Hive stand legs

[drex]

I build them with straight legs a la Cushman. Do not think my woodworking skills could cope with anything else!

In this thread what happened to KISS?

Roll on spring!

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I find angled legs rot faster

 

[REDWOOD]

The higher you go the more unstable the hive is with straight legs, If you only intend using a few honey boxes on dont worry but if you do decide to go with slanted legs they must slant outwards from the center and i would suggest bracing them half way down

 

[scuttlefish]

Err, no! Unless you have drawn it like that to try to cloud the issue. The 'v' s should indicate the foot distance

Chill. @#%&ing ASCII pics, like I said. Your original answer to the original basic question is still treasured, even if the parameters have been altered, nay mutated, nay mutilated beyond all recognition during the course of the discussion.

 

[RoofTops]

My hives are on uneven ground and I got round the stability issue by sinking fence posts into the ground and screwing 4 x 2 s to them. Not even a bear could shift that

Spot on. More or less what I used, although I only made them for two hives at a time. Then, when I changed to portable stands I moved to detachable metal legs driven into the ground onto which the top rails fitted.

I really don't think you need to make the beekeeping equivalent of a trestle table, but happy to accept some folk like to flex their woodworking muscles, but for me two top rails and a few legs is all that is needed.

Or you can use upturned plastic milk crates, concrete blocks on a paving slab or of course what is probably the cheapest - the pallet. The latter being ideal for bee farmers. Practical and economical - but not so many points for aesthetics.

 

[victor meldrew]

I find angled legs rot faster

I've heard it all now
VM

 

[busybee53]

I have a slant leg stand which has a wider base than the straight legs ones I usually use. I like to put a paving slab underneath to stop weeds growing up through the OMF. Guess what. Slant legs do not fit onto the paving slab. Have to get a bigger slab now.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I've heard it all now
VM

The angle seems to increase the surface area that absorbs the water which causes the rot. Angled WBC legs needed changing more often than vertical National (which explains why Thorne$ sell BOTH the angled spares in both cedar and plastic with no vertical eqivalent). Haven't you found the same? Had another local beekeeper say the same to me last year... I use cedar ones.

Edit: thinking about it I have ONLY ever changed angled legs, never vertical ones!!

 

[Hombre]

Can you get the plastic ones in cedar?

Best of both worlds . . .

 

[oliver90owner]

Can you get the plastic ones in cedar?

Tongue in cheek? No they are either plastic or cedar! You could fit 'one and three' or 'two and two' if you really wanted to.....

Regards, RAB

 

[Hombre]

Tongue in cheek - you had to ask? I'm sure that you didn't really.

 

[Dishmop]

No it doesn't.....!!

Think of a pylon.

 

[Salamagundy]

The angle seems to increase the surface area that absorbs the water which causes the rot. Angled WBC legs needed changing more often than vertical National (which explains why Thorne$ sell BOTH the angled spares in both cedar and plastic with no vertical eqivalent). Haven't you found the same? Had another local beekeeper say the same to me last year... I use cedar ones.

Edit: thinking about it I have ONLY ever changed angled legs, never vertical ones!!

Sorry if this is tangential. What role does the ground under the legs play in rotting? My stands are all on grass at the moment. I was thinking of putting slate off-cuts underneath - thought that might keep them a bit drier.... When building the stands I went for mass rather than angle - vertical legs made of 3x3 timber - from the crates the slates came in (but I'm not a physicist....)

 

[Black Comb]

The slates under should help as it means the legs will not be permanently wet.
Herein the land of much water I use tantalised for stands, no need to bother about what's underneath.

 

[fredbloggs]

Not sure if I am going to add any clarity to this thread ...........

other than aesthetically slanting legs probably look a bit prettier.

Oh my oh my - how I wish I could come up with a witty post that didn't get me sin-binned

 

[victor meldrew]

Oh my oh my - how I wish I could come up with a witty post that didn't get me sin-binned

Especially if Queen Ann
VM

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Sorry if this is tangential. What role does the ground under the legs play in rotting? My stands are all on grass at the moment. I was thinking of putting slate off-cuts underneath - thought that might keep them a bit drier.... When building the stands I went for mass rather than angle - vertical legs made of 3x3 timber - from the crates the slates came in (but I'm not a physicist....)

Slate certainly helps significantly as Peter has indicated, it is all down to the wet contact area. Inspected all legs today and sloping ones here are much worse han the straight due to water absorbsion / rotting. Lift them off the grass, but no problem with weight.