Log Warre

[pelz]

Turned out to be a lot of work but was enjoyable none the less. It"ll have to wait till next spring to get bees though, until then, I think I know where there is another hollow tree.

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1341513575
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...lz1/th_040.jpg
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1341512351

sorry folks I just cannot seem to figure out how to get a picture posted here or how to build and album here.

[whiskers]

Well I don't think the commercial guys are going to wear a path up to your house asking for these, but for something to put in your garden that is way cool.
Bill

[HoneyintheRox]

THAT IS SO COOL! What a great idea!

[Oldtimer]

Pretty cool. Just, why have that standard Warre stuff on top, to me, a lid built in kind, ie, from part of the log, would be more in keeping and keep the totally natural look.

Other thing, from a management perspective, is when you harvest your honey, the next year if using Warre method, you will have to add those sections at the bottom, which will maybe not fit perfectly as they were the upper part of the log. But I'm sure you will work around that.

Anyhow, very cool idea. For many years I've toyed with the idea of building a hive in a totally natural log, but never got around to it due to the large amount of work that would be involved, fitting frames, etc. I'm sure many others have thought about it too, but you have actually done it.

[pelz]

it is warre in style but will have to manage it like a perone hive. i did the top as i did because the quilt box has a built in feeder should i ever need it. if i were to do another i would not build such a top and see how it goes.

how does one insert pictures into thread?

[chaindrivecharlie]

Very nice Pelz, I too have been wanting to do just that. It is like the old beegum hives out in the blue ridge mountains. Very cool!

[scorpionmain]

Yep, Beegum is what I first thought.
BeeGum.jpg
beehive.jpg

[Keefis]

Hey Pelz,
That really is a sweet hive. Now we just need a hippy to hug it.!
But seriously, did you hollow it out w/ chainsaw ..or band saw? If you say handsaw I am gonna crap. And I assume you used the cut-out wood for the top bars?

[chaindrivecharlie]

Yep, Beegum is what I first thought.
BeeGum.jpg
beehive.jpg

Thats exactly what I was talking about!.

[pelz]

Keefis, I held a beaver by his tail and he chewed it through. seriously though I just happened upon it all rotted out already. the top bars are red cedar. i hear often bees like this hive or that because it imitates a hollow log in the wild. Now i have a hollow log that imitates a beehive. not saying it is practical, just was fun to do and kinda neat.

[Bubbles]

Good job! That is an easier to handle (and harvest from) log hive.
Here's a link to another log hive. I don't think the owner plans to harvest any of the honey from it.
http://solarbeez.com/2012/02/11/the-...a-log-beehive/

[Solarbeez]

I noticed a bunch of bees on the outside of my log hive a few days ago. Since we are newbees I got my video camera to document it and see if more experienced beekeepers could weigh in on it. That was on August 31st. After all that activity, the next day it was back to business as usual. My wife thinks there was a bunch of drones that hatched out and didn't know where to go, but is that how it works? Her eyes are sharper than mine, and they looked like drones to her.
http://solarbeez.com/2012/09/03/bee-...r-a-moustache/
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks,
Pat

[Oldtimer]

You a lucky man Solarbeez your wife has great powers of bee observation!

But it's not that the drones don't know where to go, it's that the bees have decided it's time to kick them out before winter.

Scroll to minute 2.40, upper right quarter of the screen you see a worker bee aggressively chasing a drone across the surface and up towards the top. That's what is going on inside the hive, all the drones are being hounded till they leave the hive.

Often the drones will wangle their way back into the hive later, and it may take the bees a few more goes over maybe a few weeks before they permanently evict them.

[Solarbeez]

You a lucky man Solarbeez your wife has great powers of bee observation!

But it's not that the drones don't know where to go, it's that the bees have decided it's time to kick them out before winter.

Scroll to minute 2.40, upper right quarter of the screen you see a worker bee aggressively chasing a drone across the surface and up towards the top. That's what is going on inside the hive, all the drones are being hounded till they leave the hive.

Often the drones will wangle their way back into the hive later, and it may take the bees a few more goes over maybe a few weeks before they permanently evict them.

Whoa, I hope she doesn't kick ME out...

[chaindrivecharlie]

+1 with oldtimer, time to kick them out!

[Solarbeez]

I knew the drones get kicked out...I just didn't know it was so soon. Thought that happened more in October or so...Thanks for the comments.

[Nantom670]

I could be wrong, but I don't think those are drones. They are smaller and quicker than drones and I would say they are young bees doing their first orientation flight at about 18 days old. This is when they become foragers and leave the hive for the first time.

[Oldtimer]

If you don't maximise the screen it's probably too small to pic the difference. On the bottom right of the video screen there is a square symbol you click it and the video will expand to the size of your screen.

Then, when he pans in for closeups, check out the chunky looking square ended abdomens and the big boggle eyes, the two things that immediately make drones stand out. You are correct about the way they move, some of them aren't doing much (as we are used to seeing with drones in the hive), but some of them are moving faster than drones normally do. That's because they've been getting chased around, and there are workers among them. When you look at the workers, note the small pointed abdomen, compared to the larger more square ended abdomen of the drones.

[Solarbeez]

Here's another thought...these bees built their own comb. Could be that the cell size, and thus the drone size is smaller than when using commercial foundation. These bees came from a feral hive in a tree so they've been regressed for some time.
In any case I'm thinking maybe a better camera is called for. If you know of a type of camera that can take sharp macros and close up videos, let's say I'd be interested.