Beekeeping: Difference between revisions
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Nearly everything needed for beekeeping could potentially be 3D printed. The designs of Langstroth hives, National hives and plenty of other beekeeping tools are in the public domain. If someone converted these to CAD files, anyone with a RepRap could have a hive for the cost of plastic. | |||
* [http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/apiculture/construction.pdf Langstroth hive schematics] | |||
* [http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/learning/documents/number%204%20national%20hive.pdf National hive design] | |||
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From Abe at http://velacreations.blogspot.com/ : | From Abe at http://velacreations.blogspot.com/ : | ||
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http://www.biobees.com | http://www.biobees.com | ||
http://www.beewrangler.com | http://www.beewrangler.com | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:OSA]] | ||
Revision as of 09:49, 3 November 2010
Nearly everything needed for beekeeping could potentially be 3D printed. The designs of Langstroth hives, National hives and plenty of other beekeeping tools are in the public domain. If someone converted these to CAD files, anyone with a RepRap could have a hive for the cost of plastic.
From Abe at http://velacreations.blogspot.com/ :
On the beehive, this is not a tropical version, but year-round version that has seen winters in Montana and summers in Mexico. Take a look at http://www.biobees.com for more information on maintaining this type of hive. He also has a great forum.
If you have really cold winters, you might consider a Warre hive, which is basically the same thing as my barrel hive, but vertical. You still have the top bars in there, no frames, no foundation, etc. You can find a book by Warre on the net to read more about it. Very simple.
On a side note about the hives. I wouldn't convert your current hives. I would make 2 top bar hives, and use them as comparison, especially for desease resistance, maintenance needs, and things along those lines. Don't compare honey output alone, compare input vs output, and I think you'll find that top bar hives, (horizontal or vertical) require a lot less input for the amount they produce. The vertical top bar hives (Warre) are only handled 2 times a year, and horizontals are usually handled maybe 2 times a month during honey production (this is basically removing a few bars of honey, checking to make sure everyone is ok, and that's it)
Split your hives in the spring, and put the splits in the new design. Then, on year 2, you can make some comparisons.
Some benefits: Less risk of mites and Varroa Bees are less stressed, making them calmer and easier to handle No need for antibiotics and other medicines, which means cheaper Cheaper to construct new hives (the barrel hive can be made for less than $20) No need for an extractor, just crush and press, very simple No heavy lifting - you lift one bar at a time, not the whole super
I would definitely research Warre hives, but the horizontal top bar hives are good as well. The barrel version is similar to a Kenyan Top Bar hive, which just means it has sloping sides.
You can convert your current hives into top bars but it will be a lot of work. Best to try out a few top bar hives on their own, see if they work for you for a couple of years, then you can convert those olds ones or just phase them out.
I like the top bar design because it is less stressful to bees, and since I have Africanized bees, less stress means they don't want to kill me, which is a good thing. Removing one bar at a time exposes the bees a lot less than an entire super. So, it doesn't make them go into defensive mode.
Anyway, do some googling on top bar hives. Especially these sites: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm http://www.biobees.com http://www.beewrangler.com