I did not take kindly of being skunked yesterday so I woke the kids up at 7:00 AM and told them I want a chance to redeem myself. I made a quick trip into town for a couple of dozen minnows and headed back to the creek. A cold front was moving coming in and I wanted to at least get a couple of hours of fishing in before it did.
And yes I did redeem myself, this time being the only one catching fish and of course nobody brings the camera when I am on the fish. Just like yesterday they were all to small and were returned back to the creek to grow up.
That front did blow in and when it did the temp dropped to the 30's. I refused to sit around the house any more so I grabbed my buddy Dav and we went to the hardware store to buy some materials and then spent the rest of the day in his shop (The Sac) building bee hives.
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| This is a Top Bar Kenya design mixed with a design from another and some of our own . |
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| These are the Top Bars with a 1"X16" strip for the comb builder base. |
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| The 44" base holds 28 Top Bars and you can see this one is not a front loaded like most Kenya's are. The 3/8"X6" slot on the side is where the bees will come and go. |
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| We chose the flat top due to nothing more than ease. We also put them on legs to keep them up out of the grass. I chose not to put in a observation window in the side on this first model because I want to get some bee experience to know what I am looking at or for. |
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| Both of them together fully loaded. One is mine and one is Dav's |
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| If it gets above freezing tomorrow, we plan to paint. |
Most of this wood was on the cull rack at Lowe's and was purchases at .50 cents each. The paint was in the miss matched basket and bought at $1.00 The breakdown below shows that it is ok to be a cheapo.
Materials
Retail Picked Savings
3 - 1X12X8 $90.00 $1.50 $88.50
4 - 2X4X8 Treated $12.00 $2.00 $10.00
3 - 2X2X2 Treated $9.00 $1.50 $7.50
14- 1X2X8 $21.00 $21.00 $0.00
Plywood $18.00 $1.00 $17.00
Screws $5.00 $5.00 $0.00
Paint $20.00 $2.00 $18.00
Total $175.00 $34.00 $141.00
We built two standing bee hives for $34.00 with a savings of $141.00, now being a cheapo is not bad at all.
Redneck,
ReplyDeleteMy offer was genuine. If your coming through South Central MT we'd be glad to have you and your wife visit. Coffee is on until around 10am, then there is always iced tea( sweet if you like it that way*wink*) Just let us know when you are thinking of hitting the road.
Blessings,
Kelle
BTW,
ReplyDeleteVery nice topbar hive. I'd love to have a hive but it seems like it's hard to overwinter the bees here. A friend of ours has lost hives two winters in a row( and they wrapped and insulated them, adding extra sugar water to be sure they didn't starve) I'm going to talk to a local apriary this Spring and pick their brain.
Good Luck with yours, having your own honey will be awesome.
Kelle, I did not know they made any other type of tea but sweet. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment on the hive. This is my first time at this so I expect some problems. I plan to get with the local bee club for pointers.
And, when summer gets a little closer and if the stars and moon are aligned just right than I will let you know on the road trip.
Looking forward to it! Praying it all aligns for you both :o)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Kelle
I love your design but was wondering about the rain how is it kept out looks like it would run into the hive and then if it got cold enough would freeze the bees do they fly in from the top or bottom
ReplyDelete