# Bee Trailer



## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

I have my first trailer almost finished. It is 16 ft long 8 ft wide and 7ft high inside and is built on an old camper frame. The hives are 20 inches by 24 inches and holds standard deep frames. The hives are 17 frames deep and 3 frames high with a 18 by 24 Plexiglas door on the inside. I have a 36 in walk in door on the front end and a 4 foot walk way between the hives. The trailer is built on 3/4 in plywood with 7/16th siding and 1 1/2 in Styrofoam insulation on sides and top. I have a screened bottom that is 1 1/2 in off the floor and a double screen between the top and bottom hive and a 2 in by 12 in screened vent on the top. I have 12 colones on bees in the trailer at this time to see how they do this winter. I asked lots of questions and got ideas and suggestions from many people but can already see things that I would do different on the next one. I have a 28 ft trailer frame setting here to be cut down to 18 or 20 ft and hope to have it done before spring. The 16 ft trailer has 36 hives and the 20 ft one would have 52 and Im not sure I wont that many in one yard. My main goal for putting the bees on a trailer is so I can move them easily throughout the summer from one flow to another without so much work and by myself. Iv asked the local bee club for some of the more experienced bee keepers to look at the trailer and make some suggestions before I start the next one and the only response I got was its not going to be me so Im on my own. I believe its a good idea for honey production but not for pollination because its not practical to move the trailers long distances as you could with smaller hives on flat bed trucks. I cut a 2 ft by 3 ft window into the walk in door so I could open the window next summer for ventilation and found out real fast that that was a mistake. The bees covered the Plexiglas doors trying to go to the light and I had to cover the window to keep it dark inside. Im trying to get pics down loaded but doing to good at it.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

I think it's a fabulous idea and commend you on your work to build it and give it a try. I've seen videos of similar setups from foreign countries and may I make a small suggestion from what I've seen? The ones I've seen videos of have a peaked roof with windows at the roof that can be tilted open so that bees can get out from hive inspections when bees will be flying. They also give light for the beekeeper to work by. Other than that, I have no suggestions but think it's great and you inspire me to maybe make up one for myself. Hope you get the pictures figured out as I'd love to see them.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

I tried to make one for the same reason, I can easily move the hives to a couple different locations during the summer. I simply can't do it by myself without something like this set up.

But since I don't know how to weld (And my husband gives me the evil eye when I tell him I want to learn) had to have it modified by someone else. It wasn't quite right and I have not used it yet.

I do plan to finish it this winter though. First thing to do is cut off the horizontal bar that was welded on at teeth level. Add a couple heavier vertical side supports instead for welded wire stability. Sides are 5' high, made from galvanized livestock panels sold at most farm stores.

It still need d rings to hook my electric wires to for bear protection. Finish painting with cold galvanized and it will be usable. I already have my solar charger set up.


Heres the rough draft:
trailer deck is 6 1/2' x 14'. Not quite as big as I wanted but it was cheap. It isn't fancy but is sturdy and pretty well built.


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## kramerbryan (Oct 30, 2013)

hvac how about some pics?


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Lauri said:


> But since I don't know how to weld (And my husband gives me the evil eye when I tell him I want to learn) had to have it modified by someone else. It wasn't quite right and I have not used it yet.


My wife went and took a class private from a welder in CA and now she is a welding fiend.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>I tried to make one for the same reason,

How are you going to setup the hives on the trailer?


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

Lauri - Don't forget to keep a ball lock on there when sitting on site. Lots of folks would see that as an invite to start keeping bees.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

Looks like a good solid trailer, Mine has 36 permanent boxes built on it and I don't plan on taking the bees off the trailer, just moving them. I'm hoping to be able to harvest the honey and do inspections without lifting heavy hive boxes. With the removable Plexiglas doors I can slide the frames out from each level and replace them without all the work. I have two entrance disks to lock the bees in on each hive for moving them and am adding 12 volt LED lighting and a 12 volt fence charger too. Lots of little things that I would like to change on the next trailer. Need to come up with a better way to feed or water the bees. I'm thinking about a 10 or 12 inch pipe up high with a gravity line to each hive.Need to give this idea a little more thought.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Single row down each side. Probably transport with rigid foam between them. Then remove the foam once it is parked if the weather is warm enough. I already have the foam for overwintering, and when pulled out you can easily seperate box's for inspections. It's close together but I can get my hands in between to work them.
Something like this.










