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Shabby chic, AKA beekeeping on a budget.
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joanne



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

toggle wrote:

are there any 'rules' about where to situate hives? sheltered, exposed, shaded, sunny, etc?


Bee's are naturally woodland dwelling creatures so they do like a nice sheltered spot - Mine get the sun first thing in the morning and through most of the day, then as it gets into the evening they go into shade.

Doing it that way gets them up because honey bee's don't get up as early as bumbles - I'm also convinced that because they are in shade in the evening means that they don't have to cool the hives as much as if they were in full sun all day - you still hear the roaring as they fan the honey though to drive off the excess water

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

toggle wrote:
i suspect he would get arsey about letting e touch it because ti's 'dangerous'

No such thing as dangerous tools. Only tools used dangerously.

Bodrighy



Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 2157
Location: Near Devizes
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hairyloon wrote:
toggle wrote:
i suspect he would get arsey about letting e touch it because ti's 'dangerous'

No such thing as dangerous tools. Only tools used dangerously.


Ever tried some of the chaiwanese things on the market? Generally agree with you but that includes recognizing dangerous tools before using them

pete

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bodrighy wrote:
Ever tried some of the chaiwanese things on the market?

Them's not tools, they are liabilities masquerading as tools.

Last edited by Hairyloon on Fri Jun 18, 10 10:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

Bodrighy



Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 2157
Location: Near Devizes
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

To the uninitiated they are tools....and bad ones at that. Bloody liabilities in a shrink wrap

pete

yummersetter



Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 10 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Tavascarow wrote:
toggle wrote:
Brownbear wrote:
I've been wondering if there would be enough interest to put together a 'making hives' session, perhaps in Wales, so that people can pool tools, make a bulk purchase of materials etc.


wonders if it could be done down here

If there's enough demand, I'm happy to help.
I'm trying to get a site for our natural beekeeping group to have a group apiary, & if we succeed we will be having an in group hive making session later in the year.
I will try & remember to let you know if & when.
But if there's enough demand here on DS as well, all the better.


We'd interested. Our beekeeping lapsed to feral survival last year but today the apiary was cleared of brambles ready for a renewed effort

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 10 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Installed a swarm in the hive on Tuesday.
A very small secondary swarm that I dug out of a wall about 10 miles from here.
Because of its size I'm feeding it, probably constantly between now & the Autumn to get it big enough to overwinter.
Also because of its size I've shut the entrance down to a crack (1 bee space) with a bit of ply, otherwise my stronger colony will just rob them.

Hopefully the queen will mate with drones from my other stock & the survival genes they contain will be passed on to this colony.
Fingers crossed.

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 10 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Tavascarow wrote:
Our bee group are also discussing buying 12" x 1" locally sourced red cedar at very reasonable prices.
For a hive the same size as the ones I've built, it works out at about £40.00 per hive.

Did we get a conclusion for how bad spruce is for the task?
I reckon I can do the wood for about half that price, but at this time only in spruce.

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 10 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

IMHO I don't think it will make a lot of difference what wood you use.
If it's straight grained & relatively knot free I would go for it.

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 10 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just to show you what you can do if you're a craftsperson as a posed to a bodger like me.
Definitely not shabby.
I like the way they have made the top bars & also the projecting handles, very useful for hanging a comb on for inspection.

toggle



Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro
PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 10 12:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

with the viewing slot, is there perspex over that or is it just a letterbox type thing?

joanne



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 10 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thats awesome Tav - I love looking at bee photos - I'm starting to really want a TBH but have nowhere to put on

joanne



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 10 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

toggle wrote:
with the viewing slot, is there perspex over that or is it just a letterbox type thing?


It's got perspex over it - allows you to view the bee's without disturbing the nest or loosing heat or pheremone - you usually have a cover over the top of that to shut the light out as bee's prefer the dark

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 10 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

jocorless wrote:
Thats awesome Tav - I love looking at bee photos - I'm starting to really want a TBH but have nowhere to put on

Windowbox?

Lorrainelovesplants



Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 10 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

John and I went to the last meeting of the Cornwall natural beekeepers group - really interesting. As a result weve offered a site at our place to a young lady just starting with bees - they were installed on Wed and are happily producing honey already. We plan to increase our one hive to around 5 this year by various means.... and Im happy to act as mentor to newbies (it was really useful to me to have one for a year) to build confidence.

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