Golden Mean Hive from Backyardhives

[sevenbravo]

Hello. I am just about finished with my Golden Mean Hive and wanted to see if anyone else has one. I have a question about how the lid fits on top. Anyone else have one?

Thanks.

Here is mine...95% done.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...o/IMAG0216.jpg

[sevenbravo]

Hope it is OK is insert a photo instead of a link. I am new here, please let me know if this is a no no.

[Solomon Parker]

Pretty!

[trentfysty]

SevenBravo,

The hive looks great. Yes I have a golden mean hive and it has worked well. What are your questions about the top? One thing I will say is that I had to make a new top that had a pitch to it as water collected on the roof and caused it to split. Also, you need to apply some sort of finish to the hive body or it will split as well. I used a 20:1 mixture of linseed oil and beeswax and that holds up well. Just need to touchup once a year.

[sevenbravo]

Hi Trentfysty. I was thinking that pitching the roof would be a good idea too. I am making another for my brother in law and will likely do it to that one.

My question was about the roof fit. When the roof is place on top it rests on the triangle pieces in the roof corners and leave a pretty large gap between the roof and the bars. Without the braces it seems to come to an appropriate level,resting on the hive handles, but with the bars it seems pretty high. Is that how yours ended up?

[Merlinspop]

If you have an RV shop near you, you can probably score a piece of the rubber membrane used on RV roofs and stretch that over the top for decent waterproofing.

[trentfysty]

Hi Trentfysty. I was thinking that pitching the roof would be a good idea too. I am making another for my brother in law and will likely do it to that one.

My question was about the roof fit. When the roof is place on top it rests on the triangle pieces in the roof corners and leave a pretty large gap between the roof and the bars. Without the braces it seems to come to an appropriate level,resting on the hive handles, but with the bars it seems pretty high. Is that how yours ended up?

Yes, that is how mine ended up. I changed the design of the top to eliminate the triagle pieces you are talking about so that the top sat firmly on the bars. That only lasted about 4 months and then the top split and I replaced it with a pitched roof. I used a rabited joint in the corners for the roof and that eliminated the need for the triagle braces. Hope that helps.

[sevenbravo]

Thanks for the tip. I rabbeted my roof frame as well so I don't need the triangle braces.

Also, there is a discrepancy between the top bar that the company manufactures/sells and the dimensions of the bars on the plans. I made my bars according to the plans except my bar tips are not a full 45 degree angle. I would assume the bees don't mind and the bar spacing is probably the only critical measurement.

[trentfysty]

Thanks for the tip. I rabbeted my roof frame as well so I don't need the triangle braces.

Also, there is a discrepancy between the top bar that the company manufactures/sells and the dimensions of the bars on the plans. I made my bars according to the plans except my bar tips are not a full 45 degree angle. I would assume the bees don't mind and the bar spacing is probably the only critical measurement.

You are right, the angle really won't matter to the bees. The spacing will matter more. There are a number of different opinions as to what to do. You can use 1 1/4" bars and then add 1/4" spaces for the honey comb, use all 1 3/8" bars with no spacers or use a combination of 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" bars. I go with the first option and add spacers between for the honey comb. I found that the 1 3/8" bars ended up with some overlap in the honey area and were more difficult to separate and with the spacers and 1 1/4" bars the problem was solved.

[sevenbravo]

Got all my bars done. Very happy with how they turned out. I made all the cuts on the table saw this time (as opposed to three different tools on the first batch) and they all match perfectly.

[trentfysty]

Got all my bars done.

Sevenbravo, the bars look great. Nicely done. Now all you need is some bees. Best of luck!

[Adam Foster Collins]

[QUOTE=sevenbravo;628506]Got all my bars done. Very happy with how they turned out. I made all the cuts on the table saw this time (as opposed to three different tools on the first batch) and they all match perfectly.
QUOTE]

Sevenbravo - Beuatiful top bars. Bravo!