It's what I am thinking anyway. I may change my mind once I start to load them though. We'll see.

I have a lot of double deeps overwintering that can go. With 8 frame deeps I _Might_ get 10 on each side.

I already have a couple yards on private property behind locked gates.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

Iv been trying to add pics for three days and keep coming up with download failed. Sorry but Im not very good on a computer and not doing something right.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

(Rader can likely cite the pix tutorial) The in-forum pix software is twitchy. It is far easiest to host the pix on the "Photobucket" site. 
1. go to photobucket (do a google search), create a log-in, select upload button and drag and drop 


2. copy the IMG tag (accessible by clicking on your upload, and clicking on the line with the tag)


That lets photobucket do all the hosting and inserting. Works spiff.

On the trailer -- 36 hives x 200 lbs is 3.5 tons, plus the trailer weight. We are talking high Class III- Class IV hitch and a big truck.

I did a little utility trailer for custom pollination. Two issues -- orchard owners wanted scatter drops rather than a single location, and someone stole the trailer (and the bees). If you are just moving them to pasture this won't have my issues, but lock down the hitch.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

If you are getting "Failed" messages when trying to upload photos to Beesource, the most likely reason is that your photos are too large. The image must be no more than 800x800 pixels and no more than 195Kb file size. If your photos exceed ANY of the limits above, the upload will fail. Resize the photos to a smaller size, or alternatively you can upload to a hosting service like Photobucket that JWC mentions above. 

Most photo hosts can automatically deal with oversize images. Once you have copied the Photobucket "IMG" link mentioned by JWC, you can just paste that link in your Beesource post, and the photo will then display _in-line_ in your post.

Many image manipulation programs can do photo resizing, but if all you want to do is get the image small enough to work within the limits above, a free online photo resizing site is easy to use. Here's one:
http://www.resizeyourimage.com/


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

JW, The trailer has a 10000 lbs hitch beefed up frame and is pulled with a one ton diesel pickup. I have 5000 lbs stabilizer jacks on the four corners that I can easily lift it off the tires to level and stabilize it. I don't believe the weight will be a problem. I am a little worried about someone stealing the trailer. I am installing strip LED lighting, a 7 inch 12 volt fan on a 8 in vent and a 12 volt fence charger hooked to a deep cycle battery inside the trailer. Smoking the bees inside the trailer got a little strong so I added the fan to the vent on the back of the trailer and open the door and no more smoke. Good advice on the hitch lock, thanks.


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## TimW (May 15, 2013)

I also had thought about wrapping chain thru the wheels and axles and locking it to make it even more of a hassle to steal. This would be in addition to the hitch lock.

Or you could take a couple tires off.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

With a 12 volt system on board I wonder how expensive a GPS would be? If it was stolen you mite get lucky and recover it.


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

The next step to my beekeeping endeavor is to get a trailer that can be wired for bears and then do some migratory odfrank ninja beekeeping.:thumbsup:


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## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

Some picture would be great.

I think trailers are a great idea. My idea is to have hives permanently mounted on the trailer. I may take them off in winter if I find time Ha!!!! I have one 95% finished. It is 8 x 5 tandem box trailer . My climate here is quite mild and no bears. I have welded two each side for the hives to sit on and a rail underneath with circles to attach tie down straps. I use 8 frame hives and can get 5 hives on each side. The trailer does not have brakes so have to limit what I carry. Technically without brakes my total load can only be 750 kg less the teh trailer weight so a payload of 400 kg. The trailer cost me $200 to purchase (licensed) but did not require a lot of work to renovate and then modify. I think about $500 all up. With 10 hives I don't have to get too much more honey to pay for itself.

