BEE BUS

[MikeyN.C.]

Was watching. the news yesterday (local) they were showing a farm that grows lots of blueberries,squash,bellpeppers ect....  they had a old school bus,with holes cut out under the side windows. about 10 or 12 with hives that they just drive around the farm and park. was wond tering if anyone has seen this. I thought that was so cool

[D Coates]

Sounds cool.  Considering it would ensure the hives were in shade at all times I wonder how that affects SHB's.

[BeeMaster2]

I have not seen this one but over in Europe they have a lot of trailers that have the bee boxes built in them to go from farm to farm, following the bloom. They work the hives from inside of the trailer.
Jim

[MikeyN.C.]

D.C.
didn't even thank about (shb) ,they had flap doors to close entrance slots,  sounds like there could be lots of pro's & con's to this. overwintering,SHB,robbing .  would love to here more opinions

[Dallasbeek]

I think it's maybe better than loading tons of them on flatbeds and moving them a thousand miles, leaving them there a week or two, then moving them another thousand miles, etc.

[Eric Bosworth]

I thought about making a trailer to do that. There is all sorts of golden rod where I pheasant hunt. I thought about leaving it there for a couple weeks during bloom. Would also make it easy for pollination contracts. Really would not be that hard to do. I could either make my own trailer or I could buy one and modify it. The biggest issue for me is corner leveling jacks. With foundationless frames level is important.

[MikeyN.C.]

As far as leveling a trailer,you could use trailer tongue hand crank jacks with wheels or flat foot to level

[MikeyN.C.]

Using one at both back corners and one up front, just drill holes and mount

[Eric Bosworth]

That is pretty much what my plan. The bigger question is should I build my own trailer or retrofit a commercial one.

[MikeyN.C.]

The one i seen they used a pontoon boat trailer that trailer already has 2 bunk boards on each side the length of trailer

[BeeMaster2]

I took an old boat trailer,  that was so bad that I was afraid to drive it home, did some welding and added some angle iron and built a 18' by 5' by 6" deck on top of it. I added eye bolts spaced all the way around the sides of the platform to provide tie downs to hold the hives in place. I can place 22 hives on this trailer. I use ti to take my hives to the farm in the spring. I used it this spring and it worked real well and handles real well on the road.
If you build one, be sure to make it so that it is always at least 10% forward weight. If not, at speeds above 45 it can fish tail really bad.
Jim

[cao]

sawdstmakr do you have any pictures?  That may be a project for me in the future.

I could either make my own trailer or I could buy one and modify it. The biggest issue for me is corner leveling jacks. With foundationless frames level is important.

I would think that the springs/shocks would be pretty important too.  If they are to stiff the bees are in for a rough ride.  If to small would they support the weight of your hives.  Just something to think about.

[BeeMaster2]

CAO,
I do have pictures. I will have to search for them and post them.
As per the shock issue, I once helped a friend deliver 8 nucs to a new beekeeper. When we arrived at his farm, he wanted to show us his farm. We drove over the bumpiest dirt paths you could find. Then we immediately started to unload the nucs. I mentioned that we should let them settle before opening them to do the transfer to his hives and was told it would not bee a problem. We transferred all 8 of them with no protection with no problems and there was no damage to the comb.
Jim

[MikeyN.C.]

Jim
I think what ya do is measure from tongue to end of trailer, then find center,then move back 12 in.in. and that gives the rite amount of tongue weight,  the more you move back from center adds more tongue weight .

[BeeMaster2]

Jim
I think what ya do is measure from tongue to end of trailer, then find center,then move back 12 in.in. and that gives the rite amount of tongue weight,  the more you move back from center adds more tongue weight .

Mickey,
You say move back, I assume that you mean to move the center of the deck area one foot towards the tongue.
That will probably work great for a certain length trailer but for longer trailers that measurement will need to bee increased.
Jim

[MikeyN.C.]

Jim,
when you find center of total length,the axle is mounted. 12" back from center (towards the rear) the further you move the axle(s) back the more tongue. weight you get.

[BeeMaster2]

Mickey,
Right. We are both saying the same thing using different words.
Moving the axle back one foot does the same thing as moving the deck one foot forward.
Jim

[rober]

here's a few
http://pacificnorthwesthoney.com/bee-houses-from-eastern-europe-to-oak-harbor-wa/
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mobile+beehives&qpvt=mobile+beehives&qpvt=mobile+beehives&FORM=IGRE