making my own hives

[markfitz]

how are things, im thinking of making my own hives does anyone on here make there own, would ye safe much money making your own and what is the best timber or most popular timber that is used.

 

[pargyle]

how are things, im thinking of making my own hives does anyone on here make there own, would ye safe much money making your own and what is the best timber or most popular timber that is used.

Crumbs ... we'll need 50 pages for this one !

Personally, (and the voice of experience is here .. as I spent two years designing, building and then redesigning and rebuilding and modifying my hive ,... and it's stlll going to get changed again !) I would think twice about it unless:

a) You are capable of measuring accurately and cutting accurately (I'm bad with the former and make up for it with several good saws - saw table, band saw & radial arm saw).

b) You understand bee space and incorporate it in your hive (I did and still got it wrong ... result 2" free comb on the bottom of my 14 x 12 frames).

c) You are a complete masochist !

It is possible but it depends on what type of hive you have in mind ... if you are looking at standard national type boxes ... buy the brood box and supers in kit form and make them up. Make your own floors, roofs, ekes, crown boards etc.

Or ... think about alternative materials ... DerekM has some interesting hives made from Kingspan.

Or ... possibly Top Bar Hives ... no worries about bee space with these.

Here's the Long Hive that I built (Mainly reclaimed timber and lots of polystyrene insulation):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99514363@N06/

Good luck ...

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

It's certainly possible - but would take a fair amount of skill to get a national right first time. Spacings - esp. bee space - is critical.

Easier to make a TBH but this is more of a niche market IMHO.

Cedar is the wood of choice.

I would recommend getting a flat-pack hive, and using that's as a template.
You will, of course, need 2 of just about everything.
And best advice is to have 2 hives as a minimum.

Dusty

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And best advice is to have 2 hives as a minimum.

Dusty

Nonsense! blasted two hive owners at it again you need at least four (or is that six) no, let's call it ten hives minimum.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Nonsense! blasted two hive owners at it again you need at least four (or is that six) no, let's call it ten hives minimum.

Yep!

Been there.

Done that.

Got the multiple Sherriff suits.....

Dusty

 

[betterbee]

National brood boxes flat pack available for15euro make your own roofs and floars cannot get any cheaper and no tears

 

[pargyle]

Nonsense! blasted two hive owners at it again you need at least four (or is that six) no, let's call it ten hives minimum.

Steady on JBM ... I'll never catch up if you keep moving the goalposts .. There's weeks of skip hunting ahead of me just to get to Hive 2 ... let alone 4 ... oh ****, it's gone up again ... 10 !! I'll never make it ... I'm too old ... Nurse - the tablets, quick ....

 

[madasafish]

TBH from pallet wood -- little money or skill needed. Ideal for me

 

[Tdod]

It all depends on the skills of the person making the hive a national hive is a very simple square box as long as you can use a tape measure and cut along a straight line there should not be a problem...

My advice would be if you are going to make your own hive allow plenty of time to make it dont expect it all cut and fixed in a few mins..

It can be very rewarding when you complete a hive and see the bees happily living in your own work

GOOD LUCK

 

[enrico]

Just don't forget that all the hives need to be made to the same dimensions so that floors and roofs fit all hives. If you make a square box out of floor boards for example two sides have to be 'thickened' so that they fit on the floor but maintain the bee space and still take the frame lugs. It seemed easy when I made one but ...... It is more complicated than you think.... Although possible and satisfying. I would buy the brood box's and make the supers, they matter much less for accurate bee space etc.

 

[madasafish]

I will add to the above, that making a mistake and finding it late in the season when robber bees enter the hive due to a construction error, is decidedly not fun.

Been there etc..

 

[Nige.Coll]

i made a 7 frame nuc from some plans on dave cushman site.
plan was for a 5 frame so i added space for 2 more.
wasn't that hard . but i haven't tried it yet
if it's slightly wrong i guess they will make the extra comb where they want it.
but they won't be in a nuc for that long i think.

they live in hollow trees so i guess a little variation isn't going to kill them.

from what i can see as long as the top of the frames is about level with the top of the box you have a bottom space hive.
as long as it is deep enough ofc.
the standard omf floors seem to have a lot larger space below the comb than there is between the brood box and supers.

i had to deal with frames with extra comb built on the bottom of them in another hive this weekend. that was fun good job the bees are docile.

a lot of the home made hives seem to be made of 19mm marine ply.
cedar is expensive but i guess there are other woods you can use.

 

[REDWOOD]

I presume you want to make a national hive so what do you know about basic carpentry skills and do you have some basic tool,
It is not difficult to achieve if you have the above
You can use any wood but ply wood won't last as long as cedar but a good compromise is redwood. What you treat your hive with depends on you but a good all round paint is garden shades
here are two sets of plans;
http://scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/TDS number 4 national hive.pdf

 

[markfitz]

thanks everyone for the advice and thanks redwood for the plans, I think ill give it a go something to do during the winter.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Someone on here makes nationals with insulation between 2 layers of ply, IIRC. Anyone remember who, or are the plans available anywhere (I've looked?) I could go from scratch but obviously would rather not.

 

[hedgerow pete]

plywood, plans on internet, see you tube videos

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

It's the insulation between 2 layers of ply that I recall as being novel. Simple ply, you are right, is basic.

 

[droneR]

wow, amazing first time ive seen a design like this , bit like a side be side shotgun instaed of an over n under.. anyone with back issues would surely like one o those hives..
but can see the problem of weight guessing .. ?

 

[pargyle]

wow, amazing first time ive seen a design like this , bit like a side be side shotgun instaed of an over n under.. anyone with back issues would surely like one o those hives..
but can see the problem of weight guessing .. ?

Ahhh ... that's got to be my hive you are talking about !! Yes ... it is heavy and will be VERy heavy if it ever gets a full set of 25 frames in it !!

The next one is going to be the same design but much much lighter ...

 

[blackcavebees]

thanks everyone for the advice and thanks redwood for the plans, I think ill give it a go something to do during the winter.

Been down this road myself. Made brood boxes from 1.pallet wood, 2.kingspan, 3.plywood. All worked ok, but in winter each had drawbacks. Pallet wood not great for warmth, kingspan gets a bit worn round edges, ply not great as retains moisture and needs well treated externally. I even made one of thin ply outside and inside skin with insulation in between, a lot of effort but the bees liked it but not cost effective compared to poly brood boxes. Good for experience but now I make roofs, supers, crown boards, floors, stands, mating nucs BUT buy brood boxes in the sales - you can get a cedar second for around 15 euro. Work smart.