My first trailer still needs a lot of work on. An unlicensed tandem boat trailer for $40. Probably end up cost over $500 as well. My third trailer cost $300 (unlicensed). A tandem pontoon trailer. I will have a working area of 5 metres and is 1.8 m between the mud guards. Needs a bit of repair then modification to take hives. I think this will take 16-20 hives depending on how I configure the hives. 

Boy' do I hate shifting bees. 

I'll try and post pictures when complete.


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## GreenWay (Mar 30, 2014)

I have a future plan to do this project as well. In our part of the world you can pick up landscaping trailers very cheap in the winter time. My plan is to floor mount t post acceptors into the four coners so I can stretch the electric wire taunt enough or maybe just electrify the whole frame. I am a year or two away from this project but really enjoyed all of the thoughts expressed in this thread. Cheers to you all.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

I was hoping to show you something well built & unique, but thought you might as well see my struggles too. My trailer would probably be good for transporting nucs and packages, but I don't do that, nor do I ever intend to. 

For about two seconds I thought about having hoops welded on top to support a tarp, but it would totally look like, well, you know.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Friends unfinished bear/bee trailer, this was a commercial gardening trailer:



Harvest day on my bee trailer: The hives face in, there are sideboards, I work from the outside. Every second hive is missing.


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## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

The problem is that cordless grinders can do a very quick job.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

sweetas said:


> The problem is that cordless grinders can do a very quick job.


I doubt that many bears carry grinders. 
But probably a determined bear could tear open this trailer. They can tear doors off of cars.


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

Oliver,

What are you using to hold the hives in place? A W-pallet clip? http://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/13/Hives-Components/Accessories/4071/W-Style-Pallet-Clip

It seems to me something like the W or U pallet clips would work great. I use upper entrances so would just use the trailer floor as the bottom board. It wouldn't be hard to build a bottom board onto the trailer bed.

Tom


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

Trying again to get photos to load. Would really like to share what I have and get some opinions.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)




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## beecavalier (Jan 30, 2014)

Great thread...and it's a wonder more beekeepers don't use them...we used to run 800 - 900 hives on trailers...10'x52' ...36 hives/trailer...and the rest of our operation on the ground...the ones on the ground were always the last to be worked. Anyone who has used these know the benefits.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

If this comes up it should be of the bees through the plexiglass from inside the trailer.


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

Trailers/wagons are a great idea for a variety of beekeeping situations.

In the 1990's, Kentucky was trying to transition from growing tobacco, to raising watermelons, pumpkins and other vine crops as a farming alternative. The AG Department was pushing for pollinators to help the vine crop producers. They made available cost share grants, and I made 2 pollination wagons. I used 20 ft. farm wagons and mounted 20 hives on the wagons, secured them with turnbuckles and cables, 10 hives on each side faced outward , worked the hives from the rear, down the middle. When the watermelon bloom was over, the hives stayed there until they were pulled into pumpkin patches as the first blooms appeared. When the bloom was over they were pulled back to a bee yard, the hives unloaded, and the wagons placed in the barn for Winter. We estimated a wagon would last 20 years as they would be left outside for 3 to 5 months each year.

Unfortunately the vine crop project did not prove profitable for the farmers, and the Association folded. So did the pollination contracts, but, i got to keep the wagons. It was a good concept, the farmers just could not raise enough watermelons/pumpkins that would grade, and distribution/sell was a huge factor.

But, I do like the concept of using trailers/wagons, for the small to medium size beekeeping operations. Those too small to afford forklifts, pallets, large trucks, and workers.

cchoganjr


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

As others have said, moving hives by yourself can be a problem especially as we get older that's why we want them on a trailer. I can hook to a trailer and move it several miles from one flow to another and take them home in the fall without a lot of heavy lifting. Harvest can be done at any location or at home with 17 deep frames per level and three levels available. The pic shows a shallow honey frame that I'm letting the bees clean out before replacing with all deeps. I too hope the trailer will last many years with outdoor siding painter and a metal roof. The trailer is insulated with 1 1/2 in of styrofoam and the entrances is off the ground with a 6 in offset to keep the winter wind from blowing straight into the frames. My first experience at harvesting honey out of the trailer worked good but Iv came up with several things I would like to change on the next trailer.


