Daniel Keeper

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Old mortar in the well casing bricks makes me nervous though -- a possible leaky sieve.

Thanks, this helps. The runoff question is probably the part I was not thinking about clearly enough.

A certified well guy is supposed to look at it soon, so I am trying to get my question list straight before he comes out. I was focused on depth, static water level, recovery rate, and whether the old pump setup was worth replacing. Now I know to ask whether the brick and mortar casing is letting surface water in, and whether there is any practical way to separate better groundwater from runoff.

I am not planning to drink from it. The first goal is just finding out whether it can safely and reliably water plants or support site work.

Matthew Nistico wrote:BTW, what do you mean by "skep-like"?

I mean the shape of an old woven bee skep, the rounded basket-looking hive form.

I’m not trying to make the building behave like a skep or force the structure to match the image if that creates problems. It is more the visual direction in my head.

The practical part still has to come first: roof, drainage, foundation, moisture, windows, basic livability, and whether a loft/lookout even makes sense on a small round building.

The lifestyle question is probably the real one. This is a raw half-acre, so I’m trying not to build a fantasy first. I need something that can support land work, plants, apiary needs, and eventually a simple place to stay without creating a problem I can’t afford to fix.

The basic builder-skills point is useful too. I’ve been reading earthbag-specific stuff, but I probably need more general “how to think like a builder” before I get too attached to any one natural building method.

I have an old shallow well on a raw half-acre in northwest Missouri. It has a wooden cover right now, no power on the property yet, and the old pump setup is rusted out and unusable. The pump that was there was marked for a 0-25 ft shallow well.

Visually, I think water may be around 20 ft down, but I do not have real measurements yet. A certified well guy is supposed to look at it soon.

My first use would be plant watering and land work, not drinking water. Long term, if the well is usable, I’d like a simple setup: maybe a small submersible pump, maybe solar-direct to a tank, maybe portable power first. I don’t want to buy a pump or tank before I know what the well can actually do.

What information should I make sure I get from the well guy?

I’m thinking depth, static water level, recovery rate, lining/wall condition, whether it is seasonal or drought-sensitive, and whether it needs cleaning or a better cap.

Anything else?

I’m mostly trying to learn the right order of operations. If this well can keep plants alive while the land gets developed, that changes a lot. If it cannot, I need to know that before I build a plan around it.

I’ve been reading through the older bee threads here on Layens, Long Langs, top bars, natural beekeeping, and where to start.

I’m leaning pretty hard toward Layens. The horizontal layout, deep frames, less lifting, wintering idea, and slower management style all make sense to me. I’m not trying to force production. I’m trying to build toward bees in a way I can actually keep up with.

The part I’m trying to solve now is support.

I’m in the Omaha / northwest Missouri area. I joined the local bee club, but most nearby support seems Langstroth-based. I do know one experienced Layens beekeeper a few hours away, which helps, but I’m trying to find the wider support network before I buy the first hive.

For people using Layens or other horizontal hives in the U.S., where have you found real support?

Books, forums, suppliers, regional beekeepers, online groups, build plans, wintering advice, parts sources, nuc/package options, anything like that.

I’m especially interested in the stuff that does not show up clearly from vendor pages. What do you wish you had known before starting Layens?

I’m glad I found this thread. The 20 ft roundhouse part is pretty close to the scale I’m trying to understand.

I’m starting with a raw half-acre in northwest Missouri and have been looking at earthbag / hyperadobe / SuperAdobe ideas for a small Keeper’s Quarters. In my head it wants to be round and kind of skep-like, but practical first: roof, drainage, moisture, windows, and not building something dumb because I liked the shape.

For anyone who has built or lived with earthbag in a humid/freeze-thaw place, what would you want figured out before even drawing plans? Wall height, roof style, drainage, plaster, foundation, loft weight, something else?

I’m mostly trying to learn the order of operations before I spend money in the wrong order.