I have to make my first splits today.. I have most of what I need.. What I am missing is a stand and I will to work on that, speaking of which, what do you think Make a stand with 2x4's or blocks??
I have seen where some people are screwing the bottom board onto the bottom brood box.. What do you think about this . Is this a good thing to do..
Thanks
Don
I use 2 or 4 8-inch cement blocks for temp. stands. I use hive staples to hold the bottom box to the bottom board.
My stands are mostly made of wood. I strap my hives, bear country although very rare. I see no need to screw stand to hive, but your area may be different, high wind?? Some of my hives weigh in the 200 plus pounds, mostly honey so they are not going anywhere.
My biggest issue now is that I have to make splits today / tomorrow at the latest. I am having difficulty deciding where t put the bees in the yard. How level will they be on the UN level ground.
I had seen a video of a man that screwed on the bottom board to the brood box , not for sure why kind of seems like it may save some time if moving..
I also have the option of putting the new splits on my friends 10 acres but it is about 30 minutes away not a bad thing.. same issue there as well , Making a stand using 2x4 and legs or blocks.
If I do the 2x4's I have to go buy , if I do the blocks I have a bunch of 8' x 3x3 boards that I could use just need to by the block. Might be the way I go.. I have not clue.. but need to decide soon.
{I am having difficulty deciding where t put the bees in the yard. How level will they be on the UN level ground.}
Level your stands, either make legs accordingly, or dig a little to make the stand level. You want the hive tilted so water runs off and does not collect on the hive bottom.
I ran out of room on my stands in my outyard when making splits this spring. I had some extra bricks that I stacked up for a temporary stand. The important thing is to get figured out where you are going to put them. Just about anything will work for a temporary stand. A five gallon bucket turned upside down will work in a pinch if you have solid bottom boards.
I use 4 cinder blocks, 2 on each side. I put a cap stone on each side because im a little ocd. I fill the hollow with gravel. Mine are in a row and all leveled together, 8 cinder block columns. I then lay 2 long 2x4s across the row of cinder blocks. Its all level and gives flexibility to move hives side to side or stick a nuc between hives. I use quilt boxes so moisture in hives isnt an issue.
I also ran out of room on my 2 stands about a week ago. Here is what I built with a hive sitting in the truck.
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It is made from 2-4?x4?x12? Boards, 8-18? 2x6s, 8-12? pieces of galvanized pipes and 8-4?x4?x6? Boards. All of which I had on hand. I used the pipes because I have an ant problem. I drove 36? pipes through the center of the legs to keep the whole stand from tipping in high winds without having to add straps to the ground. The 2x6s are so that I can strap each hive to the stand.
Use what ever you have on hand but make sure it is sturdy. I recommend the front to back length be a minimum of 18?. I see a lot of stands with just one cinderblock length. With as much weight as a hive can weigh a hive can easily tip forward or backwards.
Plan for 200 pounds per hive.
Jim