Long Langstroth Hive Build

[r0arinpenguin]

Hi all,

I thought I'd start off by saying THANK YOU to everyone here.
I have dived deeply into learning about beekeeping and bees, this place being a large source of that.

I have kicked the idea of beekeeping around for several years and am now in place to do so!

I've built my own Long Langstroth Hive and thought I would post it here for thoughts, questions, etc.


Note* - This is the first one I've built, with 6 more in the works, so it's been more the learning-lesson hive


Thank you in advance!


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[GregV]

Good work!
Thanks for sharing.

[little_john]

I've built my own Long Langstroth Hive and thought I would post it here for thoughts, questions, etc.

Yes, I agree - good work.

One suggestion - I'm assuming that the legs are attached by wood-screws ? If so, then I'd suggest that you replace those screws with through-bolts, as that hive is - hopefully - going to get very heavy in use.

I can't quite make out (it's early morning over here ...) whether the underside mechanism involves anything 'sliding' - I found out myself the hard way that - in general - sliding mechanisms are not a good idea as all it takes is a little bit of wood warp for them to jam.

I particularly like the idea of an 'awning' over the entrances - a nice touch.
LJ

[r0arinpenguin]

Thanks GregV and LJ!
I've read a lot of what you both have written and look forward to/ hope to become as knowledgeable as you both.

LJ,
Yes, I have the legs attached with 3 wood screws and they're glued to the box.
I suppose I've been a little nervous of "tainting?" the inside of the hive with metal. There's no real foundation to that nervousness, other than a personal feeling they would prefer the wood. If you think that it's nothing to worry about, I'll probably bolt through or maybe lag bolt them on the other 6 hives I'm working on.

For the underside, I was originally going with several slides for 1. vent covers and 2. support/ locks for the removable bottom section (to get underneath for cleaning - suggested by my local bee club president). I then realized how much of a pain it was to get back in, so I decided to hinge one side and latch the others.

I'm still considering putting a couple to help any sag or warp from the mid section, but I'm open to any suggestions. The slide supports are routed at 3/8" and I'm using 1/4" slides, but I'm not very keen on the play that's left over, so I may just rip some pieces a little closer to the 3/8" size. ...Or as my mind wanders while writing this, maybe I just make it easy on myself and latch the mid section, haha.

One thing I haven't decided on is the material for the vent covers. My fallback is wood, but I've been kicking around the idea of PVC sheet, although that goes against my "tainting" thoughts. I've also heard about using masonite, but I don't think that stuff weathers very well. Thoughts?

Thanks again

Evan

[trishbookworm]

I find the screen under the brood area to be so informative. I can see where the hive is uncapping brood, or honey, from the pattern of wax chippings that fall through. And I can count the dead mites post treatment, to get feedback about the mite levels in the hive.

I have what is essentially a screened bottom board setup to remove the solid piece that is below the screened area. It is enclosed on 3 sides and is open to the front, so that is how I pull the sliding solid piece out. It is low enough that I can use the (metal) sliding piece as a base and put my OAV in below the screened bottom board for a treatment. OAV works really well when administered to a long langstroth if:
1) it is broodless;
2) the cluster is no bigger than 10 bars;
3) the wand for OAV is more or less under the center, so at bar 6 or so;
4) I can close off the space either by pressing the wand to a hole in the bottom of the hive (version 1.0) or I can block the 4th side to my erstwhile screened bottom board attached to the bottom of the long hive (current version).

[little_john]

I have what is essentially a screened bottom board setup to remove the solid piece that is below the screened area. It is enclosed on 3 sides and is open to the front, so that is how I pull the sliding solid piece out. It is low enough that I can use the (metal) sliding piece as a base and put my OAV in below the screened bottom board for a treatment.

Good choice, Trish ...

This was my one and only attempt at using slides:



It worked well in theory, and flawlessly in the workshop ...



But after a few weeks of being exposed to the elements - even though it was underneath the hive - the thin plywood I had used to make the slide warped, just a little, but enough to cause it to jam solid. Never again !

My recommendation would be to use metal or rigid plastic - but not wood. If a person is hell-bent on using wood, then I suggest employing catches or hinges and catches rather than a slide mechanism.
LJ

[r0arinpenguin]

Thank you for the feedback Trish and LJ!

I haven't really been looking at using metal covers, because I've been worried about winters and them retaining/ putting off too much cold for the colony, at least more than plastic or wood. Is that something that's not really much of a worry?