The Quack Shack

[Miss Lydia]

We recently had an unfortunate event when the beehives tipped over from their stand because of rain. The stand's legs have a small footprint so they generate a lot of pressure on the soil surface and when the soil got wet... they just sank in (eventually).

So I had to come in to replace the stand with a better one and also put the hives back into a normal position. They are full of honey and I work with bees alone... so it was necessary to break the hives up and move box by box. In a swarm of annoyed bees. In a full suit. During a series of 35 C days

Everybody survived, including the bees.

I bet that is some awesome-tasting honey. I love good raw honey.
Great to hear all survived including the bees. lol

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Minus the fast part they sound like blow flies, which is what causes all the sheep death deverstation in Aust. Fly blown sheep are no fun. They get into hatching eggs too

I read about the horrific faith that these flies deliver to sheep (not only) in Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calliphoridae#Myiasis
There are dozens of different species in that fly-family and they are all more or less disgusting in their eating and mating habits. I blame the unusual early start of the hot and humid season for this year's large numbers. The ducks, ducknagers and ducklings love them though.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We recently had an unfortunate event when the beehives tipped over from their stand because of rain. The stand's legs have a small footprint so they generate a lot of pressure on the soil surface and when the soil got wet... they just sank in (eventually).

So I had to come in to replace the stand with a better one and also put the hives back into a normal position. They are full of honey and I work with bees alone... so it was necessary to break the hives up and move box by box. In a swarm of annoyed bees. In a full suit. During a series of 35 C days

Everybody survived, including the bees.

Good that everybody made it out alive! I too work with the bees alone, even the dux take off when they see me putting on the veil…

I don't use hive stands for that exact reason, add the local raccoon population to that picture. They have learned to rock a beehive back and forth until it either falls apart or topples over.
I have my two hives on two landscaping timbers (treated wood) that i laid on top of two cinder-blocks. This construction has a lot of advantages:

• The blocks distribute the weight over a larger area, so they won't sink into the soil.
• Those blocks are porous and before i brought them outside is soaked them in a permethrin solution, then dried them out again. The bees won't sit down on the blocks, but other insects, especially ants would have to crawl over the blocks where they are poisoned. I lost one of my first hives to ants two years ago)
• You can mow the grass under that hive stand easily. It is important to keep the grass away from the hives so that nothing can crawl up there.
• four cinderblocks = $8, two landscaping timbers = $12 ⇒ $20 for a stand that can hold four to five hives, at least three when they are really loaded with honey (three+ supers)
• Easy dis-/assembly when you need to move everything
• To secure them, the hives can be strapped down with a single strap and locked into place

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Btw: Y'all remember Ralphie's Honey Factory thread?
Its still active even though the Dux Eradication Specialist is no longer present.

 

[Muscovy Wunda]

I miss him, and Bob, and Chris, and the other Chris.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I miss them too

 

[Supercow]

Good that everybody made it out alive! I too work with the bees alone, even the dux take off when they see me putting on the veil…

I don't use hive stands for that exact reason, add the local raccoon population to that picture. They have learned to rock a beehive back and forth until it either falls apart or topples over.
I have my two hives on two landscaping timbers (treated wood) that i laid on top of two cinder-blocks. This construction has a lot of advantages:

• The blocks distribute the weight over a larger area, so they won't sink into the soil.
• Those blocks are porous and before i brought them outside is soaked them in a permethrin solution, then dried them out again. The bees won't sit down on the blocks, but other insects, especially ants would have to crawl over the blocks where they are poisoned. I lost one of my first hives to ants two years ago)
• You can mow the grass under that hive stand easily. It is important to keep the grass away from the hives so that nothing can crawl up there.
• four cinderblocks = $8, two landscaping timbers = $12 ⇒ $20 for a stand that can hold four to five hives, at least three when they are really loaded with honey (three+ supers)
• Easy dis-/assembly when you need to move everything
• To secure them, the hives can be strapped down with a single strap and locked into place

Yup, that's the new stand here as well - concrete blocks with concrete pillars laid over them.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yup, that's the new stand here as well - concrete blocks with concrete pillars laid over them.

That's the next level. Did you pour these concrete pillars yourself? The concrete fence posts you can buy here don't have enough rebar inside to hold a lateral load.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I miss him, and Bob, and Chris, and the other Chris.

Did anybody ever figured out what happened with @Trimurtisan - the initiator of this thread?

 

[Supercow]

They are store-bought but yes, they are reinforced. There used to be 10 hives on them (on 3 blocks altogether) at one time so those are quite strong enough.