Not so much a shed, more of a cupboard!

[DulwichGnome]

Hi, I have been offered one or possibly two sites were my hives would be more open to theft. So taking my inspiration from Pete's shed I came up with this, a Bee Cupboard!

The idea being the posts are fixed to the ground, spikes or bolted, the cladding is 12mm sterling board coated with preservative and the back hinged and lockable.

The roof might need a bit more work and it decorated to fit in (maybe a climbing rose on each side?) but does anyone see anything fundamental I have missed?

Cheers, Mike.

edit- sorry not able to upload image too big!!

 

[JCBrum]

does anyone see anything fundamental I have missed?
Cheers, Mike.

Er, maybe the pic ? ... or was it a sketch ?

JC.

 

[JCBrum]

Ah, you edited while I was typing.

 

[DulwichGnome]

Having trouble uploading pic of file at the moment!! They all seem to under the max size but not having any joy. I'll log off and on and see what that does

 

[JCBrum]

Try altering the file type and use jpg or jpeg.

 

[planbee]

Sticky anti-vandal paint, as per the roof of my local electrical sub-station?

John

 

[hedgerow pete]

well stick a picky up so we can see

 

[DulwichGnome]

well stick a picky up so we can see

I've tried!! It has been sent to Admin so hopefully he will do it.

 

[DulwichGnome]

OK, looks like the pictures are not able to go up yet.

The basic idea is to knock 4 posts of 50x50 and 1.5M tall into the ground and put cross pieces at about 200mm off the ground where a standard national hive would sit. Clad the whole thing in 12mm sterling board coated with preservative and make the back hinged and lockable. It would need some serious pulling to get it off the ground.

From the outside no one could know what was inside and if you did notice the bees going in and out you would not know if was just a 5 frame nuc or a full production hive with 5 supers on it.

What I don't know, and can't even guess at, is what the bees would make of it. It would be a bit like a large WBC (possibly).

Any thoughts?

Mike.

 

[JCBrum]

Sounds a bit difficult to inspect and manipulate, but I can't visualize it properly yet.

A 6'x4' shed is not much more than £100 to buy and cheaper to make. You'd get six hives in that on two tiers and be able to stand inside and work.

If you've got a security problem you can nail on galvanized steel sheet.

H Pete is the expert on these matters.

JC.

 

[BKF Admin]

Sorry Dulwich,I tried to upload your pics but the server seems to be having a funny five minutes.

I will take the forum offline during the night and fix the problem.

 

[hedgerow pete]

working blind here so dont shoot me yet

i think personaly any form of shed adds to the security of the bee hive, because you cant get at it to nick it so yes the shed is good

construction, yes you can buy a 6 x 4 for £100 but if you dont have £100 but do have several pallets go for it

room to swing a cat around is not needed minium i have ever worked with is a space two foot square behind the hive so a shed 4 foot by 2 foot would do for one, but remember you are now working in a confined space so exspect more bees in your face, you need to allow a hole for them to escape afterwards so they can come back via the front door.

i will try to do another video of how that works for you over the weekend,
sorry i have been not about of late but problems of lack of work and medical problems are playing heavy at the moment, pete

 

[DulwichGnome]

If it was my land/allotment I would put up a shed but as this is not I need to have something a bit more discreet. I will think about some more.

Sorry to hear you have been unwell/not earning Pete, let me treat you to a glass of what you fancy

Mike.

 

[hedgerow pete]

nature of the beast at the moment.but after being shot twice and surviving cancer and blown up three times, not alot realy gets to you , if you know what i mean,

try this idea, and dont stop me if i go to far no one else does,
if its not your land but you want something to hide the bees, try this for size, how about you making a timber frame say 4 foot square and five foot high and then what i would do is weave a frame of twigs and branchs into it as to blend it and then and some more every so often to help it blend in with its surounding
anygood?