Do you mind explaining your process for making those with the table saw? I'd love to try building some like that this spring.

Thanks!

Adam

[sevenbravo]

Sure, I will take some step by step photos when I make another set this week.

[DCowles]

I just finished my Golden Mean hive and am waiting for my package to arrive. I missed out on a swarm last week because I didn't have the confidence (or equipment) to retrieve it. As for the top bars, I started with 36" 2x2 poplar turning blanks from Lowes. My steps:

1. Cut to length with miter saw.
2. Rip to width with table saw.
3. Cut hanger ends with table saw and homemade tenoning jig.
4. Cut end angles with table saw (blade tilted) and miter gage.
5. Cut long angles with table saw (blade tilted) with fence on left side and push sticks (the trailing stick often ran through the blade).

My biggest problem was burning the wood because my saw is out of alignment. Hopefully it just makes the bees feel more like they are in an old burnt out stump.

If I need to make more, I will probably go the cheaper route and use pine lumber.

David

[trentfysty]

I have use poplar and pine. The pine seems to work just fine, just look for a board with as few knots as possible. Something else that really helped was purchasing a thin-kerf saw blade for my table saw. That reduced the about of waste caused by a full-kerf blade. The saw also seems to cut easier.

Poplar is best purchased at a hardwood outlet. Look in your area and you should be able to find one. I usually purchase 6/4 or 8/4 and cut it down. The cost is slightly more than pine at Lowes or Home Depot but far less than poplar for Lowes or Home Depot. You can usually buy it in rough cut form which saves money and works fine for the top bars.

[sevenbravo]

I made my bars completely from 2X4s. I had to do some sorting, but I was able to find straight, knot free stock. I tried to film my last production run but I couldn't find help so I didn't get it done. I think this works great though. Accurate, requires one tool and the wood is cheap.

[Adam Foster Collins]

...
My biggest problem was burning the wood because my saw is out of alignment. Hopefully it just makes the bees feel more like they are in an old burnt out stump.
...

When I built my last batch of hives, I "sketched" over the entire interior of the boxes with a blow torch. My thinking was that the new wood and adhesive smells might bother the bees, and that a very slightly burned wood smell wood would be better.

Adam

[blist]

I found the plans for the golden mean hive to be disappointing. My buddy and I ended up getting them built but there were quite a few discrepancies on the plans and I can't stand that they used some sort of stylish script font (very difficult to read). At any rate, I am thinking of modifying things a bit and building another. The current design is 26" L, 16" W top 10" W bottom, and 9.5" H (interior). I really think it is too small. I'm thinking more along the lines of 42" long (or at least 36"), dual windows and maybe an entrance on each side (that can be closed off). Also, thinking about maybe top entrance instead of bottom entrance. The 3" bottom entrance landing strip could be cut down to 1" or less probably if a bottom entrance was kept.

I will post some pictures tomorrow of how we modified the roof from the plans. We basically just bent a piece of plywood over it so the top is a very shallow semi-dome...looks very nice and is very functional...though it is a bit heavy. We kept the corner blocks in and the roof should lay flat on the bars even with the corner blocks, they fit around the handles to make the roof fit tighter.

[blist]

You are right, the angle really won't matter to the bees. The spacing will matter more. There are a number of different opinions as to what to do. You can use 1 1/4" bars and then add 1/4" spaces for the honey comb, use all 1 3/8" bars with no spacers or use a combination of 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" bars. I go with the first option and add spacers between for the honey comb. I found that the 1 3/8" bars ended up with some overlap in the honey area and were more difficult to separate and with the spacers and 1 1/4" bars the problem was solved.

They use 1 3/8" bars with 1/4" spacers for honey (so 1 5/8").

[sevenbravo]

Here are two pictures of my roof.





I have built 7 of these so far and I have changed each one slightly. And like previous posters have mentioned, I am making the next one 42" long.