Backs and Bees

[tillie]

All my life I've learned that the best way to lift heavy things is to use your knees - Don't lean over to pick up something heavy, bend your knees and let the heavy thing be lifted with your whole body providing leverage.

Bee boxes don't work like that - they are in a high stack - no knee bending possible and they are impossibly heavy.  Sometimes I slide the box into my body and lift by letting my body carry some of the load, but this is very hard.

I know, I know, switch to 8 frames - but when I DO have to lift a 10 frame full of honey and bees, how do you do it and protect your back at the same time?

Linda T wanting to protect my back in Atlanta

[Moonshae]

The bees make it difficult, since they tend to complicate your lifting. Keeping your hands close to your body (as close as possible, anyway) and squatting to reach the low ones or using a stepstool to reach the high ones is really your best bet. Keeping the weight centered at the height of where your elbows are when your arms are at your sides, and  then squatting or raising yourself to lift from there is ideal. A little bending is ok for leverage, but your back should not be doing the brunt of the lifting...those muscles keep you upright, they aren't for power.

[Cindi]

Linda, hey, I know your feeling.  I have 10 frame deeps and they can be darned pretty heavy with bees and honey.  When they are full of honey I don't even bother to lift them. When I am removing the honey I just have an empty super beside in my big wheelbarrow and take the frames one by one and put them into the empty super.  That works for me, a little time consuming, but that is OK.  I think that one day I am going to do what I remember something about Jorn Johanssen speaking about onthe forum (remember him?  no longer a member I guess).

He spoke about 10 frame deeps for the brood boxes.  But for the honey supers to keep things in all alignment, a 10 frame deep, cut in half lengthwise.  (I guess it make (2) 4 frame boxes or so) and these sit side by side on top of the Langstroth deeps.  This makes it easy to pick up the 4 frame honey supers.  I don't know, it sounded like a good idea.  Good luck with lifting heavy boxes.  Moonshae said some good stuff.  Have a wonderful day and great life.  Cindi

[Jerrymac]

One frame at a time.

[Kathyp]

cindi, have you tried shallows for honey?  they are nice for other things too, but for honey they are great.

[randydrivesabus]

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_1039463_1039463

[thegolfpsycho]

Proper lifting techniques, whether involving beehives, or lifting your own tail off the couch, are critical to long term physical health.  Lifting should be done with the large muscles of the legs, not the back at all.  The load should be held close to the body. Twisting or turning to replace a load after or during lifting is a recipe for disaster.  Bend the knees, turn by moving your feet, not twisting your torso, and again, let the large muscles of the legs do the work.  You can put over a ton of pressure on the spine with improper lifting, and it just ain't that strong.  Discs shift, bulge, swell, and sometimes rupture.  Things get out of alignment and a pain becomes chronic and debilitating.  You only get one back in this life, and damaging it by improper lifting can make it a very uncomfortable journey.  Invest 20 bucks in a brace or support.  Not so much to help keep your back straight, but to remind you to lift properly each and every time.  I see people daily that are in excruciating pain, facing surgury, and in all probability, facing a career change because of improper lifting.  Don't bend over to pick up anything.  Bend at the knees.

[annette]

A friend taught me this and it has worked every time I have to lift the heavy honey supers.

Bring your body as close as possible to super. Before lifting you suck in your abdomen muscles and take a deep breath and hold your breath.

Do not let out your stomach muscles or breath until that super is on the ground. When I do this I never hurt my back. When I get sloppy and forget is when I hurt my back.

Try it and let me know.

Annette

[tillie]

Great suggestions!  I think I have the hardest time when I am doing an inspection and need to move a full super off of the hive.  I can slide it into my abdomen and use my knees to put it down but it's hard to get it back up and onto the hive with proper back care.  I'll try what you all have suggested.

Linda T getting older by the day in Atlanta

[Michael Bush]

>One frame at a time.

Exactly.

Richard Taylor in The Joys of Beekeeping says:

    "...no man's back is unbreakable and even beekeepers grow older. When full, a mere shallow super is heavy, weighing forty pounds or more. Deep supers, when filled, are ponderous beyond practical limit."

"Friends don't let friends lift deeps" Jim Fischer of Fischer's BeeQuick

[Cindi]

Annette.  Your comments on many things have catched the intrigue of my mind.  You have to bring more of your thoughts into this forum.  Very interesting, and I am listening.  Have the wonderful day, great life, it is worth livin'.  Cindi

[tillie]

I do the "one frame at a time" action when I am taking the honey in to harvest.  Then I take one frame at a time a move it to a super and take that into the kitchen when it is about half full (4 or 5 frames) - the difficult time is when it is full but uncapped so I need to move the whole box off of the hive for inspection.

Last year I didn't observe what was happening in the brood nest so much so I often didn't take the honey supers off until I was harvesting them - but I've had such odd situations this year with the possibly 2 queen hive -

This lifting issue is why I am moving to 8 frame mediums, but it will take me about a year or even two to accomplish that.

Linda T with heavy boxes in Atlanta

[Michael Bush]

>but it will take me about a year or even two to accomplish that.

I'm still cutting stuff down... but 500 of my boxes are eight frame mediums.