The Wonder of Bees.

[T-oddity]

I would stay well away from the Thorns top bar hive it's rubbish and generally try and avoid composite woods like plywood because of the chemicals they can contain, that said I have and do use plywood to build hives and hive parts, but do try to use reclaimed wood rather than fresh stuff.

I was going to post links to the biobees web site, but that does not appear to be accessible at the minute, so here are some links to top bar hive plans that I've used.

http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/support-fil..._a_tbh.pdf

This one gives loads of info on Warre hives

http://wasatchwarre.wordpress.com/diy-beehive-plans/

One point I would make is that these hives are not that hard to build with some basic tools, I'm not a skilled carpenter by a long shot I'm very much a jack of all trades master of none, I've just finished building a new warre hive and all its parts for less than £50 and that's using new bought in timber so unless your loaded I would not go paying the stupid prices the likes of Thorne's charge.

[TOF]

That's good to know T. It looks like I would have wasted my money had I not started this thread.

I shall spend this afternoon having a read, looks like rain has stopped play outside.

[MaryN]

I'll endorse the buzzaboutbees site - it's got loads of useful info on it. Actually, T-Oddity, I've got plans for a top-bar hive that I am sure you recommended. OH is going to build it for me - he says it is very simple to understand.

[NorthernRaider]

Don't know anything bout BEEs but I do know many types of Plywood and MDF contain stuff like fungicides, formaldehyde, solvents, wood preserves, adhesives etc that can take up to ten years to completely leach out of the two materials

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So I suggest / recommend avoiding such materials in making beehives.

[T-oddity]

Ok this is taking longer than I intended, I've been trying to post pics of my bee hive's, but just can't seem to get the attachments to work.
I'm attaching files to the post, but they are just not coming up as images, will look at hosting them on the web somewhere and then post some links.

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Ok that was weird, when I previewed the post the pics did not come up, the first pic is a Kenyan top bar hive and the second is a Warre which is the type I'm moving over to using.
Here are couple more pictures of the viewing windows in the back of the Warre.

[TOF]

That's great T-O. I've been reading and watching youtubes and I think they are the hives we will go with. I only have a small garden, but could easily find a home for 3 or 4 Warres, but only two Top Bars. I paticularly like the inspection window. Trouble is, I'd be out there watching them all day.

[Geordie_Rob]

Hi T-oddity, are the top bar hives easy enough to make? Never made anything like this before & can't afford to purchase commercial hives. Between the top bar hives & the more common hives, the top bar seemed more straight forward.

Thanks

[Geordie_Rob]

Ignore my last post. Just saw the bit where you said they aren't hard to build.

[Tartar Horde]

I'm moving next year and Bees are one thing I really want to learn how to keep. The Bee has been a constant companion in over thirty years of archery as in all that time I have always carried some Beeswax for my Bowstring as there is nothing man made that comes close in my opinion, so thank you to all the Beekeepers out there.
Some in depth information would be appreciated (maybe a different thread) telling us your routines and the like.

[T-oddity]

I'm Happy to chat and discuss anything about bee's and bee keeping, but it is an enormous subject and very much the case that you soon realize that the more you learn how little you actually know. There is a vast amount of information in books and on the internet out there, a lot of it good and a lot of it a load of crap.
I regard myself as a natural beekeeper, though there is no such thing as keeping bees naturally, but such as it is I interfere with the bees as little as possible and this comes into conflict with modern farming practices and what in mainstream beekeeping fraternity is regarded as the correct way to manage bees. Bees are susceptible to some diseases that need to be reported and bee inspectors have the right to enter your property and inspect your bees for these diseases, a very difficult thing to do in either a Kenyan or a Warre hive with out great care.
If people on here are interested or considering keeping bees, I would recommend reading as much as you can find, make contact with a local bee keeper, get an experience of opening up a hive what ever type of hive it may be, see if you are comfortable doing that, some people aren't.
If you go down the mainstream methods of bee keeping it will cost you £300 - £500 just to get started, natural beekeeping no where near as much.
Here is the link to the Bio bees web site that I was unable to post before, has loads of info on top bar hives and the forum has input from beekeepers all round the world.

http://www.biobees.com/index.php