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the ultimate skiddable bee hut

Posts: 222

Location: Douglas County OR

posted 10 years ago

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I'm not working on the bee hut, but I'll say a couple words about the DeWalt lightweight drivers; LOVE THEM! I've got the drill and the impact driver with the bitty batteries. I'm working with a couple guys who have the old style bigger batteries, and I don't bother picking them up. The new drivers/batteries are a pleasure to work with, lightwieght with a nice balance. The batteries last long enough for an amateur builder, and recharge in about 30 - 45 minutes. I don't use them steady much, so I can't tell you how long they hold the charge. They are 1.5aH. You can get larger batteries up to 4aH, but I don't need them. I have the 2 tools and 3 batteries, and have yet to have to sit idle waiting for a battery to charge.
Cheers,
Gani

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Noah Jackson

Posts: 58

posted 10 years ago

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Nice work. We have a lot of skiddable buildings on our place too. Those joints turned out very nice and clean. How'd you make them so nice and clean??

Someone asked about the 20V drills/drivers. We have the dewalt 20 volt lithium version and it works just great.

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paul wheaton

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Posts: 53117

Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 10 years ago

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A brand new video made by Rocky Mountain Permaculture featuring me standing in front of the bee hut.

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Julia Winter

steward

Posts: 3736

Location: Moved from south central WI to Portland, OR

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posted 10 years ago

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Nice video!

I like the depression-era voiceover.

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Chris French

Posts: 14

posted 10 years ago

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This is a great video, my bees don't have a roof but I think I am going to make one after watching this, I did build them a fenced wind break.

One other thing you might want to add to this, that I have on my lands is a small little fountain, where the water gets sand wet. I have done several waterers over my years a beekeeper and wet sand seems to be the preferred method for drinking, they can rest of the sand and drink the water off the sand, with out getting caught in the falling water. let me see if I can go find a picture.

Plus is is water that doesn't pool so no need worry about stuff living in that is bad

jacob wustner

Posts: 68

Location: Western Montana

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posted 10 years ago

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A Bee Hut Workshop in Missoula this weekend! Also, we will be sampling my clover honey mead from this year and sculpting a log hive with a chainsaw!

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Derick Greenly

Posts: 40

posted 10 years ago

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2 weeks back, Sofia and I carefully stacked some bales around the bees in order to give them a little extra shielding from the elements. The bales being colossal, they would only fit lengthwise or on end without messing up the electric fence. Then this week, it's that joyous occasion which heralds winter...

Matriarch's day!!!

The drones, themselves very gluttonous and unable to do any chores, were swiftly sent for a winter's day stroll. Gotta earn your keep when honey stores get tight.

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Olenka Kleban

pollinator

Posts: 202

Location: Ontario

posted 10 years ago

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wintering bee hut

view from potential upcoming community garden site at The Lab.

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jacob wustner

Posts: 68

Location: Western Montana

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posted 10 years ago

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No one came to learn how to build a bee hut except me. I can't wait to build 100 more of them. This one holds 2-3 hives. All the rest will be big enough for 16-24 hives depending on the location

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Olenka Kleban

pollinator

Posts: 202

Location: Ontario

posted 10 years ago

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The bees were out today. More than usual.
I'm used to seeing them pop out here and there, but today was especially warm and balmy up at the Lab. I was chopping wood and noticed 5 or 6 bees in my line of vision at once, so I headed over to the ultimate skiddable wonder, and lo and behold those winged thangs were just bustling in and out of the hive. Busy busy, them.

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Olenka Kleban

pollinator

Posts: 202

Location: Ontario

posted 10 years ago

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flying

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Olenka Kleban

pollinator

Posts: 202

Location: Ontario

posted 10 years ago

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flying in

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Cassie Langstraat

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Posts: 4047

Location: Montana

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posted 9 years ago

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Some more pictures of the bee hut!

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Michael Cox

pollinator

Posts: 3897

Location: Kent, UK - Zone 8

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posted 9 years ago

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Interesting. How many hives do you have up there now?

Also, The strawbales look great for winter insulation, but it looks like a pain to actually do any hive management with them on. What do you do in winter if you need to check that the cluster isn't trapped away from their stores? Or do you just leave them be until spring and strip it all down?

Mike

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Kelly Smith

Posts: 724

Location: In a rain shadow - Fremont County, Southern CO

posted 9 years ago

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has the bee hut ever been moved? it is planning to be moved?

im trying to figure out how you can move a few hives on a skid without messing with the bees/comb.

