What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[Curly green finger's]

Weather changing and rain forecast as well as sleet, so collected up pine needles and dried out in greenhouse. Did same a few days ago with woodchip. Mum gave me her dried lavender heads and a friend has given me 3 hessian sacks, I need to cut up. So getting ahead with smoker fuel for the season

I bet the smell of the neddles in a warm greenhouse was rather nice.
I don't have any lavender but lemon balm cut up, a bag of wood shavings, and a bag of orange peel.

 

[Swarm]

Decided the last old brood box is beyond repair, maybe manage a nuc out of it as one side looks better than the other.

 

[elainemary]

Made up 2 boxes with plastic super foundation. Then brushed on melted filtered wax, so hexagon shapes have wax on the edges to encourage the bees to draw out. Idea is to get drawn on the spring flow and use for the heather. Stronger so easier to scrape back then press out without damaging the foundation and can reuse in subsequent years. Bit of a trial this season, don’t know if it will work but worth a try.

 

[Swarm]

Let us know how well they draw them.

 

[E&MBees]

Picked up a large piece of Perspex from Freecyle. Enough to make two poly crown boards.

 

[Swarm]

Not in my workshop but could be if I were of the pilfering persuasion. A stack of nine 8x4 sheets of 100mm recticel in next door's garden.
Blame the wind?

 

[Brian Bush]

I have been asked by association memebrs to build five double hive stands. I was given some surplus timber by a neighbour and spent the afternoon trimming it down with the table saw to match the size of the fence rails I will be using for a couple of stands. Tomorrow it is a session with the planer, weather permitting.

 

[Garry R]

Why plane it? Not a criticism at all but many of the wood preservatives and fence paints say specifically to use on rough sawn timber and it does soak in well. On planed timber it sits on the top for some reason as I found on a "bought in" bin store.

 

[Wilco]

Spent a few hours taking apart and removing nails from my stash or pallets and rescued lumber which SWMBO was getting distressed about. Thought I'd done a really good job and stacked it nicely. The entirely underwhelmed reaction was a surprise.

 

[Brian Bush]

Why plane it? Not a criticism at all but many of the wood preservatives and fence paints say specifically to use on rough sawn timber and it does soak in well. On planed timber it sits on the top for some reason as I found on a "bought in" bin store.

I plane it to limit the chances of splinters and to make the finished product look uniform. Some of the used timber had deep treatments. some surface treatments and some none at all. After planing they can be given a coat of cuprinol and then painted easily with a matching colour.

 

[rossbyjove]

Spent a few hours taking apart and removing nails from my stash or pallets and rescued lumber which SWMBO was getting distressed about. Thought I'd done a really good job and stacked it nicely. The entirely underwhelmed reaction was a surprise.

The large sheets of ply should be stacked behind, the ends of the timber should be level and even.
The pallet needs to be underneath with stacked timber on top.
The hammer needs to be in the tool box.
If that don't work, cup of tea and some chocolate might be the last resort.

 

[Wilco]

The large sheets of ply should be stacked behind, the ends of the timber should be level and even.
The pallet needs to be underneath with stacked timber on top.
The hammer needs to be in the tool box.
If that don't work, cup of tea and some chocolate might be the last resort.

Ply still needs some nails removing though, hence the hammer! One end of the timbers were level and even... They're all different lengths so had the odd ends hidden behind the ply!

 

[E&MBees]

Not quite me, but a boxful of brood frames made up by the youngest son. Not free labour though, he negotiated pocket money! Kids these days, when I was young…….

 

[Wilco]

Six ekes and the wooden part of two UFEs, all from pallet wood. Mesh to go on tomorrow along with Danish oil. When I get time I will be modifying the design a little to make an interchangeable solid floor option plus a hatch for sublimation from below. Will likely then start cannibising old normal floors for the mesh for future UFEs.

 

[JamezF]

I was intending to make up a load of frames this evening, but after a couple of beers, home-made calzone and a glass of wine my get up and go has got up and gone. Looks like I shall be doing it tomorrow morning instead.

James

 

[Wilco]

Sorted out the fence on my table saw... Cutting much better now. Knocked up a few 8mm spacers to give TBS for my UFEs plus some runners for the inspection boards I'm making for them. This evening cracked out the palm router to make the slot for said boards and currently sitting by the mini BBQ burning the offcuts as if it's a fire pit.

 

[JamezF]

Sorted out the fence on my table saw... Cutting much better now. Knocked up a few 8mm spacers to give TBS for my UFEs plus some runners for the inspection boards I'm making for them. This evening cracked out the palm router to make the slot for said boards and currently sitting by the mini BBQ burning the offcuts as if it's a fire pit.

Now you're making me feel guilty

James

 

[nettle]

Made two hive stands out of old scrap wood. Going to put the spare hives out with some old comb and lemongrass in the hope of attracting a swarm. Also put together a load of frames.

Yes I have some rotten dry wood to chop up. Not sure about pine needles. Lot of resin in those.

What about pine cones? I saw someone mention they use them, but my mentor advised against it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Resin in those as well. We use them for fire lighters

 

[Newbeeneil]

I got chatting to some beeks at the apiary recently and we were discussing why a lot of beekeepers don't make their own equipment and decided that it was probably due to the fact most don't have the right tools to saw and size the timber.
I decided to try and make a nuc from timber in sizes available at Wickes, a decent hand saw, glue hammer and nails.
This is what I came up with at a cost of just over £20.

I assumed you could get a friend with a drill to make the entrance hole and find a bit of plastic to waterproof the lid. I used some old yacht varnish to protect it against the elements.



This has been made as TBS so as not to require a bee space edge to the crown board but it could be changed to BBS by altering the 25mm dimension at the top of the end to 15mm and adding a rim of Wickes stripwood around the crown board