New feeder being used

Meant to write this one up a while ago but didn't get my act together
Finally - here it is!

So used to have a feeder inside the hive box - but what a hassle to get into it!

lid off, and then into the top bars - which got the bees all excited - which meant at least a head net

So seeing I no longer use following boards - just not needed up here in tropics - cold weather not an issue while heat is - so more room to spread out when no following board.
No problem so far (I hope!)






So I made up a new style feeder station I could attach to back of hive and have easier access to
Just lift the lid and pour - yes a few bees about but minimal - see video at end of this blog entry

It is basically a box  - sadly often mistaken for a bird next box by the uniformed
Simple four sides, base and a hinged lid

I attach it with a few screws and it can be removed when not needed

I just cover the hole in the end of the hive box with a patch of tape when not in use







Inside a take away container fits perfectly into the bottom

Also is a piece of fly screen for the bees to have better access to the sugar syrup - and crawl onto if they unintentionally go for a swim in the syrup.

For one hive i had to use my finger and smear the syrup at the hole - but the other hive - they found it no problems

Now always a few bees hanging in there no matter if syrup present or not 

7 more hives made - digging myself deeper!

So school holidays currently - so bored - love my work as a teacher despite the majority of overtly self entitled students I attempt to teach - but long school breaks over xmas - uugggghhh!
But I also access to an empty school workshop and 3 sheets of packing material ply (one 19mm thick and the other two 7mm thick) - so why not make some hives!

Better still my son (a builder in Newcastle) and his partner were up visiting over the new year - so the work will be done easily with my experience and his expertise.

We cut the ply sheets (2.4 x1.2m) up into specified strip widths as per my sketches and ideas - like previous hives - key measurement is the topbar length as I made the length to also fit into a langstroth hive if needed (brother-in-law has 10+ langstroth hives).

We then use the cross cut saw to cut the angles for the end pieces cutting at around 22.5 degrees - the ply is 19mm thick on the ends. We ended up with a quadralateral shape - approximately 455mm across top, 180mm on the bottom, and 325 on the sides

We use a 22mm spade bit to drill three entrance holes and three ventilation holes on the front piece

Then we use a piece of scrap timber to make a landing platform. Utilizing a large linisher sander to angle one edge so the platform slants away and down from the entrances
Attaching this with glue and a nail gun

We then glue the sizes to the ends and use an air brad gun to firmly attach before adding three screws each and and side. Although painted the image below shows a coupe of screws












The light ply available for the sides is only 7mm so the end product so far is a bit flexible

What to do?

Luckily another friend needed to get rid of some skirting board that they were replacing - awesome for me! We stripped down the skirting boards into two strips of 42mm x 19mm.

Gluing and brad nailing these to top and bottom of the sides - which firmed up everything nicely

Using an air staple gun we attach a strip of aluminium insect screen to the bottom and a patch of screen material to each ventilation hole in front piece

That's the hive base completed - except for painting
So here we are after three coats of Solarguard water based paint I had left over from painting my new house a year ago -

Laid each coating of this on really thick with a 100mm roller














Here are my awesome helpers with all the painting















I also made some (10 more) feeder stations that I have been testing. I originally had the feeder inside the large hives but too difficult to fill regularly.
So these ones attach to far end of the hive. I once used following boards in the large hives but now don't bother, which suits this feeder design. Now after several months, seeing no negative impact on the bees being in a large space.







So now I need to make the lids and top bars

For the lids - I have cut four 19x19mm strips of pine (from the old skirting boards I was given), cut two end pieces from 9mm ply I had extra from previous work - 40mm wider each side of hive base - so rain falls away from sides of hive base about 100mm tall, and some 3mm ply strips 1200x420mm (had to buy half of this material these sadly, got rest from local dump)
I drill a spade bit hole in apex of the triangle pieces for the lid for roof ventilation above the top bars  covering with a stapled insect screen patch on the inside to keep bugs out
I will then attach the squat triangle ends pieces (9mm scrap ply) to the strips of pine with a nail gun
Next add plenty of glue to the strips of pine and place on them the 3mm ply - then use an air staple gun to secure the ply - was quite liberal with my use of staples too
I will add a strip of angled metal overlapping the join area of the two pieces of 3mm ply to seal it off top of lid using gutter silicone to hold in place and make it water tight

Haven't found the timber that I will use for the 260 top bars I will need
Also thinking of making some queen excluder topbars - still researching this aspect

Last time I made top bars I had a heap of 75x50mm structural pine left over from building my house
That time for the top bars - I cut all the timber I had to size, then cut a groove in the bottom of the bar into which I inserted a 10mm strip of 3mm ply - dipping these into hot beeswax to encourage the bees to build their combs on it - nice and straight!

So might have to hunt around for some timber for those top bars with a night time worksite "visit"
Hope I get some by the time I start splitting hives later this year to make more hives using the new long hives just made.

Again like last build of hives - almost no money spent
And now I have heaps of hives to fill up with bees!

201901004-Hive inspection

Well four hives are now two
One fallen thus crushed hive  and one that didn't survive the move out of the kitchen cupboard

But the two remaining are still going - one "the Grass" hive is powering on, the "Fence Post" hive slowly slowly going

The son and his partner arrived for a visit over the new year break

Brad and Alanna did the usual tourist type things - but Alanna after reading my blog wanted to get at the bees herself

So we suited up and inspected the two hive

We set up the smoker and puffed away at the first hive

Opening up the hive always is high in expectation (and fear!) of what will be found - or not found! This is always a quiet hive - so I always fear nothing will be in it when I inspect it!

After the first bar is removed from the rear part of the hive and that first bit of new comb is seen - the fears and expectation settles.










We didn't find any honey stores or pollen - so the substitute feeding will need to continue
















We found plenty of brood at all stages from eggs to hatching nymphs

















Plenty of comb being made with most of the bars of this smaller













The front four bars were full combs to the maximum size available and had while not perfect - had good coverage of brood with only a few missing holes - i.e the queen is really doing her job well

Might be time to shift this Post hive into a larger hive

We also found the queen - and just in case you are worried I am not stabbing it - just pointing it out














We found a little cross comb but it was pushed back into shape and should be sorted









So although a slowly growing hive - it is still growing - woooohooo!

Now to the Grass Hive
This hive has three-quarter filled its 120cm length
Didn't find the queen but heaps of brood
But here too no stores of honey or pollen
We did notice a few arriving bees had pollen attached to legs - so some food coming in

See video below for a bit more on the Grass Hive inspection