Hello,
I've had bees off and on since junior high and now am stung again! Will travel to The Bee Place soon for a nuc of Italians. Have a nice hive set up in the back yard from Ozark Cedar Hives, an 8 framer with one deep and three medium supers to put on when it's time -- we have huge honey flows here from Mesquite.
Plus, my generous nephew has mondo Cotton and Mesquite upon which to expand. Already built a couple of swarm traps.
Will enter retirement in a few and figure this will keep me out of the bars and honky tonks. ;-)
Want to do some experiments with hive design. May I bounce some ideas off the forum here?
Welcome to Beemaster. This is a great place to bounce ideas - in my opinion.
It sounds like you have lots of knowledge to share also - so, jump right in. :grin:
Welcome to Beemaster Michael.
Enjoy your retirement, I am.
Jim Altmiller
Thanks, CoolBees!
My dad was an architect, who taught me the first principle of design: form follows function.
What I like about the Ozark Cedar hives is their thicker walls.
I've got a 10 foot piece of 2x12 and want to build a brood chamber out of it, proof of concept-style. Interior dimensions would yield slightly more volume than a single Langstroth deep.
Thanks, sawdustmaker,
Not there yet, 64 to mandatory retirement a 72, according to my Church.
Making a lot of saw dust myself lately with projects, getting ready for the bee hive experiments -- moving from half of the garage to a dedicated space.
Lot of tools in storage now and using a make-shift work bench in the back yard. Have to cover up everything when it rains. Ugh!
Welcome :happy:
Welcome.
Thicker walls on brood chamber make a lot of sense ? more like a hollow log, with good insulation. But in a few years that may be too heavy for you. Sugggestion: consider a top bar hive or modified TBH for that much timber. I think there could be (minor, perhaps) headaches fitting standard thickness supers to a thick-walled brood box. Whatever, share with us your experience.
Quote from: Dallasbeek on May 08, 2019, 11:43:12 AM
Welcome.
Thicker walls on brood chamber make a lot of sense ? more like a hollow log, with good insulation. But in a few years that may be too heavy for you. Sugggestion: consider a top bar hive or modified TBH for that much timber. I think there could be (minor, perhaps) headaches fitting standard thickness supers to a thick-walled brood box. Whatever, share with us your experience.
Absolutely. Placement of the brood chamber would be permanent, on a concrete foundation, while the super is of 1x material, which also remains in the field with top bar harvesting, comb at a time.
Thanks for the welcome.
Welcome. Plenty of us have started over...and over :grin:
I won't mention that this might be the time I am glad for a language filter :shocked:
welcome Michael :smile:
Welcome! There is a fellow in Florida that builds boxes made of 2X material. He calls it the Beffy Bee Hive.
Welcome!
Thanks for the welcome, guys!
My first beekeeping adventure began with a discovery at our ranch in Comanche County, Texas, when I was 14. We were cleaning out a room in the old house to store an abundant harvest of hay, since the barn was full. There was a hive box and super, frames with rotten comb, along with a smoker, veil, hive tool, gloves, and two frame extractor. I found a copy of THE HIVE AND THE HONEYBEE on a shelf. After thumbing through the book that night, I brought it all up to the house, cleaned it up, and ordered a package of bees from Kelley. They did very well until Scooter, my least favorite horse, kicked the hive over and the bees left before I could get to it.
In high school I did not have time for bees, playing football, basketball, and running track. But in college I ordered a package of Midnight bees and they did well in the Cotton fields and Mesquite patches of Scurry County and Taylor County where I was a country parson/student pastor. But when I went to seminary I gave them to my old high school track coach, who put them on the farm of my old football coach. I had expanded to two colonies by then!
After seminary I thought, surely, I'd have time for bees and wanted to get my children involved. The children were not interested and the church had other ideas about my time. The bees made more swarms than honey so I gave them up, again.
This time?
That is a great story Father Michael. Hopefully you will have time now. ... Bee ware, Bees are addictive. :grin: