# Hive stand. (critique please)



## HONEYDEW (Mar 9, 2007)

nice looking stands, If by high enough to avoid Va you mean Varoa then no, you can place the hives on top of the Empire State Build. they will still get Varoa...


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

I have two 8' long stands made from 2x6's... with a single cross-piece at the center. In my opinion, your stand is overbuilt as currently drawn.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

HONEYDEW said:


> nice looking stands, If by high enough to avoid Va you mean Varoa then no, you can place the hives on top of the Empire State Build. they will still get Varoa...


I meant Virginia by Va. Sorry for the confusion.



BeeCurious said:


> In my opinion, your stand is overbuilt as currently drawn.


You're absolutely correct. I over build everything I do. LOL I get it from my parents I reckon.


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## Konrad (Oct 7, 2004)

Too high...you'll have a hard time working second brood box and or honey supers.


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

Konrad said:


> Too high...you'll have a hard time working second brood box and or honey supers.


That was my thought as well. Because of combining hives, I sometimes have three deeps with supers on top of that. Mine are on concrete blocks, so only about 6-8" off the ground, and those top boxes still can get a bit high to comfortably work.


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## NDnewbeek (Jul 4, 2008)

You have no place to put boxes that you remove from the hives (either deeps or supers) in the three hive configuration. Imagine a two story hive with three supers on it next to your figure. Now imagine your figure pulling the first super off the top (it weighs 30lbs). Where is she going with it? To the ground? I have done that - you get a lot of grass and dirt in the super.

I would leave the middle open as a place to stack boxes coming off the hive being inspected.


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## Sweet Mountain (Apr 29, 2010)

My hive stand is built very similar to what you have built. Last year I built 10 hives on these stands that are 18" off the ground. My first year hives were 3 deep. As the hive got heavier the hive sank about 2" into the ground. At the end of the season the 10 frame deeps were very heavy to lift. 100 lbs. Needed two people to check the hives. I can get the tail gate of a truck within inches of the hive which helped. I built the hive stand for a single hive thinking that I could move it around if needed with the fork. A larger unit is rather stationery. With 2-3 hives on the stand how much weight do you think this stand will hold? Go to the bottom of my beeks blog and you can view the hive stands.


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## Cedar Hill (Jan 27, 2009)

Very nice work but not practical for reasons already cited. It is always much better to treat a hive as its own individual entity with its own stand - ie. two half cinder blocks. Unless you have many and are forced to palletize as the commercial beeks do for efficiency. The mere vibrations at one hive will keep the other hives on the alert all the time you are working them. As a hobbyist, you would want to set things up so that you can really enjoy working them calmly, not worrying at all about the others until you get to them. OMTCW


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Nothing at all wrong with that stand. I wouldn't even remove the expanded metal if you've already built it. It won't affect anything. I would definitely cut those legs off or dig a posthole for each leg. About 8 inches max off the ground is a good working height. All ours are on pallets, about 5 inches high. Use pressure treated wood, especially for the legs.


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## NDnewbeek (Jul 4, 2008)

Sweet Mountain said:


> Go to the bottom of my beeks blog and you can view the hive stands.


Mine are exactly the same as yours. 

Great minds and all.......!


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

The bees will not be impressed with what you have designed.

Think:
4 building(cinder) blocks(maybe 6?) + 2 landscaping timbers or 4X4s!
They load in a truck one light piece at a time. Much easier to lift and transport the individual items. They don't take up a lot of space in the truck.

Will you always have someone else to help you pick that heavy thing up and load it in the truck?
How many could you carry in one load?
How long will it take you to build the thing?

Price the blocks and wood above? LOT of money saved!
5 mins to lay it out in place and level it. Lot of time saved!

More of both for you and your bees.


