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Author Topic: What are you building  (Read 12147 times)

Offline BlueBee

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What are you building
« on: December 24, 2012, 02:42:53 am »
So what are people building this winter, bee wise or other?

My plans are to build a few more Jumbo hives, build some new 12 frame deeps to experiment with, and build some shallow supers to replace the mediums.  I might try to build another bumble bee hive if time permits.  I did rescue a colony of bumbles last summer but my BB hive wasn’t suited for making good observations of the bumbles.

Offline kdm

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2012, 05:48:50 am »
This past summer i took a heavy framed boat trailer and converted it to hold 10 hives. they are 10 frame deeps. I am now building 10 frame jumbo hives to replace the standard deeps. I normally have a deep and a shallow for brood. This should do away with the shallow and eliminate super shifting while moving.

Offline RHBee

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2012, 09:05:32 am »
Just building parts & pieces for next years increases. I'm building everything out of scrap lumber that I'm able to procure from my job. Kinda recycling.  Special projects include a combination hive stand/SBB/SHB trap and a external SHB trap. Oh yeah, queen rearing/banking
equipment.
Later,
Ray

Offline JackM

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2012, 09:30:49 am »
after I get out of the wrist splint I hope to make another SBB and roof=type top for a third hive.  Have 3 guitars to finish up too, airplane to build.........
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Offline BlueBee

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2012, 03:04:23 pm »
Yep, KDM, the jumbo boxes are the right size to keep the brood nest in a single box.  It is very nice to have the brood in a single box for a change!  My queens in the jumbos have never ventured up into the supers yet (I don’t use a queen excluder).  The only downside I see with the Jumbos is the extra hassle in making the custom frames and custom foundation.  That is why I’m experimenting with the 12 frame deeps this next summer.  

If I use the low cost PF100 frames I computed that each frame has about 8200 cells.  The bees won’t lay in the outer frames so that leaves 10 frames for the queen to lay in.  10 x 8200 = 82,000 potential cells.  Bees won’t fill all 10 with 100% brood, but in the spring the deeps with brood can average in the 70% range.  82,000 x 0.70 = 57,400 cells for brood.  The worker brood cycle is 21 days so with 57,400 cells available, a queen would have to lay at a rate of 2700 eggs a day to really consume that much capacity.  I don’t think most queens can do 2700 eggs a day.  Although I’m sure (as usual) some beeks with disagree.

I used similar math logic in computing the size of my jumbo boxes and the bees have followed my math so far. :)  My jumbos are using Pierco foundation though that is 5.3 mm cells (may 5.4, I can’t recall for sure).  So it takes bigger frames to get the same number of bees you can get with those PF small cell frames.  My bees don’t really love those PF frames, but they work fine if I spend the extra time to make sure they get combed out correctly.

Offline kdm

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2012, 03:55:19 pm »
Bluebee I have not used the jumbo before but it seems to me that the bees would not have a extra top bar as a honey ceiling . This could help swarming. possibly. Do you have a source for frames. i may need to build them.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2012, 05:55:21 pm »
I'm building a 3600 sq ft pole barn at my farm.  I'm building  6 new screen bottom boards with oil trays and I just finished building a heater box and a dozen nuc boxes to to sell nuc's in the spring. I used the heater to melt a 5 gallon bucket of honey that was just starting to crystallize. It worked real well, sold the honey today.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline BlueBee

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2012, 12:37:33 am »
Wow!  A 3600 sq foot pole barn; that is impressive.  What are you going to put in there. :)

I've got a buddy who built a big barn for his auto hobby.  Holds a bunch of cars, tools, lift, and a semi tractor.  It is 10x nicer than the house!  I like cars too, but thank God that is not a serious hobby of mine; I would be bankrupt. 

KDM, the source for my jumbo frames is Home Depot.....and the table saw out back  :-D

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2012, 06:40:29 am »
Wow!  A 3600 sq foot pole barn; that is impressive.  What are you going to put in there. :)


The center truss area is 36' wide by 60' long by 12' high and the wings add 12' on both sides. I finished the center area and the right wing and this past weekend my wife and I put the poles in the ground for the left wing and I topped them and notched them for the header boards. I put most of my tractor implements in the right side, 2 between each set of poles. They are spaced 12' on center. The right side will be closed in to put my wood working tools and probably hive storage. I was to expecting to be able to but a wood miser saw mill to put in the middle and that fell through. It belonged to a friends senior uncle and we were going to buy it together. He gave us a great price but just could not part with it. We waited a long time for him to sell it and then we found out he forgot about the agreement and sold it. That's life.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline derekm

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2012, 08:33:06 am »
a taller tree nest model  (an extension to current one).
solder test and  coat digital hive temperature measuring pcbs (to do 8 temps per hive)
mk2 solar heating tanks the Mk1 has buckled a bit.
Change the solar heating valves around so the manual by pass is a solenoid valve.
... the list goes on and on
If they increased energy bill for your home by a factor of 4.5 would you consider that cruel? If so why are you doing that to your bees?

