hive carrier

[mustafa]

Iam looking for a design of hives carrier to take from 10 to 15 hives each time and pulled by van or any small truck

[Ross]

Around here, 16 foot long by 7 foot wide dual axle flat bed trailers are as common as dirt. I would simply size a trailer for the number of hives you want to carry, keeping in mind the widths of the roads you need to travel. Any good welder can build it for you.

[wayacoyote]

Look for trailer frames. I don't have any "plans" to offer you, but I've seen some very interesting modifications made to john-boat and jet-ski trailers. They are mostly just square tubing with an axle, so I wouldn't expect them to be expensive. Another alternative is to look for "kit" trailers on the net. I've seen a couple of very inexpensive kit motorcycle-trailers which were mostly made of angle iron. Hound keepers are notorious for rigging up trailers for their dogs.

Last tip, check with your state transportation regs. You may be able to attach a farm-vehicle sign (the large orange triangles) if you qualify. I think there's a limit on how far from home it can legally travel, and its use must be limited to farm-work. But we don't have to have a lisence plate on the vehicle. Also, some states have a size limit before plates are required. Look into that as well when choosing.
Let us know what you find and how you set it up.
Waya

[mustafa]

yes I am thinking of fabricating a trailer as they are not available where I live so assuming the maximum weight of a hive is 40 Kg (88 lb )multiply that by 15 ( the assumed no. of hives transported at a time ). ( I am using 12 comb hives ) I am also thinking of making the trailer made of 2 parts , one moves front and back and the other remains at the feild with the hives on it at the far distination (many of them to be carried one at a time)

[wayacoyote]

Mustafa,
I'm sorry, I just noticed that you're in North Africa. My smallest hives weigh 100 lbs, if that helps. One thing that lots of people do here is to use the back end of a truck. Basically, it's the frame and axle of the truck cut loose from the body. You probably have lots of discarded trucks if things there are like here. The bed of the truck could be replaced with wood slats to hold the hives.

For leaving hives in the field, have you considered adding a boom to the trailer? This would allow you to put a number (example 4) hives on a stand (we use shipping pallets that carton boxes are shipped on) and the whole assembly lifted and swung off to the side to leave in the field. With this, you could keep hives on the trailer and use the boom to stack hives on top which will be removed in the field. This is a very common way for what we call migratory beekeeping where the hives are moved a lot.

Here's what I could found for you:
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/bkCD/Pollination/moving_colonies.html

Sorry, I couldn't find any good photos of homemade booms for you.
Good luck,
Waya

[mustafa]

thanks Waya very useful what you indicated specially the use of the frame and axle of an old truck , near me there is a damp of old cars I will visit and sea lefting the hives is not a big problem as transporting them . the thing I am not sure of is how easy is towing such a device specilly on inclined levels up to 10% inclination and is breaking system is a must on the towed device or the car breaks will do.

[Jeffrey Todd]

Hi, Mustafa, and welcome to Beesource. Hope to see you more here in the future.
How are the bees in your area as far as aggressiveness and honey production? You probably have some good ideas that we have not thought of,and if you do, we would love to hear them.
Good luck building your trailer.

Jeffrey

[mustafa]

Hi Jeffry Bees here are quite freidly in General but some nasty strains are also available but not the very extreme one we hear about coming from S.America . because of good weather and poverty here beekeeping is very popular but on small scale we face marketing problems . we use bees to produce honey and not for pollination as there are no big farms and the farmers pay nothing to beekeepers . we have 3 seasons or 4 first one (spring ) finishes in april and the second starts 1st June and finshes the end of it ( I don't know the english name of the tree ) the 3 starts after 10 days from now (thyme flowers in the desert mountains ) and the forth will be in Augost September before Automn comes >
and I am still not very clear about what to do in Trailer as I have to move my 40 hives 4 times a year
_____
68.And the Lord taught the Bee To build its cells in the hills , On trees ,and in (men's) habitations
69. Then to eat of all The produce (of the earth) And find with skill the spacious Paths of its Lord : there issues From within their bodies A drink of varying colours Wherein is healing for men : Verily in this is a Sign For those who give thought Quran S.XV1.68-70

[Michael Bush]

>68.And the Lord taught the Bee To build its cells in the hills , On trees ,and in (men's) habitations
>69. Then to eat of all The produce (of the earth) And find with skill the spacious Paths of its Lord : there issues From within their bodies A drink of varying colours Wherein is healing for men : Verily in this is a Sign For those who give thought Quran S.XV1.68-70


Very nice quotation. smile.gif

[randydrivesabus]

do you have a welder or know someone who can do welding for you? i think using an old pickup truck bed is a great idea but you need to weld on a trailer tongue. it's also important to have a safety chain.
i dont think the trailer needs its own brakes if you are pulling < 1/2 ton. but a lot depends on the towing vehicle.

[mustafa]

yes , coded welders are quite available the trailer tongue is hard to get how is it made , may be a spool peice can replace it any ideas.or sketch. the vehicle will be crysler van ( will arrive in 2 weeks from the states - I am not sure about the spelling of the car name but is of 2400 cc Van)

[MichaelW]

I'm not sure if you know this already, but we use a "ball hitch" to conect vehicles to the trailer.

For this you need a "ball"
http://www.skidim.com/images/5800088.jpg

and a "hitch"
http://www.countryatv.com/osballhitchkit.jpg

The ball can mount to the bumper if the load is light and the bumper is strong, but often the ball is conected to the trailer frame with some type of mounting. The hitch is mounted to the trailer. the trailer frame is V shaped so that when you turn, the front corners don't hit the bumper of the van. Hope this helps

You also need safety chains in case the ball hitch comes loose.

I'm not aware of any designs that don't use a "ball hitch", but they may be out there.

[ May 18, 2006, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: MichaelW ]

[randydrivesabus]

on my pickup there are 2 steel rails that run parallel from the cab area and then down the length of the bed. they are 3' apart maybe. the bed is bolted on to these rails. so if you cut the rails where the bed meets the cab (with a torch i would guess) then the bed would seperate from the cab. then you need to weld a v shaped trailer tongue to the front of these rails. the hitch that michaelw describes goes on the end of the trailer tongue.
manufactured house trailers have the tongue i describe on their front to pull them.
if you google pickup bed trailer images theres some pictures of them.

[Michael Bush]

Better yet, leave the front wheels on, remove the body, and the engine/transmission. Cut a four by whatever with a sawzall to fit any curves of the frame and build a flatbed that runs from front to back. Buy (or make) a tow bar for the front and you have a four wheeled trailer that will hold much more weight and won't put any wieght on the tongue.

[mustafa]

A freind of mine had seven house trailer and sold them to be houses and kept the v shaped connection between the house and the car in good codition also the ball can be found easily so , now half the story is made I started looking for the second half i.e. the platform with the required weels . there are so many types and nos. of old cars and trucks but they all are designed to run on 4 wheels so if you take 2 out , the balance will be hard to adjust to be like a house trailer
you all where so helpful so far keep pushing thanks