Hey Bee lovers. My first post!
We have had a stand built for us after our last swarm slimed out from being too close to the ground. The builder went overboard and build a 2.2m stand which we’ll get him to cut down now. I know about the restrictions for moving a hive; do they apply the same to the height? I’ll need to move it off the stand on to a ladder, then down on to the new 0.9m stand. Cheers!
Height is not critical in lowering a hive for the returning bees to find it… You will have no issues with that and you can move the hive sideways up to 2 metres or rotate the hive 20 degrees without the bees taking any notice at all.
A big welcome to the forum and you will find other bee keepers like @Ropate living close to you. The forum has many Flow Hive users as well as the convention Langstroth hive keepers, plus other hive variants. You will also find lots of reading and friendly members who are happy to answer questions.
Rember that this forum is world wide with some extreme climates so by clicking on a persons icon you can see if a persons location might apply to you.
Cheers
Hiya Jack, welcome to the forum.
I have some of my hives waist height which I thought would be a good idea at the time however I find them too high to remove a super when checking brood. Knee height would be much better, I’m working on that.
Not likely why it was ‘slimed out’. 
I agree with Skeggley- it’s very uncomfortable to work on a hive that is too high up. All my stands are around knee height or lower. A full honey super can weigh 20kgs or more- lifting it (full of bees) can be a hassle from a tall hive. Replacing it smoothly is also a pain.
Good to see you on here @jackwills. Maybe post a pic of the stand pre and post shortening so people can see it.
Having seen it first hand, despite being too tall, the construction is fantastic. That stand at waist height is my dream! Need to get your builder over to mine 
Thanks so much all for the advice! We moved it early this morning. I decided to close it for half an hour with the BeeSmart entrance reducer borrowed from @Ropate (cheers!). A dozen workers were a little confused for a while. It’s at a much better height for inspections and should be more protected from winter winds.
And that’s true @skeggley, I was given bad advice with SHB and didn’t have oil in the tray. A lesson learnt the hard way. There must have been 200 wrigglers
in the bottom.Some photos of the stand before and after, you’ll have to imagine the hive on top of the first photo.
Hi Jack, there’s more to SHB control than putting oil in the tray. Did you find out where the wrigglers came from?
Wow, I could just about eye ball the entrance at that height, It is hardly what I would call a workable height. I like the reworked height.
Cheers Jack
Now, about getting that workman over to mine
Looks much more workable. Great job by your builder!
Hi Robert,
I have in the past had to adapt the height of my hives to suit me and to ease the heavy lifting as much as possible. I recently went to look at a couple of hives for a bee keeper who is a bit stronger than me. The hives were on high stands to keep the Cane Toads from feasting on the returning bees. I guess the hive owner thought all Cane Toads were Olympic class pole vaulters, The supers was face high for me and while I could look into the brood it was a fair grunt to lift the frames out. It is easy to get the height of a hive wrong and subject ourselves to making a hard job harder.
Cheers
Hi Peter, did you look at any videos of the young Canadian bloke people were talking about several months ago? The bloke with the magnet on his belt. He lifts full depth supers full of honey (ten frames from memory), from chest height & makes it look easy. A candidate for a crook back later in life, I think.
Hey Jeff, I missed that one, but I can’t see how a magnet in his belt is a benefit in lifting a super. But I can really say I am glad I am using 8 frame hives and not 10’s. I takes me cap off to you.
I find it easier to take 4 frames at a time into plastic boxes with a lid than trying to lift 8 frames of honey in a single go — especially on that mountain goat site.
I did a full inspection on that hive today, only in a T shirt and shorts, what a turn around since we did the split and they re-queened. it is a strong colony but like at my apiary it is light on with honey. I put that down to the dry Summer and the heat, it must be hard for the trees to produce nectar in any quantity…
Cheers
Hi Peter, it’s just that if you saw that bloke’s videos you’d remember the magnet on his belt because that’s where he keeps his hive tool. It’s quick & easier than putting it in a pocket.
That’s good news about that mountain goat hive you’re looking after.
I used to have an old dish washer out the front I used to rest hives on while we strapped them up & close the entrances. It was also a handy work bench. That went to the tip a while back, minus the panels. I got to work yesterday to make a replacement out of a heap of skip timber from a building site. It’s the same convenient size. I have to finish it off this morning before I start working on the bee boxes.
cheers
How’s this working? Are they coping with it?
