# Suggestions for Hive Stand : One each or longer?



## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

Two hives set on two pressure treated 8' 4x4s on 8x8x16 concrete blocks (two high)


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## MDS (Jan 9, 2011)

ccar2000 said:


> Two hives set on two pressure treated 8' 4x4s on 8x8x16 concrete blocks (two high)


What about using the 4x4 posts kind of like one would build a decks posts. Maybe bury them slightly so they don't move around and the front would be lower than the back "rails" so water would run off. Then nail 2x6 across the length of the stand for maybe 8 or 10' long stands. Should allow for whatever height is best. 

By the way, how far away should a second bee yard be placed? I'm also thinking about running a few nucs placed about 50 yards away from my other hives.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

When using long stands or any stand that holds more than 1 hive you will have issues disturbing the others when working another. Smoking the entrance of all hives on that stand before working any of them greatly reduces the disturbance. You may have to resmoke them all again as time passes. 

Shipping pallets can usually be found for free and will last plenty of season. You can put up to 6 hives on each pallet of the common sizes. 

Every year I have hives that need to get supered up to 6 ft tall. I wish it was all of them but it is only a few. Now if I had those hives on a stand only 1 ft higher I would need a step ladder to safely get the top super off. Not that taking a 65 lb super off a 6 ft high stack of stinger armed insects standing on a ladder is safe.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

To me the hard part is getting them level. So I make a stand that holds 14 eight frame hives and level it once for 14 hives. Also I can crowd them up against each other for winter to stay warm.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

I use cinder block supporting a couple of horizontal treated 2 x 4, six to eight feet long. Keep the block about 12 to 16" in from the ends of the 2xs. I don't have problems with the 2xs bowing if I keep the colonies partially over the block piers. I use enough block to raise the hives higher than most skunks will go (about 1'). Level side to side and slight slope forward. I keep 2 (or 3 in a pinch) hives on each stand, or 7 or 8 nucs.

I have not noticed any issues disturbing the neighbor hive on each stand. 

Richard


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

I keep two colonies on each stand. Buy one 10' PT 2x4. Cut into two 4' pieces and two 1' pieces. Nail the 1' pieces between the 4' pieces 1' from each end. 

Stand goes directly on ground. Easy to level. Easy to manage colony...you can tip hive backwards onto its back to take apart...no prying with your back in a twisted shape. Keeps hive top lower when supers are on. Lasts forever. More stable than using blocks in stand and easy to move about the yard or from yard to yard.


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## devdog108 (May 7, 2009)

I use 2x6x8's and put braces every 24 inches for support. They are 18 inches wide and I hold 5 hives per. Never had an issue disturbing one while working on another. Matter of fact, i use the one next door to put my lids, frames and or boxes on. Cheap, easy and effective. I used white pine last spring and added this heavy leftover deckstain to stain them.....works and looks great!


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## Beadtalker (Jul 12, 2010)

If you use sbb, do you need to lower the front for drainage. Won't water that flowed in go right through the screen?


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

If you use long stands (I do) it can be kind of aggravating to work the ones that aren't on the ends. M. Palmer's suggestion sounds awful good to me.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

Michael- Do skunks bother you up there? I like your stands for cost and simplicity, but the skunks down here get pretty active scratching up the hives, and it is for that reason I have them up.

Richard


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## hemichuck (Oct 27, 2009)

I do a couple of different things.I have a bunch of metal and wood skids that will hold 2 hives each








I also use old pallet racks which are available in various sizes but the ones I am using now are 3 ft deep and have 12 ft beams that hold 5000 lbs a pair.I can sit 5 or 6 hives on these and have plenty of room left to work.
I also get plastic pallets at work sometimes that will hold 2 or 4 hives according to the way you face them.


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

I have several freight pallets that I have hives on. Level the pallet and sit 4 hives on it. However, the downside is that you can't get sun on all the hives - 2 hives are always in the shade of others.

I also make some hive stands similar to Mike Palmer. They are cheap and easy to build. I use regular 2X3 or 2X4's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLDavYxX6R4


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Here are pictures of mine.
http://bushfarms.com/beesmisc.htm#hivestand


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

Having an apiary on the slope I found cement blocks to work very well for me.
I have to partialy burry them to different depths so I get two blocks leveled and it's good sturdy base for the hive. It is cheap too,$1/per used block, got 100 of them last spring


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

rkereid said:


> Michael- Do skunks bother you up there?


Sometimes in some yards. I used to poison or trap them. Don't bother anymore. But I really don't want my hives any higher than with the stand I use now. They get so tall with all the supers piled on top that management becomes difficult. I hate it when I have to stand on a box to get to the top of the hive.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

Michael Palmer said:


> Sometimes in some yards. I used to poison or trap them. Don't bother anymore. But I really don't want my hives any higher than with the stand I use now. They get so tall with all the supers piled on top that management becomes difficult. I hate it when I have to stand on a box to get to the top of the hive.
> 
> Around here, a stack of boxes that high would be called equipment storage.  I wish we could trade our dearths for your flows!


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

Michael Palmer said:


> I hate it when I have to stand on a box to get to the top of the hive.


This is the reason I'm getting rid of hive stands this year, sbb on the block is high enough. Two of my five hives ended up five deeps high, others four deeps high. And they are on the slope.


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## Eyeshooter (Mar 8, 2008)

Using the search function I found this previous thread that had a lot of good information. http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236494

I still use PT lumber for my stands. I first screw together a frame using 2x6 stock, then screw a couple of 2x4s into it to form the top and finally cut 4x4s for the feet. The front is 10.5" high and the back 11" to allow water run off. I level the stand by digging out a bit of dirt until the whole stand is level. STart to finish takes about 1 hour. Since the stock is all PT, the stand is very heavy and simply does not move. I've built them 6' long for 3 hives and a nuc and 8'long for more hives and space. Having several hives on a stand lets me push them together for winter.

Here's the most recent one.

John


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I most recent stands are two 4X4X8' fence posts, held together with three 2X4X24" trex cleats screwed to the bottom. I only have to saw the cleats to length and screw them on. Two inches sticking out past the bottom board for a landing, fits five hives with TC covers, and six with western covers.


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## MDS (Jan 9, 2011)

Nice! I also appreciate you providing the link to prior topics. I've figured out there are a 100 ways to do anything regarding beekeeping based on individual needs. Seeing all the examples give me ideas to use. I'm in my second year of beekeeping. I'm hooked. Doing what I'm sure others are doing. Finding better ways to do what I've done, thinking about raising a few queens and bees to expand, building my own equipment where it makes since, ect...Thanks again.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

A medium-sized bee operator in my area uses a neat setup. He buildt pallets with screened floors that can be used for pollen collection using drawers or powdered sugar mite dusting using sticky boards. He painted them instead of using pressure treated wood because of the pollen collection. He has a small flatbed, a ramp, and a pallet jack to move them. I'm probably going to build similar pallets myself, and use wedges and a level to set them.


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