Hive Stands

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duckriverhoney...
My hive stands have changed over time, this video details how and why.
Determine what you want from a hive stand, and build it to suit your needs.

[@moosibou]

I've found that brake rotors work great for hive lid weights. They stick up enough in the center hub to make a nice handle. A lot of automotive repair places will give them to you for free as they are scrap. I've not lost a lid to wind that has a brake rotor on it.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Neat idea, thanks

[@1Tagmetals]

Love that idea

[@1Tagmetals]

@@DuckRiverHoney you lea e the frame feeders in yearly?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

No I don’t need them on mature hives except in fall if I need to get them heavier. You can leave them in year round, but they give a place for small hive beetles to hide, and the bees will not work supers directly above the feeder as readily as if they weren’t there.

[@graemediesel2936]

Your hive stands are still fancier than mine. I use a worn out 24.5 semi tire on the ground with a free used pallet on top for my stand.

[@BeeGeeTheImp]

The first step of problem solving is knowing what the problem is. Great life story!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Barry

[@rochrich1223]

I find that concrete blocks make reasonable digging/leveling tools as well as tampers. Swing the block with both hands between your widely spread feet, catch the dirt with the leading edge and knock the dirt out of the way. Slam the block down and check level. Sounds tiring but a suburban fit man can knock out a dozen stands easily.

[@kylefranz7]

I had some left over cement board that I use as shims on my cement block to level the hives.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

That’s a good idea

[@aidanquick3151]

Hi Nathan, we use bessar blocks for hive stands here. I don't bother with weed mat, I use pool salt around the hives, kills the grass and descicates the hive beetle larvae.

[@schammond8993]

This was a lot of help. It made me feel a lot better about stands as I've had the same problems. Thanks, well done.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@bobfanning6816]

Thanks for another excellent video. I use 3 columns (piers) of 2 ea 8-inch concrete blocks and 2 ea 8-foot landscaping timbers to form a bench. I put 3 hives on each stand. The reason for the 16-inch height (2 ea 8-inch blocks) is that I have skunks in my area and they will eat my bees. Hives sitting on 2 blocks + the landscaping timber are out of a skunk’s reach. I could easily place 4 hives per stand but 3 hives leave a nice work platform to place inner covers, outer covers, empty supers and the like next to the hive when I am working the hive.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Skunks can be a problem, and we have them too. I deal with it by keeping entrances smaller on weak hives.

[@donaldjones3580]

K.I.S.S. works for me. I'm at the moment converting my medium NUC boxes to deep by adding a 3-1/2" shim to the top so I don't have to mess with the entrances. I'm doing one box at a time to learn what works. These will be 2-1/2 frame mating nucs. The divider board have plastic foundation that each side will have access to on their side, thus 2-1/2 frames. BTW I'm developing a mated queen side hack. I'm also converting some brood boxes to deep. New boxes will be built as deep.

[@1Tagmetals]

Good stuff right there my friend. Keep up the good work. Thoroughly enjoy your videos.

[@michaelfike7542]

I like quick and simple that serves the purpose for me and the bees. Great Idea for the hive stands. ❤️🐝👍

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Michael!

[@russellkoopman3004]

Very helpful. This also saves money on those 4 x 4 x 12 posts that are well over $20 apiece and you still have to buy blocks. Thanks Nathan.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Lumber is nuts right now

[@woodlandharvesthoneycompanyllc]

Good video Nathan. I like all of your designs. At this time I made my stands with 8x8x16 blocks on end then put 4x4x8' front and back. Works ok but I see problems in future. Plus there is no weed barrier and leveling is a pain. On the ants I used ground cinnamon around the feeders on the inner cover. Seemed to work pretty well but I have since went to bucket feeders. Now raccoons are giving me fits. Found that a 220 conibear and a 5 gal. bucket helps with that. LoL there is always something.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Careful with the conibears, they’re unforgiving. Actually not legal for any land use in my state, but I do have a couple 330s for nuisance beavers.

[@woodlandharvesthoneycompanyllc]

@@DuckRiverHoney I know and I don't like using them. I'm a hunter but also conservationist but them rascals knock the buckets over, pull the plug out and drag the bucket off. Once they get some sugar syrup they won't stop coming back. I might have to set up a fence like a bear fence only smaller.

[@ThatBeeMan]

Telescoping covers catch a lot of wind. I use Migratory covers and I never use bricks or weights of any kind and I've never had one blow off. A migratory cover is also simpler and cheaper to build, half the number of equipment pieces and less weight to sling over the course of the day.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Very true. Telescoping will last longer and keep rain away from the boxes a little better. Tradeoffs.

[@ThatBeeMan]

@@DuckRiverHoney Last long vs painted I support. All my covers, and boxes, are wax dipped...they'll last a lifetime.

[@jhulin9018]

Nathan, Thanks for another excellent video! Also great tip on using internal feeders versus top feeders for ant issues. We used to joke at work that between cheap, fast, and quality/durable you could have any two and the inverse of the third. Looks like you got all 3 with your latest hive stand iteration. As you move more towards "sidelining", I believe efficiency and cost/benefit ratio will begin to dominate over cheap and durability. I just hope, for your sake, that the tinkering/fun of a hobbyist wont completely pass away.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Dwight, I still like to tinker but I hope it’ll be more fun stuff in the future. I’d like to build some dinner tables.

