Tuesday 12 June 2012

Living in a Box... Some New Accommodation


It's all very well waxing lyrical about the splendour of being a beekeeper but at some point our beeless blogger does need to have some actual real-life contact with his own boxful of bees.

It does cost though.

So LandofSpike has eventually had to bite the bullet and release funds from his Empire's not particularly vast Reserves of Wealth.
Over the last few weeks Purchase Orders have been raised and orders have been placed.

Subsequently, the Post Room at Spike Towers has been kept busy receiving regular deliveries of Bee-related Equipment from a worthy array of suppliers.


It's very tempting to list all the exciting new arrivals but this post will put aside hive tools, bee brushes and smokers for the time being and deal with our Most Important Piece of New Kit...



The Hive has arrived.
It's rather smart.
It's from Finland and is called The Beebox.
It takes National frames and is made not of cedar but is lovingly crafted out of EPS.
Yes, that's Expanded Polystyrene. 
Not particularly traditional in this country, but hopefully functional, user-friendly and warm in the winter. And with any luck, the bees will love it.

LandofSpike and BKJ1 have spent some time piecing it together and painting it.
It comes flat-packed and slots easily together.

The unpainted Beebox
It currently comprises of (from the top down) a roof, an inner cover, a top feeder, 2 supers, a queen excluder, a brood box and a base with varroa mesh and tray. And a big strap to tie it down.

The Beebox has a cool entrance reducer

Modern Beekeeping recommended painting the Hive with Dulux Weathershield Smooth Masonry Paint. 
So it got several coats of the stuff in different colours for the different components.
LandofSpike thinks it looks pretty good.


How it all fits together


The boys have also been constructing a big stack of frames.
The delightfully and cunningly designed Hoffman ones.
Ten full size frames for the brood box and ten smaller frames for each super.

Frame components
Completed frame
It's a goodly task once you get your rhythm and is extremely satisfying.
BKJ1 was particularly good at it.
LandofSpike will spend some time on frames and frame making in a later post.



The Beebox, painted, but still masked up
So with the Hive now looking box-tastic the next task is to make a stand to keep it well above the ground.
LandofSpike will be lovingly handcrafting this himself.
Anyone who has seen his previous attempts at woodworking will have some idea of exactly just how magnificent this will be...





8 comments:

  1. OHHH Pretty!!

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  2. ...as long as the bees don't eat it!

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  3. Yes, that wouldn't be good. I'm hoping they won't like the taste of it.

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  4. Wonderful Spike, I'm watching this space carefully as I'll be following in your footsteps soon I hope :)
    Tariq

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  5. Thanks Tariq. Your new place is going to be perfect for bees, I think.

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  6. well done - if there's a bee home then soon there will be bees - I didn't know there was such a thing as a polystyrene hive!

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  7. Well done - and looking good in shades of beige. I have my eyes on next doors' Paulwalina tree for a hive, but it's a long game. Hope you liked the 'how to be a bee book'.

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  8. Beige was all Homebase had. So we had to work within that. They'd run out of panel pins and staples too.
    The book's great. Sad that I missed the weekend and the bee demonstration.

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