Reusable Old hives ?

[Scottishdyker]

Hello everyone , havent posted in awhile , beekeeping has sadly hit the back burner this year with work being so busy , But hopefuly next year ill have a good kick o the baw , anyways one of the farmers i do work for was telling me about hives he had on his land 5-6 years ago , a local man put them on the side on the river maybe 7-8m back from the waters edge ... funny place to have bees i know ..anyways the bees died out , the man never came to get them, at the begining of the year there was a huge flood which washed the hives into the trees at the side of a field a good 30m from the spot they had been , the farmer said if they were any good i could take them if not just to throw them on his bonfire , so me and my cocker dougal set off over the fields in my pickup to hunt threw nettles and trees to find these (pics below ) there was quite alot of bits and bobs , found a wheel from Triumph Dolomite got myself a few pints from that after giving it to my mate lol , anyways most of the wood was well rotton , but some of the boxs and tinroofs were ok after being dryed out , im abit unsure what ive got so if you can see from the pics please tell me what it looks like ive got , i could only find one frame sadly ,the rest will be out at sea by now

 

[kazmcc]

I'm not an experienced bee keeper, but I would have thought after being in a flood, waterlogged, dirty, and left in the bushes for so long, it wouldn't be worth the risk of trying to scorch them and using them. The wood looks too old and could harbour allsorts in those cracks. Shame though, a lot of stuff.

I may be wrong though, but someone tried selling some frames that looked similar on ebay last week and people said they wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

 

[tidymeup]

I should imagine if they are cedar they should be fine. Dry them out and oil them and they should be good. I would however ditch the frames.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I should imagine if they are cedar they should be fine. Dry them out and oil them and they should be good. I would however ditch the frames.

yes ditch the frames , scrub the boxes with bleach, dry them, then blow torch the inside seams to kill eggs etc.

oil the inside with linseed oil heated with some thymol crystals ( to stop mould). outside can be oiled or use Cuprinol Clear presevative ( preferable older green cans not the newer blue one)

it looks like you have 5 standard brood boxes, two supers , two stands , one flat roof and one pitched roof ( and some feeders??). you seem to lack floors and extra supers

you could make two standard or two double brood hives, but you will need to buy floors ( OMF mesh i would suggest or make them)..and extra supers

 

[Silly Bee]

They are WBC's, Clean up the lifts and they can be re-used. Not sure about the BB, you deciced, I#d try, just blast them with a blow lamp to kill off any nasties that might be in them.

(As said on another thread, WBC's are the popular hive with "yuppies" for use as garden ornaments, £200 each I saw quoted, so, don't burn re-cycle)

 

[kazmcc]

Even if they've been in flood water? That could mean the drains had flowed into the river. Would they still be useable?You know how wood gets when it has water damage, it gets all brittle. Would it help if you painted them after scorching?

 

[MuswellMetro]

They are WBC's, (As said on another thread, WBC's are the popular hive with "yuppies" for use as garden ornaments, £200 each I saw quoted, so, don't burn re-cycle)

sorry never seen square WBC, they are 1970 nationals ( those with top and bottom external bars and pre 1970 solid style National, those with cut in hand holds

WBC, well one of the stands could be, and so could the broken pitch roof, but no lifts of WBC type that i can see

 

[Silly Bee]

sorry never seen square WBC, they are 1970 nationals ( those with top and bottom external bars and pre 1970 solid style National, those with cut in hand holds

WBC, well one of the stands could be, and so could the broken pitch roof, but no lifts of WBC type that i can see

The floor looks like my WBC as does the porch (first lift) I might be wrong of course.

 

[MuswellMetro]

They are WBC's, (As said on another thread, WBC's are the popular hive with "yuppies" for use as garden ornaments, £200 each I saw quoted, so, don't burn re-cycle)

wbc style


http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/learning/documents/number 7 wbc hive.pdf

floor could be WBC or a national variant called a cottager...a tunel type entrnace, common in the 1940



can you stack them on a floor so we can see, also does the pitch roof fit?

 

[MuswellMetro]

Had a re look at pictures i think they are


picture two stACKED BY CAR from left to right

National roof
WBC brood box
Nat Brood box 1970
Nat Brood box pre 1960
Nat Brood box pre 60
Nat Brood box 70

picture three from right to left

WBC entrance lift
?plastic feeder
?feeder
WBC roof??
National stand
National Stand
WBC super??
Nat Super
Nat Brood


so he could not biuld a hive

 

[Onge]

Looks good to me.

Just chuck the frames and flame the bodies and your good to go.

 

[Firegazer]

If you're a bit worried about using them for a proper colony, maybe just clean them up and use them as bait hives?

You could then use new frames, and transfer them into new brood boxes if a swarm turns up; if not, you haven't lost anything.

FG

 

[MuswellMetro]

Even if they've been in flood water? That could mean the drains had flowed into the river. Would they still be useable?You know how wood gets when it has water damage, it gets all brittle. Would it help if you painted them after scorching?

They look better than some i have seen, if they are cedar and they look like cedar, they are re usable, as they seldom rot, the only problem with cedar is that it is soft abd the corner get damaged with the hive tool.

All re used hives need torching to clear the seams of things like wax beetle, so long as they did n't die of AFB they can be steralised..mud and green moss, not a problem, no different from a hive stood in a field for a few years

the bees themselve cover the inside with propolis which acts as anti bacterial coating


paint, you can, but i only paint pine

 

[Somerford]

What a great find.....always good to find something like this....I guess this is what antique art dealers feel like when they find a Canelletto !!

good luck restoring them - they'll make a good hive !

S

 

[Silly Bee]

What a great find.....always good to find something like this....I guess this is what antique art dealers feel like when they find a Canelletto !!

good luck restoring them - they'll make a good hive !

S

Sure is, I found a Stradavarius and a Rembrant in my loft when I moved in to my house.

Shame Rembrant made lousy violins, and Stradavarius couldn't paint.

 

[Scottishdyker]

Cheers for the reply guys, this will keep me busy over the winter, i take it when i clean the box with bleach its not to be staight bleach ?

What a great find.....always good to find something like this....I guess this is what antique art dealers feel like when they find a Canelletto !!

good luck restoring them - they'll make a good hive !
S

Yeah i was like a kid at x-mas, just didnt know what id find, pretty happy with result

 

[MuswellMetro]

Cheers for the reply guys, this will keep me busy over the winter, i take it when i clean the box with bleach its not to be staight bleach ?
Yeah i was like a kid at x-mas, just didnt know what id find, pretty happy with result

I use neat Morrison's thick bleack and a scrubbing brush and thick rubber gloves, wearing old cloths then hose down

it is EFB you are trying to kill

 

[Hebeegeebee]

if you paint use a microporous paint that can allow the wood to breathe.

Do I recall that the 'old' nats don't quite fit with the modified (new) Nats or did I dream it?



I'm surprised the bag of cement lasted so well underwater. it looks nearly new.