- Do you suspect pesticide poisoning is killing your bees? Read the last page of the Florida Melitto Files Vol 5 Issue 2. The authors are Rob Horsburgh and David Westervelt of the Apiary Inspection Section. See also a detailed article posted at IFAS by Malcom T Sanford
When I split our hives one Spring I needed four more hive bodies, supers, screened bottom boards, and hive tops. I purchased most of the equipment unassembled and unpainted to save money. But when it came to the tops I decided I could cut my own from a 4x8 sheet of plywood less than buying the four tops from our local bee supply house.
To make your own tops purchase a 4x8 sheet 1/2" to 3/4" thick. If you layout the pattern correctly you should be able to get ten tops from one sheet. In the photo below you can see that I painted the plywood prior to cutting the individual tops. I had left over white exterior primer and left over white exterior paint from a previous project. You could visit your local hardware store and buy "oops" paint at discount. "Oops" paint is the mistake or return paints. A Home Depot sales associate suggested the best time to look for "oops" paint is on Saturdays before noon, but you can look anytime.
- Assembling Hives and Supers
When assembling Hives and Supers you will need a hammer, nails, and wood glue. I like to use galvanized "gripper" nails. The gripper nails have ridges or ribs that reduce the possibility of the nail backing out over time as the wood expands and contracts.
In the photo below you can see the the GripRite brand nail on the left (with ridges) and the smooth shanked nail provided by our local bee supply on the right.
I like to use 2 1/2" long nails in the middle of the hive (or super) body and 1 1/2" long nails for the corners. Be careful, it's easy to split the wood.
- Use weed cloth to control weeds under your bee boxes without chemicals
- I found a 4ft x 150ft roll of weed cloth at Sam's Club this past summer for the same price a 3ft x 100ft roll at Home Depot. This was a seasonal item so keep an eye out for it if you are a member at Sam's Club. The roll comes with metal spikes (looks like super-sized staples) to anchor the cloth. I also purchased an additional box of the spikes so I don't have to use cover material to anchor the cloth.
- I do not use any cover material such as mulch or rocks. I think orgnaic material such as mulches would attract other insects and rocks will allow dirt to gather for weeds to grow.
- Mow down the area you will lay out the weed cloth with the lowest setting your mower will adjust.
- Roll out two sheets of the weed cloth overlapping about 3 to 6 inches.
- Now you have area under the hive free of weeds
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