Ultimate Hive Stand Project..... ideas then plans

[beeboybee]

I am now on my third design for a hive stand....

i have attached some images of my new design..

then i had a brain wave
the rough idea is....
Get some suggestions and improvements on the ultimate hive stand design.
then i will update the drawings which i will post on here will a full cutting list and instructions for people to build a copy.....
any one interested please contribute your thoughts...

key design ideas on my MK3 stand:
1. Good height for working brood box.
2. enough space for hive part when doing an inspection, No more bending down with heavy supers.
3. Space to support a frame when taken out of the hive.
4. secure in high winds.
5. good life span - looking into recycled plastic posts for legs..
6. easy to build.

any takers?

 

[fatshark]

That is pretty-much how I build mine except I don't fix them into the ground. I use wooden legs, standing on paving slabs. Never had any blown over and I can move them (relatively) easily if I want to.

I should add that it's only during the winter that I have the luxury of space between the hives for stacking removed super/roofs … during the season the space will be occupied with more hives, nuc boxes etc.

 

[Swarm]

Very nice design plans and I note you've made consideration of the most important thing with hive stands - Make a two hive stand big enough and it soon becomes a three hive stand.
I'd say make them a little longer just to allow a bit more space between hives.

 

[testka]

Looks good. The ones I have made are as the link here -->> http://www.-----------.com/triple-hive-stand/ very similar to yours but can be folded.
d i g i t a l d o d o = missing word minus the spaces.

 

[Tom Bick]

Looks fine but a bit high for me. The legs buried in the ground will help if vandalism could be a possible problem.

Just one suggestion if you already have the landing boards / bases that you have drawn then fine but if not what about incorporating a landing board along the front of the stand as this may save a few pounds.

 

[Norfolk]

I am wondering what a stand made of scaffold tubes and boards would be like.
Do special skills required, suits me very well.

 

[VEG]

Mine are the same design but made for two hives with a gap between. No matter how many hives you make them for you will end up with the stands full lol. This is mine with a nuc on. Made from pallets and still going strong.

[URL=http://s725.photobucket.com/user/VEG69/media/23042009-1.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[Brian Bush]

This is a very good design. About the right size and you have given consideration to important issues such a being able to place frames between the main bars. I use a similar design but make the legs foldable. This allows me to put them in the car if I need to switch apiaries

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm away from home so can't supply photos but the rails to rest the hives are the same as mine - space to rest a frame between them, the bracers on the legsa are a great idea, might steal that!. But what you might consider is fixing the legs outside the rails making it even more stable.

 

[beeboybee]

Some nice ideas..... Keep them coming....
Currently researching recycled plastic timber equivalents for the legs to stop rot and damp problems...

 

[VEG]

the plastic stuff is expensive

 

[enrico]

If you use angle iron the hives slot into the L shape of the angle iron, makes them more stable and it makes it easy to slide the hives from one side to the other like they are on rails! Works really well.
Also you need to think about bees undershooting the entrance and collecting on the floor mesh so make a solid front between the entrance and the ground
If you use wood then make sure the rails rest on top of the legs. That way it gives strength and stops the rails coming off the top of the legs. All the downward pressure goes on the top of the legs and not on the screws holding them to the frame
E

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Looks good. The ones I have made are as the link here -->> http://www.-----------.com/triple-hive-stand/ very similar to yours but can be folded.
d i g i t a l d o d o = missing word minus the spaces.

I think this is a good design, similar but better than the one I made last year. One refinement I would suggest is to cut out a small scallop(?) from the top of the rails where the middle of each hive will be, to allow the beek to get fingers under in order to heft the hive in winter.

CVB

 

[MuswellMetro]

i think this is a good design, similar but better than the one i made last year. One refinement i would suggest is to cut out a small scallop(?) from the top of the rails where the middle of each hive will be, to allow the beek to get fingers under in order to heft the hive in winter.

Cvb

excellent idea!!!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Just one suggestion if you already have the landing boards / bases that you have drawn then fine but if not what about incorporating a landing board along the front of the stand as this may save a few pounds.

Also you need to think about bees undershooting the entrance and collecting on the floor mesh so make a solid front between the entrance and the ground

I've been thinking of doing the same, by putting a sheet of plywood across the whole front of a double and a bit hive stand, with a slight upstand at the top so the front of the hive floor can be pushed flush up against it.

An alternative would be stapling some of the fine green netting across the front of the stand. (The stuff that DerekM uses as landing platforms, I think it's called greenhouse shading.)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you use wood then make sure the rails rest on top of the legs. That way it gives strength and stops the rails coming off the top of the legs. All the downward pressure goes on the top of the legs and not on the screws holding them to the frame
E

Or I have crossbars to take some of the pressure - also coachbolt through legs and side rails. Managed my seven super hive last year anyway

 

[beeboybee]

Quick update.... Tweaked the design to include hand access for hefting, simplified some of the timber cutting to make it a bit simpler for the less experience wood nibbles,
Just resizing it for a langstroth version and I will post some more pics,

Will do a PDF sheet for both with cutting list and instructions...

 

[Norfolk]

No comments on my scaffold tube stand idea guys & gals ?

 

[Goran]

No comments on my scaffold tube stand idea guys & gals ?

If the surface is cylindrical I think hives could easily slip off. So if you thought square ones, we use that way.
Here is one pic. I know You will say not advisable that many hives at same stand, better to be separate .... I admit, guilty.. But you can make smaller ones for less hives.. Hope this will help You.

 

[Norfolk]

If the surface is cylindrical I think hives could easily slip off. So if you thought square ones, we use that way.
Here is one pic. I know You will say not advisable that many hives at same stand, better to be separate .... I admit, guilty.. But you can make smaller ones for less hives.. Hope this will help You.

Thanks, I must confess I have never seen square tubes.
I was thinking about using two or three scaffold boards on the top to sit the hives on rather than the actual tubes though.
I suppose like the kind of thing that a painter might use, I'll try and find an example.