raised hive stands and pests

[danno]

I will be starting with 5 or 6 hives back in my fields this coming spring.  I was considering building a treated lumber platform to get them off the ground maybe a ft to 18".  I know this will help with weed control and skunks but will it have any benifit with insect pests.  I could spray or sprinkle insecticide around the legs

[pdmattox]

Getting them off the ground will definately make it easier to work and inspect them. It will also help with smaller animals. I don't think it will help keep wax moths or small hive beetles away but if you use screen bottom boards the mites will fall well away from the hive. Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Hopeful]

I went with the six blocks of cement (three pairs) and a sheet of plywood trick. Seems okay so far. I am currently developing a portable apiary that is self-contained so that for my bees that are 75 miles away I can leave the trailer and then just come back and visit, and all my accessories will be there in locked metal "tool"  boxes. I can build it with hive placements and hold down hooks so that all I have to do to move them is strap them to the individual hive placements. Might be just the thing for the guy who cannot afford a forklift and a semi, but wants to be able to easily move his bees. There are more ideas that go with it, but that is the gist of it.
WDYT?

[Kimbrell]

I only have four hives right now.  My son built concrete slabs for each of my hives.  They are rectangles with enough room on the long sides to set down any tools I am using.  I used concrete blocks two high on each side for height.  It really cuts down on mowing the area; and I can tell easily if I have an ant problem.  The slabs are just slightly slanted.  It  makes the hives easier to work because they are on a hillside. 

[tig]

i use concrete hallow blocks which are 6 inches high.  they're raised 18 inches off the ground which helps with my back so i don't have to stoop too low to inspect.  i have wooden stands which i use for putting the supers down on which are really the handiest thing to have since they're lightweight and easy to carry from box to box.

the concrete blocks are slanted downwards slightly to help prevent rainwater from accumulating on the bottom boards.  we brush used engine oil on the blocks to help control ants.  they don't control wax moths at all.  i don't use pesticides because i don't want the bees exposed to any pesticide, and i dont know if they would help with small hive beetles since we don't have that here.....YET!

i really strongly suggest having a couple of those wooden stands.  if you have to lift filled supers off, you could put them on the stands without having to strain your back big time.

[JP]

Danno, I elevate my hives. Its tough keeping them bug free if they're on the ground. Its easier for weed control if they are up as well. Make sure your hives are closed up when you use weed or bug spray.

Sincerely, JP

[Michael Bush]

I have mine 3 1/2" off the ground.  I still have to put supers on with a step ladder in a good year.  How do you people get by with hives that are already 18" off the ground!?  That's a two box handicap! :)

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/Stand1.jpg

This one's on a hill so the downhill side is about 10" off the ground and I think that's too high...

[Hopeful]

Michael,
Call m a pessimist, but if I get three full supers on a double brood box I'll be happy. When I bought my hives in October, I got 42 supers for 13 hives, but many of the upper supers were empty or close to it. Some of them had two empty supers on top. I gt 400 lbs of honey for 42 supers on 13 hives. I am thinklng this is not much considering that some people I know get 100 lbs per hive. There does not seem to be much late sprong and early summer forage that is ideal for bees here, even in OKlahoma. Sure, there is alfalfa in abundance but it gets cut and baled before or just as it blooms. My best bet here locally is likely soy beans or sorghum. But both of those are late in the summer and early fall. We have peaches close by, but they blossom very early. Right now, I just do not see a mid spring nectar source unless the bees find it themselves somehow. Anyway, my hives being too high would be a good problem to have, right?

[JP]

I forgot to add that you don't want to go too high off the ground because your hives will grow in elevation in a good flow and its tough removing supers from a ladder.

16-18", JP

[tig]

we rarely use more than one super per box.  having 2 supers on is very unusual so having it 18 inches off the ground plus a super on top isn't really that high.  honeyflow is stop/start and can last from 6 to 8 months but it isn't anything like honeyflows in the USA which are intense over about 2 months.  we harvest one to 2 frames per box each time then reinsert those after extraction to have the bees fill up again.  its a more laborous process here.

