I’m about to build my hive stand and would like to learn from everyone’s experience before I make a bunch of mistakes
What is your recommendation for high and easy working of the boxes?
How much space would you need if you have 2 hives on it? enough in the middle to take off boxes and put them down on the stand between?
did you build anything in the back to eventually put down the bucket for harvesting or just use something temporary at the time?
anything else I should consider?
my stand is two cinder blocks sitting on top of each other (16" tall) with landscape timbers through the top most holes in the brick, so the hive sits down approx 5-6" from the actual top of the brick. I’d say the total height is around 24" off the ground. I am taller (6’ tall) so this will work well for me, but if you are shorter a single brick could be used. You’ll probably want to go at least 12" off the ground as a guesstimate, that seems to be what many commercially available stands are set at. I made mine 32" wide so that it would accept the upper box when doing inspections so I would not have to set them on the ground. I have only one hive but add 16-18" for each additional hive.
I originally went with just 2 but my over engineering brain wouldn’t accept it until I put the third one on. It is quite a bit more sturdy now, though I don’t know how necessary it was. For an extra $6 I figured it was worth it.
I’ve got the two beam style for two of my hive n three are on single stands on 16"x 16" paving stones. . . . Just used what I had. Both styles should be secure n solid. Yours looks great !! . Gerald
Somewhere between 12 and 16" high is good for me, and helps discourage skunk raids on the hive. Here is a stand I made from concrete blocks, painted to pretty them up a bit!
I’d like to add another question to this thread, if I may. Do I have to concern myself with the angle or slope of the stand? should I endeavor to keep it level and plumb?
Find some where that if you were to work at that heigh you will not hurt your back.
We were making frames today at out bee club - most people were working on a low table that was killing my back.
I chose a slightly higher table but it was still too short for me, I was crouching at the knees to get a good height but I have had 5 Ops on my knees (going for another, possible a full replacement next) but it was still too low for me.
Looking around the table they were all shorter than me or happy to work bent over - I’m only 5’6" (165cm)
If you are doing a full inspection of many hives, it will make a difference.
You want the top of the bottom box about waist height. This is more efficient for lifting and a comfortable working height for most people, but don’t forget you may have 2 boxes on top of that
Hiya Gerald, how many colonies are you planning on having there? It would be a bee busy back yard there if all those hives were full and bustling. It would be a shame to not be able to enjoy your beautiful garden without wearing a suit!
Hi Skeg, planing to peak out at four plus maybe couple 5 frame Nuc’s. My wife has muscular dystrophy so has only been at my pond twice in a 1 1/2 years … I use part of my backyard for a veggie garden n I have a small 10x20’ woodshop.
I’ll testing different methods, splits, combining n maybe giving bees to locals that loss colonies or wants to get onboard. At least that’s my plan. At the moment I’m usually the only person wandering that back 40 ! And my four hens. It is pretty but wanted to get one more wack at caring for bees before I get too elderly ! thanks for the note ! Gerald.
. Had to pollenate my Asian pear by hand … Absolutely no pollenators around this year.
Yip ! When I raised bees as a teen I got chase few times out of our home orchard by one nasty colony. The rest were gentle. ! So guessing I’ll get bumped or stung a few times. But the rewards are good too.
Here’s mine. I have made it big enough to be able to set a box beside it or I suppose another hive at some point. It’s approximately 1.5’ high and red cedar like the hive.
I have half buried a jar of home made ant bait by my hive on cinder blocks. The ants have completely disappeared. It was based on Michael Bush’s recipe - 1 part thickened fruit-flavoured simple syrup (I made too much for a dessert dish some time ago) and one part borax. I put it in a small mason jar with #8 hardware cloth held in place by the usual canning ring. Bees couldn’t get at it, but ants certainly could. I was delighted to see that it worked.
Here is my newly made ants-proof stand.
It is basically an adjustable stand from MannLake, retrofitted with exhaust pipe reducers (3.5" to 2.5") which fit perfectly!
The trick I used is… put the stand upside down! That way the grease is upside down, inside the cups of the reducers, and won’t get debris so that ants can’t really build bridges over the grease. Use bricks (see photos) to make it work.
Stand is steady (I tested it by standing on it) and it is 100% ANTS PROOF!
Got the reducers at the same time as the high pressure break grease at the auto parts shop. Cost $3.50 a piece for the reducers, $4.50 for the grease (needs two)–> total $23.00 to retrofit the MannLake stand and took 10 minutes.
I glued the reducers using waterproof silicon. They fit so well they don’t even need to be glued.
My hives got invaded by ants as soon as I fed the bees syrup (inside feeder). This is a problem of the past now…