Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Homing in: Top-bar hive arrives!

I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this Very Large Box. Yesterday was the day! The shipment arrived while I was at work, so I was thankful for good porch lights.
There was some very minor assembly involved (attaching the legs), and then .... voilà!
This is a top-bar hive built by the Sergeant entirely from wood he had on hand.
It has two possible entrances, both facing into the yard so the main bee traffic will go that way. On the west side, a very special feature:
Yep, it's an observation hive! If I want to check on the bees' progress, I don't have to open up the top and disturb them. I can just open the window to peek in.
This hive has wedged top bars, which I stayed up late waxing (more on that later). The bees will hang their comb from the bars.
And the bottom is screened, with a removable solid board under that.
There are also follower boards so I can adjust the volume of the hive as needed.

Isn't that awesome? The Sergeant is a genius.

Now I just need some bees!

6 comments:

  1. You and the Sergeant are my new heroes!

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  2. Amazing! It's so nice that he's so supportive of your new hobby. (I almost typed "your new hubby"; I don't think he'd be so supportive of that.)

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  3. It is going to be fun to watch with you!

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  4. Welcome to the club, Kitt! It's addictive, isn't it?

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  5. Pam, you need to start thinking seriously about adding a hive. Sounds like you've got the space and terrain for it!

    Betts, ha! New hubby would definitely not be supported!

    Kathi, I can't wait!

    Gordo, it'll be more addictive once I actually get bees in it, I think.

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  6. That is very cool :) I'm impressed and can't wait til they get busy!

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