Mechanical device for lifting brood box/super

[Loolabelle1]

I wonder if anyone is aware of a lifting device, other than blood sweat and tears, that I could use when inspecting my hive. This is our first year and we took the opportunity of a warm sunny day yesterday to check that all was right with the brood before autumn sets in. However, the honey super is now jam packed with stores and it was too heavy for me to lift without assistance. Does anyone make a piece of kit that you could assemble over the top of the hive (a tripod?) that would then clamp under the handles on my national super, or brood box, to lift it up, say by cranking a handle and then lowering it down again. I had considered all the pros and cons when taking up beekeeping but hadn't really thought this one through. I will not always have someone else with me to do the lifting, so something that would be portable would be very useful. I believe there are commercial versions but I haven't found anything suitable for amateur use.

 

[Queens59]

Afraid not - but if you find one could you let me know? Maybe one of the DIYers on here could start a company making one?

 

[DulwichGnome]

I have a 'Lifting Apparatus' which I use in the sping so that I can under super my hives, I'll try and dig out a diagram. There are others on the Warre hive sites.

 

[Loolabelle1]

Thanks DulwichGnome. I have just looked on one of the Warre sites and loads of pictures of various models but not sure how to adapt for our National where the hand grabs are inset rather than on the outside. As Queens59 says, maybe one of the members on the forum might be able to come up with a bright idea.

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Yes Warre hive users need these all the time for 'nadiring' (adding boxed underneath the hive) so any search for Warre Hive Lift will find plans and photos like this one here:

If you wanted to adapt for Nationals, you would need to add a block of wood to the inside of the forks to connect to the inset handle. There are plans in David Heaf's new book available from Northern Bee Books http://www.groovycart.co.uk/cart.php?c=533&p=41571

 

[Queens59]

Or attach wood blocks to the outside of the National?

 

[SimonB]

On a recent thread someone pointed out that you could get half width supers, don't remember the supplier, perhaps these might be easier to manage.

 

[Queens59]

I have found multiple pages on how to make a lift but not on buying one...any clues?

 

[Midland Beek]

The name 'bee trundle' springs to mind. There is, I think, a company out there who make such a device. And the name 'Beesy' also srings to mind.

Some beeks use a super horse to spare them the lift down to the ground.

 

[Cazza]

The name 'bee trundle' springs to mind. There is, I think, a company out there who make such a device. And the name 'Beesy' also srings to mind.

Some beeks use a super horse to spare them the lift down to the ground.

I must be very thick but I don't understand what you mean by "super horse" Do you just mean spare supers on top of each other?
Cazza

 

[hedgerow pete]

as a female beek i know says, " why lift the entire super" all she does is either gets me to make four frame supers that are basicly a super cut in half or she has now just done the simple thing of having one super abouve the brood box with a simple case of removing two frames when they are full and extracting them her self as and when they are full so she only has to lift at most a full four frames at any one time

 

[drstitson]

I had some half width supers made for my dadants.

 

[MJBee]

Take a 6 frame Nuc box with you on the next inspection, take 6 frames out of the super and place in the nuc. You have (almost) halved the weight of the super. When finished replace the frames in the same order - Simples.

With all lifting devices there is a risk of dropping the super/brood - the mayhem that would generate doesn't bear thinking about

 

[Vortex]

I'd go for the half width super option... which is of course much easier with Dadent's, Langstroth, or Commercial.

Would need some form of locking mechanism to allow stacking 4 high though.

BTW Berkshire is a big county (at least East->West) care to be more specific?

 

[drstitson]

half supers

italian dadants all use corner pieces to stop lateral movement between brood and super (like these: http://in-art-online.com/e-commerce/product_info.php?cPath=800&products_id=80091).
for clasps to lock stacked supers i use the following which are very good:

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

i get them from beekeeping-the-natural-way on ebay but i believe th***nes do them.

 

[Jim Lavie]

Tom Bick does half supers i believe!

 

[drstitson]

half supers

the other thing you can do with 1/2 supers (in dadant sizes at least) is latch two together to form a nice box to carry 4 brood frames plus with suitable floor, cb and roof they can make temporary 4 frame nucs eg for queen rearing. With a suitably modified OMF and roof a double nuc configuration can be set up with 2 entrances, one at each end.

 

[Hampton_Pete]

Tom Bick does half supers i believe!

Yes he does.

Are we allowed to put a link in to his site, or is that against forum rules?

Pete

 

[beebreeder]

like this, cannot buy it here at the moment. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h54MdnOcJvU&feature=related[/ame]
kev

 

[Loolabelle1]

Thanks everyone. I actually found this on the web yesterday. Looks ideal but I should imagine quite expensive. Have sent an email to ask whether it would be available in the UK and would work on a National. Will let you know if I receive a response