06/18/17

My Hives 

Here are a few images of my hives after most construction was done. I purchased 2 full 10 frame Langstroth hives complete with brood box, med honey super, 20 frames and plastic foundations, inner cover, telescoping lid, and solid bottom board. Also included an entrance reducer and queen excluder (second photo white item). I also purchased 4 extra brood boxes with 10 frames and plastic foundations. Assembly took about 2 hours. I used screws, instead of the nails provided, to assemble the boxes. Also used Titebond III Glue (first picture) The final image shows the hives and extra brood boxes treated with 3 coats of Tung Oil. I assembled all of the frames using glue and a pneumatic brad nailer. These boxes are a great value and sell out often. Amazon Beehives Brood Boxes They included all the basic hive parts. Made in China but good quality Premium Fir wood, as far as I could tell.

I built the large stand they are on with 2x6 wood and 4x4 posts. I painted the stand. I also cut off the legs partially and added 2 flanges and a galvanized pipe to set into pint cans filled with vegetable oil to keep ants and other crawlers out of the hives.

 I cleared a spot in my back yard and proceeded to level the stand with garden soil. I then purchased some pea gravel and weed guard and placed the weed guard under the bench, placed the pavers then re-leveled the stand. After installing the pea gravel, I tipped the stand one more time to place the legs into the quart cans and did another level in both directions. Because I used flanges and 3/4" pipe, I was able to fine tune the level with my pipe wrench. I placed the hives onto the stand, put the entrance reducer in the entrance and now I wait for the bees.