[mlewis48]

 I have all of my hives on treated lumber stands that are 12" off of the ground. Under the  stands I layed down plastic and put gravel down so that I would not have to worry about the weed control around them. I have done this in both of my yards. This year, it seemed that the skunks were in over drive in this area. Also it helps the back out by not having to bend down as much. With the drought that we had this year, I did not have to worry about the suppers being too tall. I hope that is a problem this year. Good Luck with you new hives and I hope that Spring will get here, SOON!
                                            Marcus

[asprince]

We had such a dearth last year that I was forced to move my hives from place to place to follow the flow. Moving hives BITES a big one. My mentor is a pollenator and has his hives mounted on trailers. He gave me a trailer that will hold 12 hives or 24 nucs or any combination. It is equipped with hold downs. This has worked out good for me. The hives sit in pockets directly on the outer edge of the  trailer floor. I work them from the center. The trailer bed is about the same height as my truck bed so loading and unloading hives is easier. I plan to park them at a nursery tree farm in the spring (acres of maple, poplar, hollie, and scads of other blooming trees) soybeans and cotton for the summer, and gold rod for the fall. I keep them in my back yard during the winter so I can easily feed them if necessary. Of course since I am now mobile, those plans are flexible.

Even with the trailer, I sill have issues with ants. I plan to pretreat the spot where I will park the trailer.

Steve   

[Drone]

First, let me say, if I need to use a ladder to add or remove supers I will be very happy. After my fist season of BK'ing, I did a lot more bending down than reaching up, if you know what I mean.

I like the idea of the plastic sheet and gravel under the hives. Any idea if this will keep the SHB population down along with the weeds?

Also, for those of you that are using cinder blocks, I had originally oriented my block in a way that had the holes running up and down (from the ground up to the SBB), but I flipped them over when I saw all of the nasty critters thriving in the cool dark recesses. I had an out of control SHB problem and I think this was a contribuiting factor. Just thought I'd mention it.

MB - I noticed that you have the bricks on top of your hives oriented in a very deliberate way. Care to share the "code"?  8-)

-John

[Jerrymac]

If mine get to tall I have the tailgate of my pickup. Just back up to the hive.

[Brian D. Bray]

I forgot to add that you don't want to go too high off the ground because your hives will grow in elevation in a good flow and its tough removing supers from a ladder.

16-18", JP

I make my hive stands as low to the ground as possible--maybe 6 inches high.  I use 3-5 medium boxes for the basic hive, depending on the queens production and then 1-2 supers.  Since I often have to work from a wheelchair, height can soon become a insurmountable barrier.  I pull the harvest supers when full and mostly cut comb and crush and strain.

[steveouk]

I think i'll just put mine on a few cement blocks for now, i can see the weight and height being an issue. I thought about putting concrete slabs down around the hives in order to keep the weeds down or i might consider black plastic

[Michael Bush]

>MB - I noticed that you have the bricks on top of your hives oriented in a very deliberate way. Care to share the "code"?

It's easy enough to invent your own.  Mine is this:

Brick flat oriented the same as the hive, everything normal.  Brick on edge, queenless but has a cell.  Usually I alternate widthways and lengthways by the week so I can tell which ones are in which batch.  A brick on end means it needs something done pronto.  It's either hopelessly queenless, needs to be fed, needs supers, or something.

The angled ones on edge were walk-away splits that I didn't give a cell to, but I'm hoping they will raise a queen.

Sometimes you just make it up as you go.  :)

[wayne]

  I use steel box channel posts across 8 inch cinder blocks. On the ground I use used truck mud flaps. Cheap and easy to get. They settle a little around the blocks and oil will pool around the base for ants. Weeds get choked out by the mats also.
  The channel is used sign posts that I use just wide enough for a couple hives.
   A pass with the leaf blower cleans the mats about once a month or so.