I have always used concrete blocks for hive stands but I am thinking of switching to treated lumber stands. For those of you that put you hives on multi hive stands, How much distance do you put between hives?
I put mine on 8' 2X4s with a hive at each end. That gives me open space to set boxes down in between the hives to work on and not kill bees on the bottom of the frames and to have them boxes higher up so I don't have to lean over so far. I tried one in the middle, but then I couldn't put 2 boxes down side by side. No cost effective if you have 200 hives, but great for a hobby Beek like me. I put short 4X4s in the ground for the 4 corners.
Here is my stand. Similar to Robbin but using 2x6" that are around 5 feet in length. Enough spacing to set a box between the two while your working on a hive. I used the cement blocks so that I would be able to move the whole setup without having to pull posts out of the ground.
this is one of my stands...8' long and I put 4 hives on each stand. I use a folding stand similar to one of the luggage racks like they have in hotels when inspecting my hives to place the boxes on as I remove them.
Mine are on concrete blocks or on 2x4 on concrete blocks. Hives are spaced anywhere from 4" to 12". I usually put the extra boxes catty-corner on the telescoping cover or the inner cover.
It's made up of an 8" x 8" x 16" concrete block on each end with two 4" x 4" x 6' treated beams. I have a similar setup using 8' beams to hold four hives that gives the similar spacing between hives as seen above.
I'm switching mine over in the next few weeks. I'm going to use 16 inch 4x4s on the ends and pressure treated 2x4s for rails.
The reason I am doing it is so I can put grease on the legs. I'm hoping the grease will help stop bugs and Beatles from crawling up to the hives. I will just have to make sure there are not any plants that grow up to touch the stand.
Do those that have their hives strung out in a line move them close together for over wintering?
if so what do you find the best way to move them without bees being lost to the previous location.
I leave as-is. I do put a wind break around the whole stand, but unless we have a dramatic and extended sub-zero event forecast, I'll leave them alone.
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