The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Bees & Beekeeping => Topic started by: cloddopper on May 15, 2016, 03:09:42 am
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I've joined the charity called " Men's Shed " it's been shown on TV as a place where males can go to meet others and do DIY type stuff & other interest /hobby things . We have all age groups and people are from all walks of life .
Many of the younger guys are coming back from depressive illnesses , the older ones are looking for something to do in their retirement for a few days a week .
On Tuesday & Wednesday I was setting up a time clock controlled mini sprinkler system to reduce the need for carrying water by a 70 yr old guy .
He spends a lot of time trying to drag bucket of water around the 40 x 20 commercial polytunnel to water several hundred seedlings and a hundred of so plants growing in a raised bed made from old car tyres.
He's really chuffed now he can sow seeds instead of carry water. Till I set it up and calibrated it he'd never seen a tunnel under a decent watering system . On Friday he came up to me beaming like a lighthouse . " Ere Dave , come and look at this " he said .
Off we went to the tunnel , everything is a real pleasing green and about four times taller than when I started the exercise.
" I never knew things could grow like this", he said " it's bloody amazing , to think I was dragging water all over the place & none of these other buggers here would help me " .
I took a couple of dwarf French marigolds with me from my glasshouse , telling him that once the insects get the scents from them they will come and help fertilize the bean plants in the tunnel
I asked if anyone knew of any beepkeeprs locally .. no one did , a few seconds later I get a nice new honey bee fly in and land on my arm .
That's a good sign as there will also soon to be a fully equipped wood working shop which I'm setting up with a quality Sheppach bench saw , bandsaw, morticer , several 48 inch wood lathes , a large semi commercial router table with 1/2 " router & several high level work benches .
I'm hoping to start making full flat roofed national beehives using western red cedar , with feeder crown boards and varroa mesh floors .
Does any one have a set of national hive plans in imperial or metric sizes that I can borrow for a few days to check my dimensions with ?
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Just in case you haven't seen this -
http://www.beekeeping.org.uk/is_national_hive.pdf (http://www.beekeeping.org.uk/is_national_hive.pdf)
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That sounds like quite the set up. Not sure if it helps but I attached some plans that show the dimensions for 10 frame langstroth beehive.
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I know nothing about bee hives but isn't good to do something for someone else and share success :hug:
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Thanks WTD I'd not found the pdf thing .
Vinnie ,
Those Langstroths are a young fit mans game as they must weight around 66 pounds for a brood box sized super when it's full.
The only crop I know of in the United kingdom that will see them filled in double quick time is oilseed rape ( Canola)
Out of 20 or so years of running a small commercial bee venture I only met two keepers ( also commercials ) who used them for all their hives .
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I should have read your comment closer I didn't see that you wanted national ones. In fact I had never heard about those kind but looking at the plans wheresthedog gave , they look interesting. The langstroth are very heavy
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The Men's Shed group in Exeter had a shop before Christmas and it was full of lovely things made or restored by them. They seemed a jolly crowd and produced some great presents. I did look a bit daft getting on the coach with a pitchfork and garden spade :farmer: . Sadly I couldn't carry anything else.
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I should have read your comment closer I didn't see that you wanted national ones. In fact I had never heard about those kind but looking at the plans wheresthedog gave , they look interesting. The langstroth are very heavy
The British National hive model was a scientific design to give an economical cost using a minimum amount of machined wood available allowing the people of the UK to keep bees during the Second world war . It was also scientifically designed to get the optimum yet minimum sized hive to over winter apparently .