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

It is a nice design but I personally prefer simplicity and mobility. Here is what I use....simple, cheap, and like mentioned above, easily moved by one person, but if that is what you want go for it, but you might consider making it shorter, hives can get high in a hurry.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

Reworked
60"L x 20"W x 10"H (27" between hives)









Thanks to everyone for the comments. Also the posts will be cemented into the ground. Haven't figured out google sketchup enough to show that effect yet. Also plan to use treated lumber. If I later decide to move the hives I can use that stand for planting trays in the spring to clear up some room in my green house.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

I was about to ask about cement and you just said so :thumbsup:
I would look at youtube maybe Fatbeeman 
what the Guy has is the post in cement and a dish or well around the base of the post to put oil or water to keep the ants and little critters from climbing
up too the hive You could First raise the area near the post then make a small
well 
I am doing something similar and above my well I am making a rain guard looks
like a dunce cap on the pole/post

good beeking 

Tommyt


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## criscojohn (Sep 11, 2010)

Hi Stephen: Nice stand. My husband built one similar to your configuration for 2 hives. It's about the same height off the ground, which makes it nice to work the hives. However, when the honey supers are on, it's way too tall for me. He made the stand sturdy enough so that I can stand and walk on it to work the hives. We put a (removable) plank of plywood on the stand (in the area of your grate) and it's very sturdy to walk on, no tipping--plus it makes a nice platform to put things on while you're working. We're expanding to 3 hives this year (possibly 4) so we've doubled the length of the frame to house 2 more hives. Still able to use the plywood plank between hives to stand on. I know the bees don't care what kind of stand you use; but being the human worker in the hive, make it so it works for you!
Chris


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## Rex Piscator (Oct 12, 2010)

If you're using Sketchup and have a copy of Google Earth as well; you can find your location in Google Earth and bring that terrain into Sketchup for ground cover...or you can use the 'terrain tools' of Sketch up to create your own ground.....in 'terrain' mode, you move the vertices, so more 'organic' shapes can be created.

The 'woman' figure is a 'component'. Replace her with the 'male' figure component, or bring in some of your own geometry[like I did] to have a 3 dimensional figure, not just a cardboard cutout.

Sketchup is great for laying out projects needing dimensions...I designed my hive stands and bottom boards in the program, and it's free[as Google Earth is as well].

Have fun!


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## Pyrotechnician (Feb 21, 2011)

I like the design, one question for all: What about ants, for those who placed their hives on concrete blocks only, how do you keep the ants out? Newbee here.... I am going to build mine like Stephen's and place the legs into empty paint cans and add some kind of oil. Comments?


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

I only have ant problems when I feed, which I don't do much. If I get them I sprinkle cinnamon around and that keeps them subdued.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

Plan to start on it tomorrow. I'll post up some pics.


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

Looking forward to them!


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Are you planning more then 3? If so make sure your location is going to work when you grow. Hate to build it and have to move it when you have them sunk in concrete. I use pallets and use 2 and the hives on top of the second one. I put 4 on a pallet or I modify them and put 2 to a pallet. Don't go too high because with supers it gets to tall to work.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

Yes I'll have more. Want to start with 2 hives my first year and expand next year. Plenty of room there for lots of hives.


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## Risky Beesness (Dec 29, 2010)

I think after this conversation, I am going to lower my stands to one cinder block high. My original thought was getting them higher due to skunks and possums, but they may be too high to work. I can use the four blocks, one high, and increase the footprint to give it more stability.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

Here are the photo I said I would head you. 
http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/my-smokepole/?action=view&current=0317111504.jpg

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b...smokepole/?action=view&current=0317111505.jpg
David


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

I've been busy and slacking when I had time so I haven't gotten the stand up yet. Plan to have it up by tomorrow afternoon though since I'm hoping the bees scheduled for Wednesday won't be delayed last minute again. Here's the frame and where it will go.



















More on my blog.


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## Stephen (Mar 2, 2011)

Here's the finished stand. Decided to use deck blocks to allow it to be moved if ever needed instead of sinking the posts.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

Looks good 
Hope they do GREAT

Tommyt


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## tenleez (Jan 23, 2016)

Searched through a number of hive stand styles and finally built a stand that will also hold frames during inspections. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

dang, that's fancy! all I did was put down cinder blocks in sort of a rectangular layout, then lay some 2x6s across the top and thought I was clever.


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## onestory (May 30, 2016)

food for thought....


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