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

I had a much smaller single axle trailer, I just put it on blocks and removed the tires.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

Im not sure how long the tires will last sitting around all year but this shouldn't be any different than a camp trailer. Im also hoping that this trailer being built up on a frame with a good roof on it will out last my hives that sets on the ground.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

TWall said:


> Oliver,What are you using to hold the hives in place? A W-pallet clip? It seems to me something like the W or U pallet clips would work great. I use upper entrances so would just use the trailer floor as the bottom board. It wouldn't be hard to build a bottom board onto the trailer bed.Tom


I have two styles of two hive pallets and use w/clips. I wanted to be able to remove the bees from the trailer if necessary. One style is screened pallets and the other is just 1 1/8" plywood with runners and rails for the boxs to sit on.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

hvacrich01 looks pretty neat! I've watched several videos online with trailers like that and always thought it was a neat idea. I do have one question though. It looks like there is a lot of space between your top frames and the bottom frames. Won't the bees build a lot of extra comb in that area?


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

Yes, way to much room. I built for all deep frames with 1 in between the bottom and second frame for a queen extruder. That is a frame from a honey supper I had on their hive this summer and I'm letting them clean it out before removing and replacing with deeps. I just moved the frames from my lang boxes to the permanent trailer boxes about three weeks ago. I hated moving them this late in the season but couldn't get the trailer ready any sooner. I really wanted to know how they are going to do over the winter before starting another trailer. One of the biggest changes I would make is to not use plexiglass for the inside doors again. Its nice to be able look in on the bees without opening the hive but the bees just covers the glass trying to get out to the light. I had to black out the window in the walkin door to stop this. Another thing is that I have two 6x14 floor vent in the center of the trailer and the yellow jackets found the vents almost as soon as I parked the trailer here so I need to put screen under these vents.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

hvacrich0 said:


> One of the biggest changes I would make is to not use plexiglass for the inside doors again. Its nice to be able look in on the bees without opening the hive but the bees just covers the glass trying to get out to the light.


The trick is to cover the outside glass with a piece of black cardboard or cloth. The velcro patch
will work to stick them together and to open it.


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## hvacrich0 (Aug 25, 2014)

My quick fix was a garbage bag and duct tape. Duct tape fixes almost everything.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

-hvacrich0 how about some move photos and info on your trailer set up.


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## Sinkholebee (Nov 8, 2015)

I have my bees on trailers, whatever size I find. When I can I place hives facing out with a walkway in between, they are placed with about 6 inch's between hives. In between every two hives I put a treaded rod and put a bar with a hole in center that slides over rod.Then when transporting bees I have a nut on rod and tighten it down, after a few miles I stop and retighten. From that point I run 40-50 mph until time to stop. We move at night and never close up hives. OH yes , 0n rear of trailer we have a triangle safety sign with live honeybees painted on .


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Here's how mine finished up.
Sides extended with 6' 6" clearance under the top. 6' x 14' deck holds about 20 hives-single rows down each side. I load them with a fork lift from the back , secured individually with ratchet strap and use a hand cart to place them. That aluminum ramp is long enough I can wheel them down by hand:













































I don't go down the road with this tarp on, but it keeps the deck dry when parked. 
It also makes a nice dry work area when out on the field.

Here's a friend helping me with a few larger hives:









I left the first load on a friends property, will have a few more out yards before leaving any hives on the trailer permanently.
This is about 20 hives here, the same number that will fit on the trailer.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I've noticed that you use the osb composite particle boards to house
your bees inside. How are the hive boxes (compartment) holding so far?


Composite particle boards/hives:


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## Sinkholebee (Nov 8, 2015)

Ours are flat bed trailers, we run screen bottoms so we leave out a space under the hive of the trailer for ventilation .In our area, we do not have bears so no sides or top


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Welcome to Bee Source, Sinkholebee!

When it rains do you cover the trailer and hives too?
What about the snows. Do you have them also?


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