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Cj Sloane

pollinator

Posts: 3738

Location: Vermont, off grid for 24 years!

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posted 9 years ago

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Did both hive make it thru the winter?

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paul wheaton

author and steward

Posts: 53117

Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 9 years ago

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How many hives do you have up there now?

One active hive.

has the bee hut ever been moved? it is planning to be moved?

One time it was rotated a bit - but that was it.

Did both hive make it thru the winter?

The only active hive is still active now.

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Cassie Langstraat

steward

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Location: Montana

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posted 9 years ago

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Why are bees so beautiful?!

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Jesse Grimes

Lab Ant

Posts: 274

Location: Orange County, CA

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posted 9 years ago

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Shelby and I got the bee hive all insulated up for the coming winter. We stacked a total of 6 straw bales around and on top of the hive, and secured them in place by wrapping a few loops of twine around the whole thing. Then we stuffed all of the cracks with loose straw. The bees seemed a little curious about the straw bales at first, with a few of them landing on the straw to inspect this new addition to their hive environment, but later on they were carrying on with their beesness like nothing ever happened. When we returned later in the day to check on the hive, it did seem like they were more active than before, with more bees coming and going from the entrance. I don't know if it was because the hive was warmer or because it was later in the day, but i like to think that the bees appreciate their new winter jacket.

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Janet Branson

Posts: 192

Location: Missoula, MT

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posted 8 years ago

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Emerged from this inviting trail at dusk to a collective buzz. The bees are back!

There has been some debate as to whether or not the bees were stealing last year's honey or if they had actually moved into the hive as a forever home.
Based on 2 observations, some bees had a shedding exoskeleton and others were larger and shinier, plus they were all entering the hive from two separate holes at sunset. No bees were leaving the hive. It seemed like rush hour to get home before sunset.
I hypothesize these bees are multiple generations and are therefore home-sweet-home.
I don't know much about bees and welcome others opinions.

As it was getting dark my pics don't reveal too many clues though.

Jocelyn Campbell

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Posts: 6595

Location: Everett, WA (Western Washington State / Cascadia / Pacific NW)

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posted 8 years ago

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Jacob Wustner of Sapphire Apiaries came out to examine our hive and determined that it was robber bees coming in and stealing the honey left by the colony that died. It appeared the colony had died from a mite infestation. This was sad news.

Jacob is doing amazing things with breeding healthier, more resilient hives and he brought us a new colony in mid May.

Jacob brought the new colony here in his painted hives, then moved the frames into a new unpainted hive of ours. We did not put the new colony into the old hive where the last colony had died. Jacob took the old hive away with him and said he'd bring us back some of the remaining honey.

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Jocelyn Campbell

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Location: Everett, WA (Western Washington State / Cascadia / Pacific NW)

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Today, Jacob participated in our Permaculture Tasting workshop and brought us honey from our previous hive - 7 jars!

There are only six jars in this picture because one jar was down at the workshop.

I immediately made Switchel - a natural version of a sports drink with the raw honey, apple cider vinegar and ginger juice. It was delicious!

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paul wheaton

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Posts: 53117

Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 8 years ago

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I had a 20 minute conversation yesterday with fred. Fred is a vegan. Vegans don't eat honey. The reasons might change from vegan to vegan (and I have met some vegans that call themselves "beegans" because they will eat honey). The reason seems to me that taking the honey is disrespectful to the bees. In this case, the colony is gone and honey is left behind. So would eating this honey be okay? Fred said that for him it was a gray area. He feels like it would now be okay to eat the honey, but he won't just because he already has dietary patterns that don't include honey.

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Jocelyn Campbell

steward

Posts: 6595

Location: Everett, WA (Western Washington State / Cascadia / Pacific NW)

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posted 8 years ago

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Another nice video from Julianne and Mr. Dirt of Dirtpatcheavn!

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Mike Barkley

gardener & hugelmaster

Posts: 3730

Location: Gulf of Mexico cajun zone 8

1999

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posted 6 years ago

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Based on 2 observations, some bees had a shedding exoskeleton

Really? News to me. Can someone please explain that?

I love this hut!!!

Someone mentioned possible problems with electric fencing & bees. I lost 3 hives a few years ago to a bear. Big mess, total loss. So we put up an electric fence & started a small orchard inside. Plus added some more bees. No more problems, although the bees have been moved since then. I currently have some bees almost directly under some power lines. No problem with losing bees from those ELF waves either. They make it home every night.

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