[@langstroth-obertraeger]

First i was shocked about the over engineered (German Style) construction. But it ended in a good and simple way. Greetings from abroad Gernany Gerd from Langstroth Top Bar (Oberträger) Working with Langstroth Medium, Dadant US and Langstroth Deep

[@DuckRiverHoney]

😂 thanks

[@stubbshomestead1316]

Personally I went pretty simple with 4 blocks and 2 4x4s. Then I put the 4x4s in the blocks. Now I have one stand that is blocks and metal 2x2, the metal was free otherwise do something bigger because its hard to get the bottom board on it good.

[@jack00scarecrow]

looking forward to the video where you fly fish your blue gills with a dead bee as a fly. i also have ant problems with top feeders and have made a set up very similar to yours with umbrellas to protect the oil, then i found water in the cup works just as well to stop the ants, side feeders sound like a good plan to me

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I haven’t taken up fly fishing yet, but I’d like to try it sometime.

[@lagrangebees]

I use outdoor rubber mats for weed barriers. Works well, but more expensive. Your way is something to consider as my operation grows :)

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ve used old conveyor belting as well. You used to be able to get those cheap but they’re harder to find now.

[@ThalApiFarm]

So nice stand

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Nathan when putting boxes in a row, have you ever noticed the end hives always being stronger? "First home" bee drift?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I haven’t noticed it, in fact a lot of my interior hives are stronger. I know that can be an issue though.

[@ayhandargin8795]

Go ahead, and screw the buttom board to the stand with a L bracket, it works because bees are gluing box/es to the buttom board. You don't need to worry about boxes. And I recommend you to replace Concrete Blocks with your bricks on top of your hives.

[@davidbodjanac7566]

Hi Nathan, do you have issues with Ants climbing up the legs?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I don’t make those stands any more, but yes I did.

[@cochechohoneybees1060]

Nathan, what size angle iron did you use?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I don’t remember exactly, probably 2.5x or 3x

[@tommy34442]

Always make sure that your hive are leaning towards the rear. Water will collect in the hive and the bees will leave

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I tip them slightly forward so any water that gets in can run out the entrance. You can also drill a 5/8” hole in the bottom board to let water out.

[@tommy34442]

@@DuckRiverHoney thanks for the reply. I enjoyed the video as well

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Tom

[@dcsblessedbees]

I really like your design, gives me ideas :) Ants have to be the only insects more efficient then bee. Maybe grease more of your bolts, don't be stingy? With your wind issue could run 2x2 or 2x4 cleats on the underside of your bottom boards so they slot down and lock into your stand, it's what I am thinking of doing. BIGGER bricks looks like you got some GOOD wind, least the inners stayed on. :) Have you though of latches I'm thinking of adding wire latch system to the front & backs of my hives. ---My current bench stand, uses t-post as my supports, was gona coat an area with axle grease and use an upside down water bottle to stop ants and other bugs. Putting black garden fabric and cedar chip under and around my hive stands every little bit helps. ---Thing I don't care for with in-frame feeders is they take up usable bee space, and if you don't have the wooden inserts the feeders get all warped and nasty but there are always trade offs. :) Sorry yet again my comments got long, that seems to happen sometimes. :) Ty for sharing your time, Blessed Days.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

A downside of the grease is that blowing dust will create a film over time that ants can cross. Have to watch that. Overall I think oil cups with rain shields would perform better.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

A downside of the grease is that blowing dust will create a film over time that ants can cross. Have to watch that. Overall I think oil cups with rain shields would perform better.

[@wadewoehrmann2835]

I really like your stands and T posts but you could do "out riggers" as well - broader base...

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I did that with the first version, and the riggers get in the way.

[@intheworkshop861]

Another good video Nathan. What are your thoughts on the pallets used by pro's like Bob Binnie and Ian Steppler and others? Like you, I have taken a technically sound but time consuming approach to hive stands but I think if I can scare off the termites then recycled wooden pallets might be a better option.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

If you move bees a lot then pallets make way more sense. But that’s a different scale than I want to be at because it requires a hummerbee, swinger, or bobcat to move bees. I could use my tractor with forks but would need a spotter for sure. I don’t want to move bees that much, or to get that big, so I got set up to use my hive lifter.

[@intheworkshop861]

@@DuckRiverHoney as far as I know, Bob Bonnie throws a pallet on the ground and then places hives on them. And reverse procedure for removing them. Although he does/was using a loader for loading pollinators onto semi's. You could still use your loader with pallets by just sitting the hives on the pallets?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

The pallets ARE the bottom boards, using U clips or W clips to secure the boxes. Bob has a swinger and a hummerbee, plus an electric forklift. Different scale….

[@intheworkshop861]

@@DuckRiverHoney I was wrong. Just viewed Bobs "Beehive Pallet Dimensions and Transportation Explained". And on further thought, I don't think pallets would be great here either because we have a problem with cane toads sitting at hive entrances and gorging themselves on bees.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

The mention of cane toads must mean you’re in Australia? I’ve seen some nature documentaries on what a terrible invasive they are there.

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

its funny, as you grow, you end up moving closer to what the big boys do. next step is pallets

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Don’t know that I’ll get that big, or need to move bees a bunch. I don’t intend to anyway.

[@daverowden-RowdyBeeFarms]

Mike Berry mention your name on his latest video. You probably already knew that but I thought I would let you know

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Dave, I saw it. I like Mike a lot.

[@Greasemonkeypk1]

Use a ratchet strap. Cheap ones work great

[@Peter-od7op]

I am new but I strap all my hives down

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ve done that before but it gets very inefficient as hive counts grow.