My Hive Has Arrived

My package arrived midday and all was assembled by bedtime last night. The online videos were invaluable and everything was straight forward when assembling.
All the panels were well packed and in good condition. The parts fitted tight and well within tolerance.


The little door to the observation window was a bit rough and had splittering along the saw cut.

The only extra work was on the door and that has been covered well by others. A bit of sand paper did the trick. Crickey that cedar comes away fast so its sand,try, sand, try until it fits.
A word of caution when using a power driver. Extreme care needed. I didn’t realise the wood was so soft and as a result got this,

No drama a little backing off and a bit of wood glue and while not good is repaired.
General care also when handling . Picked up a dint when I dropped a sandpaper block on a face. No one would notice but I know its there.
Wife and I had much discussion on the finish. I like wood treated I have used Linseed, thinned with turps and a little oil based clear varish added on other projects and like the way it brings out the grain. Wife likes the silvery look of cedar when aged (too much Kevin McLoud and Grand Designs I think) so we compromised. The roof assembly will be oil finshed and the rest left au naturel.

The hive sits under a big Yellow Box ( E.melliodora) and shades it from about midday on.
Some blossom last month which would have been directly overhead

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Obviously I went over the picture limit as the blossom did not show so I have it here

busso

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Hi busso, I’ve wondered how the soft ceder will go when my hive is really glued up by the bees and I need to use the hive tool to prise boxes apart. Cheers Tim

Hi Busso, Love the idea of not having a solid table top for your hive to sit on. I have just built a very similar small table frame but have yet to put the top surface on so I might consider doing something similar.

Just curious from your name whether you are in Busselton, W Aust. We just outside Donnybrook WA and the marri trees are just about to start flowering so great time to start a hive.

Chapman Hill in Shire of Busselton. 21 Km out past the Busselton golf club sort of. Have a brother living in Donnybrook (Morgan Rd).
Yes our marri (E.calophylla renamed a Corymbia calophylla) are just starting also early this year.
The table legs on the hive bench are 100mm square Sheoak which is extremely durable, hard to work but durable.
They were the left overs from some sheoak logs I had milled and furnished the house with desks tables bookshelves. Has a beautiful grain.


Wow needs a good dusting eh.

Hi Chris, I use open tables so my screened bottom board n air can rise n cool the hive when it heats up here in Washington State.

My thoughts as well. Plan to have max ventilation in summer and close during winter by shifting the slide in bottom card.

busso

The answer to that is you have to be careful. Gently loosen the boxes all the way round rather than digging in one corner and lifting up.

:wink: Cold air won’t rise
BUT it lets the bees line up on the floor and ventilate the hive themselves.

That’s what I do with plenty of top insulation. The wooden boxes have PIR cosies too.

Its all relative. Hot air does not rise, cool hence dense air forces less dense air to be displaced.
So we get the notion the hot air rises.
(Wanted to give you a wink but couldn’t get one to work. :wink:
busso

:wink: :wink:
You’re right.
What I should have said is that hive ventilation is not a passive event. Rather, it is managed by the beating of the bees wings…unless you have top ventilation, of course, in which case the bees try to close the gap so that they are in charge of their environment again.

Thank you Dee for your reply, I will try and be careful and patient😉 CheersTim

I love cedar boxes. I have one made by a craftsman, not a nail or screw in it, and it is beautiful.
Bees do better in the poly boxes though so that’s where most of mine are.

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Dee,
Never had poly hives. You got a pix or so ? Mine are pine that I built here this winter. I am guessing there is a reason you chose poly … Give me/us a brief why if you have time. I’ve got some nice mahogany out in my shop but not sure if that’s hive worthy but would look cool. Waiting to hear from you @ Dee. Have a great weekend … Gerald

True cold air sinks ! It’s heavier ! But warm
or hot air if given a path can rise naturally n with a bit of bee-winged help n top (screened or not) opening be able to escape/vent.

@Gerald_Nickel I have some Poly Hives as well.

They were developed in Finland and are keeping our bees warmer than the plain wooden ones which we have to insulate.

I’m a little concerned with my wooden hive as the seem to be eating their way through their food stores.

This is my Apiary:

3 is a wooden 10 Langstroth, 2 is a Poly Nuc, 5 is a Wooden 10 Lang, 4 is a Poly 10 frame Langstroth and 1 is another poly Nuc

Now I have 2 full Flow Hives as well
This is at a recent School Fayre showing off my hive and some products I make

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Gerald
I have Swienty boxes. They have the same footprint as my wooden Nationals so all kit is interchangeable.
http://www.swienty.com/shop/default.asp?catid=1085
I have lots of wooden supers so that’s what I use with them, though I do have some poly supers which I use to get the bees to draw frames (they are warmer)
Bees in this country certainly do better in them.
My wooden hives have a PIR jacket in the winter which turns them into a poly hive.
The one in the picture is a 14 x 12 with a nadired super. It is a big colony and I can see through the clear crown board that even in 5˚ they are not clustered.
In two months they have eaten only 5lbs of stores.
Contrary to popular belief, warm bees do not eat as much as they do not need to use energy to keep warm.<img

Very nice looking apiary set up !! Thankz for sharing the pix’s.

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