Offline Bee Curious

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #10 on: December 25, 2012, 04:48:39 pm »
I am a new bee and am assembling my first hive: all mediums, foundationless frames.  Next (I did the easy stuff first), I'm designing and building an insulated top cover, a screened bottom board and a 16" high (anti-skunk) stand.  I'm having a great time and it feels good to be moving forward to finally starting my beekeeping.  By the time it warms up and my bees arrive, I will have a lovely bee corner waiting in my yard.

Offline little john

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #11 on: December 25, 2012, 05:54:57 pm »
I'm working on a prototype mini-mating NUC. Basically the same idea as a Kieler, but made from plywood. Full-width half-length top bars, with a migratory cover over, which will be held in place by a rubber-band (ex tyre inner-tube).
Will have a fixed fondant trough, and 4x comb Top Bars. A fifth Top Bar will be fitted with a Cupkit Queen cage, replaceable by another comb Top Bar, when HM is out and about.
Mini-NUC Top Bars to be removed and strapped underneath the top bars of full-size foundation-less frames or full length Top Bars of 6-'frame' NUCs when the Queen is proven.

The only thing I'm stuck on right now is the ventilation - I want these mini-NUCs to sit on grass, but I don't want to attract ants. So it's either micro-mesh at low level, or standard mesh higher up. Decisions, decisions ...

LJ
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Offline danno

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #12 on: December 25, 2012, 08:13:20 pm »
50 supers,  400 med frames,   300 brood frames, 1/2 doz  4-way pallets,  2 doz all season vent covers,  about 2 doz hive top feeders,  3 doz migratory tops, finish the plumbing and  new sinks in the honey house.   Not sure what I'll do come Feb.   

Offline Joe D

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #13 on: December 25, 2012, 10:24:06 pm »
Well I am not nearly as enterprising as Danno.  I have a couple of stacks of 1x8x12's out in the crib that has been there for fourty or more years, I plan to make some medium boxs and frames.  Some more tops,inner covers and SBBs.  If I get time, already have a list of things to do.  Also get some ground ready for the BeeBee plants after they sprout and got some Laurel Cherry seed also to plant.  Good luck to yall and hope you had a Merry Christmas.



Joe

Offline CapnChkn

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #14 on: December 26, 2012, 02:23:13 am »
I'm cutting down huge amounts of honeysuckle vines, hackberry, and brush to put in an organic no-till field. 
"Thinking is like sin, them that doesn't is scairt of it, and them that does gets to liking it so much they can't quit!"  -Josh Billings.

Offline DLMKA

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #15 on: December 26, 2012, 03:19:45 pm »
6 screened bottom boards, 30 med supers, 6 top and inner covers. Buying 300 frames and need to assemble. Going to make 20 more coates style 8 frame med nuc boxes. That will bring this 2nd year keep to 15 full hives and I'll have nucs for splits and swarm traps.

Offline tefer2

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #16 on: December 26, 2012, 03:46:12 pm »
Bluebee I have not used the jumbo before but it seems to me that the bees would not have a extra top bar as a honey ceiling . This could help swarming. possibly. Do you have a source for frames. i may need to build them.

I was told that you could still special order frames and foundation from Dadants. You will have to call the main office in Hamilton, IL.

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #17 on: December 26, 2012, 06:45:28 pm »
well just finished my over sized solar melter. see my post in equipment. built 30 bottom boards, 50 deeps.150 mediums,and 200 shallows.30 migratory tops. Foraged two new sets of cutout tools. 20 butcher block cutting boards. 12 candle dipping frames. made 200 hand dipped candles. still working on building the honey house. ( and will be for about another 3-4 months.).


John 

Offline wadehump

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #18 on: December 26, 2012, 07:08:16 pm »
Nothing bee related did all of that in the fall, Now i just treat the roads and fight the snow and ice and sleep :roll:

Offline my-smokepole

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Re: What are you building
« Reply #19 on: December 27, 2012, 09:22:07 am »
So what did you forge
David
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anything