[Litsinger]

I think I've really stumbled onto a truly revolutionary idea- what do you think?

 

[Litsinger]

I only got two of these handy.

You just need some indoor cats!

 

[Litsinger]

I like the clips/clasps better tho - very practical

It started as envying the spring clips they use in the UK for use in setting up dual-purpose production boxes / swarm traps and kind of morphed from there .

 

[Litsinger]

South face needs protection from the sun.

I thought about spray painting the outsides white. I'll noodle with it and post R1.

 

[Litsinger]

Most likely polystyrene.

The 35 pound totes I have are made of polypro. Doing some research, looks like people have good success spray painting them, particularly if they start with a good adhering primer.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Litsinger]

I would have put the Top on the ground.

Not a bad idea. I thought about partially filling them with pea gravel as ballast, but suppose that could be accomplished in either orientation.

Not sure about the weight capacity, but I do frequently stand on one as a stool- so I am going to say 4 of them would easily support over 500 pounds of distributed weight.

 

[Litsinger]

And I have no cats.

I find plastic to be very slippery and maintaining a slight foward tilt is going to be difficult.

Ruth and Jack:

Thank you for your feedback. I should offer that the original post was offered somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as I utilized the noted approach as the only thing readily at hand.

For those of us cursed with indoor cats, you accumulate quite a stock of these plastic pails, so now I am considering whether I can make more permanent modifications to what is currently cobbled together to upcycle some of these pails in limited application.

I'll post the R1, but generally I am thinking of bolting the pails together through the rib with some spare hardware I've got laying around, adding ballast for stability, painting the exterior with a couple coats of acrylic and screwing some 1X's to the top to provide a solid base to work from.

FYI- here is my normal hive stand set-up.

Thanks again for the feedback- sometimes my dry humor gets me in trouble.

 

[Litsinger]

Rev. 1 is complete and must say I am pleasantly surprised at the result.

Started by removing the handles and affixing the pails together with 1/4" bolts.

Applied two coats of Krylon Fusion- guaranteed not to peel or flake .

Added about a third a bucket of pea gravel for ballast and affixed 1X stock to the top.

Has a nice stance and was a lot cheaper than the Hive Smart Design stands beside it.

 

[Litsinger]

You are indeed a very fortunate and privileged person…say your feline overlords.

Indeed- they are both rescues and they don't even like me...

 

[Litsinger]

You are doing something wrong then. My cats fight over me.

Said in gest- I've got 6 kiddos at home and the cats much prefer them. I think in their own way they appreciate the fact that I dutifully feed and water them every morning, but they interact with the kids more.

 

[Litsinger]

I looked for some a few yrs ago to do the same as the Lysons but could justify the cost.

Alibaba is a good resource for machine parts. I ended up paying about $0.5 / ea shipped for these latches.

 

[Litsinger]

... they really are very versatile

Indeed they are- and the good well sealing lids are a definite bonus.

 

[Litsinger]

I want to know how to get the clips off if they are on both sides of the hive.

I think their trade name is a cabinet latch. The latching mechanism increases and decreases in length as you lift the latch up and down.

So to remove the box, you raise the latch.

The latches and catches themselves are permanently affixed to the boxes via wood screws.

 

[Litsinger]

I don't feel the need for latches.

Definitely not a need. For me:

It started as envying the spring clips they use in the UK for use in setting up dual-purpose production boxes / swarm traps and kind of morphed from there .