Honey Trailer

[yes2matt]

I have a trailer frame, steel, 8x10 ft, on 12" wheels.  It used to be a camper, I think, because it has a place to mount a propane tank on the tongue. Somebody deconstructed that and repurposed the frame for basic utility, plywood floor and 2x4 rails. Then they sold to me for cheap. I used it to haul stuff, and eventually to haul compost. Well I didn't get all the compost broomed/sprayed out so there went the plywood floor! and I've now got it stripped down to the metal frame.

At the same time I notice that the bees I keep on a farm in the next county are *packed out* with forage honey, while I'm feeding these at home sugar water to get them ready for winter. And I'm wishing I could just move my bees out there.  And also a friend pulled a lot of sourwood honey out of the mountains, and not that I'm so greedy as all that, but I would like to try it.

But I'm not $eriou$ enough to get a flatbed with a piggyback. So I'm thinking why not start with just the trailer, put 8-10 hives on there, and just pull it and park it. @sawdustmkr Jim I think you do this with your trailer?

Will y'all show some pics of your bee-hauling trailer and or describe some features that you love/hate? I'm about to start putting this together and I'd like to do it "right the first time" (like I ever would).

[Bob Wilson]

I have stood on Jim's trailer as we inspected his hives. It sounds like a great idea to me.

[TheHoneyPump]

8-10 hives on the trailer, those 12? will not hold up.
Your first step is to figure out the weight capacity needed for what you want to do.  Then acquire or build a trailer that can handle that plus 50% more.
> Get the trailer to fit the need.  Do not fit the need to the trailer.  <
For 8 - 10 hives you will need 3500-5000 pound axle(s) and tough tires to go with it. That camper trailer on 12s is likely 1500 tops.
However, there is the possibility that we have entirely different concept of what a hive is in terms of size and mass.

[Acebird]

I was going to mention weight restrictions and the hassle maybe of getting it registered.  What you are thinking is doable but not worth taking the chance with 8-10 hives IMO.  I think you can spend almost the same amount of money on a used equipment trailer where the deck is rotted out.  You just got to keep looking.  I suspect a twin axle is probably over your budget but they ride so much better.  That camper trailer frame is going to bounce like a pogo stick and may destroy your hives.  You are foundationless as I recall.

[Beeboy01]

Bee trailers are a common target for thieves either for the trailer alone or the hives on it. Since you are building the trailer for bees include a way to chain or secure it to protect from being stolen as well including tie down locations to keep the hives in place.
 
 

[BeeMaster2]

Matt,
Give me a call to talk about this if you want to.
Jim Altmiller

[yes2matt]

Wow, some really good insights here, I'm glad I posted.

I had thought about security.
And I had thought about weight being just the brood box. If they put on 50-100 lbs a piece that might have a negative outcome.
I did not know that about double axles riding smoother.
And I have moved hives before but in the back of my Suburban,  which is relatively cushy compared to a trailer. And indeed my brood frames are all foundationless. So quite a bit more fragile. I might not make it to the bottom of my own drive.

Hmmm. I'll do some more thinking. In the meantime sugar is cheap. ;)

Sent from my SM-J737P using Tapatalk

[Acebird]

I did not know that about double axles riding smoother.

A double axle walks over a bump where as a single axle acts like a spring board.  If I were to use a camper trailer frame I would look for a double axle or make it a double axle.  When I was up north a tornado came through an RV park and blew a 100 or so trailers into the woods.  Many of the trailer frames were not damaged but the camper was totaled.  You could get the frames for next to nothing.  Some of them were less then a year old.