The 10th frame with comb drawn and one side filled with uncapped honey and pollen. Time to add another brood box.
The new hive stand from salvaged deck wood from my friend Jake, and left over paint from my house. Room for another. I built it so that a frame will hang between the outer boards when inspecting a hive.
Ok. at the least, I need to lose the gloves. I don't think a single bee landed on me. These girls are really gentle and with my arthritis I could probably use a few stings.
I have another hive ready for this stand when the feral bees in the barn wall swarm and with a little luck they will be as easy to reach as last year.
The overwintered hive is already two deeps and they are very busy. The pears are almost finished blossoming, but now the apples are in bloom. There are also lots of wildflowers. Wild strawberries carpet the hills and the camas is starting to bloom. All four hives were raking in the bounty today. I left some 1:1 on the hives to be safe, as they are making lots of brood and it looks like a week of rain coming up.
Neat looking stand. I thought about making some like that but was afraid the weight would push the legs into the ground. Around here in the Spring the ground is so wet I have seen my bird bath tip over when the soil got gushy which was why I went with the cinder blocks and 4x6's I use. Your stands look much more attractive then mine I must say.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of setting a little ready mix under each leg for that very reason. Although the weight is somewhat spread out with six legs. I guess I could also just add a couple of pressure treated 2x4's across the bottoms if it wants to settle. I hate mixing concrete.
ReplyDeleteYou should make those into kits and sell them on the interwebs
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