths. I think that Langstroths can hold a larger colony so that may be helpful if you choose a queen that is a heavy layer (is that chicken speak??),

Once again,
All the best,
Sam
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'm not to sure on the parts or names of them but i will start loooking into that. But i will go ahead and build one of these hives as it will help keep cost down.

regards
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'm not to sure on the parts or names of them but i will start loooking into that. But i will go ahead and build one of these hives as it will help keep cost down.

regards


if you search this forum ,you will find metric plans for 18mm plywood national hives and smaller NUC hives for nursey bees and much more infomation on http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/filef.html and all his other pages

the scottishbeekeeper site has imperial plans for langstroth and National plans

http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/downloads/html/downloadsindex.html

remember old plans assume 3/4" or 19mm wood...not very common now unless you get it off skip as modern wood tends to be 18mm..bee space between parts is critical, read up on cushmans site (old link).a saw cut the wrong side of a line can mean the bee space is too small..result the bees leave

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/bsp.html

i biult my first national style bottom bee space hive from the scottish web sites plans, from recovered 3/4" floor boards off a skip and a bit of glue and odd and ends...cost £10...still works
:)
remember 80% of beekeeper in the uk use bottom space BS national or the slightly Deeper 14x12 National///all 460mm by 460mm square (18 1/8" inches square..old money)

Langstroth, are easier to build but....only one beek in our 150 in our BKA uses... them....AND BOOK YOURSELF ON A COURSE/Starter DAY/ anything to do with bees, go along to your BKA and ask to sit in on any lectures/ get your face known ,you might get on a course more easily


and one last thing...most old plans have solid floors...you now need open mesh floors...called OMF
 
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Hi muswellmetro

Thanks for all the info, i am keen to learn and i have been looking at some of the websites. Theres lots to take in . The main problems with a course for me is i am 75% deaf and unless it's a one to one i wont understand a thing that they say :(
 
and one last thing...most old plans have solid floors...you now need open mesh floors...called OMF

that's not so! I use solid floors, our college apiary still uses solid floors, and so do a lot of beekeepers I know.
 
In this day and age and with what we know OMF cannot be a bad thing. I use them with no other ventilation and cannot fault them so far.
 
that's not so! I use solid floors, our college apiary still uses solid floors, and so do a lot of beekeepers I know.

So do i,finds i likes them.

Also don't need to get timber from a skip because its the only place you will find it 3/4" thick.
 
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Also don't need to get timber from a skip because its the only place you will find it 3/4" thick.

all the standard DIY/biulder merchants around hear B&Q, Wickes,Travers Perkins, Biulder Depot etc only stock 18mm

even the specialsit on the lea valley only stock 18mm but can order 19mm/ 3/4" at two weeks delay

what is your supplier of 3/4"?
 
all the standard DIY/biulder merchants around hear B&Q, Wickes,Travers Perkins, Biulder Depot etc only stock 18mm

even the specialsit on the lea valley only stock 18mm but can order 19mm/ 3/4" at two weeks delay

what is your supplier of 3/4"?

Forestry commission,among other places.
 
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wightbees,
not sure where you're based (you could do with updating your profile to include that info - just give a rough area then other users will know if you're in Scotland or Cornwall or wherever).

One beekeeping duo on here are now doing both one-to-one lessons (initial familiarisation up to queen rearing) and also looking into lessons for those with impaired hearing. They also use Langstroth hives/nucs so it would be worth your while making contact and seeing if they can be of help.

They're in Kent: send a PM (private message) to GandalfWhiteWizard or Widdershins, or PM me and I'll give you the address of their new website. My wife and I had our introduction to beekeeping with them and it was excellent.

Hope this helps.

FG
 
Hi

I am on the isle of wight (wight bees)

I have been thinking about the wood size 18m and 19m today and as long as the inside of the hive messures right can i not adjust my plans to get around the 1or2 ml difference?

All this would mean is the frame of the super or what ever is 1ml thinner.

would this work?

Also can i make frames as well because i haven't seen any plans for them.
I use to be a cabinet maker when i was younger so working with wood is not a problem.

Regards
 
hi wightbees
where abouts are u on the island
 
For all but a very few people the economics of making frames is far outweighed by the cost and convenience of buying them from someone who is set up to make them by the lorry load.

I don't know if this is sufficient information or not.http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/bsframedimensions.html.

I'm sure that your talents are better employed making ancillary equipment. :)

If you make frames yourself, you will have no one else to curse later on :grouphug:
 
Assuming that a cabinet maker has a workshop then he would find that making frames pretty straightforward. I am not one but iwth a table saw, mind you a pretty good one I got by. However I drew the line at Hoffman side bars.

As for hives provided the INTERNAL dimensions are right then use timber of choice.

I used to buy dressed pine from my local supplier and biscuit joint it for the broods, then used router jigs to dove tail it, and make the hand holds.

PH
 
Hi Mark s
I'm in Newport

I no longer work with wood for a living but still have alot of tools and power tools .

Polyhive thanks for that info, so my thinking is right internal is the important part.

the plans i like the look of are from the scotish web site and are the ones from my first post.
they look straight foward.
 
Hi

I am on the isle of wight (wight bees)

I have been thinking about the wood size 18m and 19m today and as long as the inside of the hive messures right can i not adjust my plans to get around the 1or2 ml difference?

All this would mean is the frame of the super or what ever is 1ml thinner.

would this work?

Also can i make frames as well because i haven't seen any plans for them.
I use to be a cabinet maker when i was younger so working with wood is not a problem.

Regards

externals exact 460mm x460mm are important, otherwise they leak, if there is a lip for rain to collect and enter, adjust the internals +2mm if the plans say 19mm/ 3/4" and you are using 18mm

search Cushman site for frame plans, this one is just for side bars

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/bsframesides.html
 
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