Hi folks,
Just reintroducing myself after being away from the site for ages... Am in Ballarat Vic, although more precisely would be Waubra Vic, where the windfarm and windtowers are :) I have a hive inside my roof, and although it's probably too late to relocate now spring has passed, I am trying to quickly assemble a TBH using a 55gallon blue plastic drum cut in half - as I can't quite afford langstroth hives at the moment, and like to utilise the materials I can scavenge for free or cheap from farm and nearby ;)
Once I've finished assembling the hive within the next 2 days, I'm going to try and put a lemongrass/beeswax swarm lure inside, hopefully it's not too late for that... Then do a trapout on the roof bees, although this needs more research on my behalf. I'm also looking to just capturing a swarm if all else fails, the local Permie guild has a facebook group and a small list going on there.
I'm curious who else has TBH's in Aust, particularly ones made of of plastic half drums? I have a few questions, like if you paint yours white to combat heat/sunlight, what kind of feeders you use (I was even thinking of those cheap animal watering bowls, where you invert a plastic bottle into gravity-fed bowl, which I would place stones in to allow bees to feed easier). I was also wondering about legality of TBHs here, as some despise them and say they're illegal here (in terms of frameless hives), as I believe the top bar counts for frame. I was also playing with the idea of drilling holes through the bars and 'looping' wire through them to make a hanging hoop, perhaps this may help with stability and create a frame of sorts :)
Cheers!
Firekitty
Hi firekitty. I've got a couple of hives in Ballarat as well.
Sounds like you are on the right track with your plans. Top bars need to be a fairly accurate dimension to work well and australian off shelf timber seems to fall outside of these dimensions. Do you have a table saw?
Good luck with the bees in your roof, have you considered doing a cut out? That way you don't end up with comb and honey left in the roof.
Joe
One can have a top bar langstroth almost any wooden box will do.
that said which way have you cut the barrel? top to bottom or side to side?
the reason I ask is this length wise you may need to reinforce the long sides with 2x4's as the plastic may get soft in the heat.
the top bars will need something to direct the bees how they should build.
I see nothing wrong with the wire. can you be sure it will be perfectly vertical?
if not then add a home made bottom board too.
I vote for the cut out also.
take videos or pics please
JPthebeeman has many videos to help. I swear they are the best
Hi,
I have cut it lengthwise, although that's as far as I've gotten - wanted to reinforce it with 2 X 4's but the wood was pretty expensive, so for my first one I'm doing the frame with 1X2's and the legs are close to 2X4's. My ultimate goal is to be able to build cheap hives just using the drums, and hopefully wood from pallets etc to keep purchased resources to a minimum - will see how this first one goes though. The roof space can be accessed via one of those manhole things most houses have to access the roof space, so I hope to go up there after the trapout to retrieve whatever is left so it doesn't drip everywhere - having said that, it's be great if the vacated tenants can come back and rob the honey/wax, although I suspect it may not go down that way.
As for resources, I have a jigsaw I just purchased, as well as a oscillating multitool - if I get serious and make loads of hives I may purchase a table saw. I hope to use some cheap Scotia timber trim I found to create the 'edge' along the bar for the bees to use - in the future I hope to somehow cut wood myself to make these 'edges' as well.
On a side note of wood assembly etc, does anyone use wood glue either with nailing their woodwork or by itself (ie for gluing that wooden guide onto top bars)? I'm about to go and get a cheap glue gun for a separate project, and was just wondering about the application of glue in general to make life a little easier in terms of construction... However am not overly DIY-minded and not sure what the short or long term implications may be if I choose to start gluing stuff in my beehive.
Because I'm such a noob, I have to ask what you mean about 'bottom board' :)
I'll give JPthebeeman vids a lookup on Youtuve :)
I use cheap wood glue in every join, with either nails or screws. Have never used it just by itself.
I'm not really sure what you mean by a trapout. A cutout is when people cut the combs and tie or rubber band them in to empty frames, bees and all, so the bees get all the comb, along with the brood and pollen and honey.
I would recommend not making a lot of hives until you settle on a design that you have tested with bees and works well for you.
well you have seen a langstroth frame yes that bottom board is similar to the top bar but smaller both in width and length. drill two holes one at each end to run the wire through. then stretch it check it. your done. little more stable then nothing. and your off