Does your bee yard have a hive stand? One beekeeping piece of equipment you don’t necessarily need is a stand for your hives. But after learning more about them, you may decide that the work was well worth it. There are many advantages to keeping your beehives on hive supports. Some of their benefits are for the beekeeper, but they may also be suitable for your bees.
What is a beehive stand?
Your hive is supported by a structure called a beehive hive stand. Wood, plastic, metal, or other materials can all be used to make a stand. Its primary function is raising your beehive entrance off the ground.
A beehive stand can hold a Warre or Langstroth hive and still provide room for some beekeeping equipment and frames. Numerous beehive stands are available, each with a different function and cost range.
Beehive stand dimensions
Hive stands come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Some are made to support just one hive, while others may support two or more. It’s crucial to ensure your hives have enough room to fit comfortably on the hive stand.
If the hive moves slightly in one direction, you shouldn’t be concerned that it will fall.
A platform or base support of 24′′ by 24′′ is a decent size for the typical Langstroth hive in a one-hive bee stand. However, add more than two times that length if you wish to fit two hives on one stand.
In addition to sitting your hives on a stand, you must also be able to get your hands in and manipulate the boxes during your hive inspections.
Your two hive stand should have adequate space for three hives, providing space to sit down. This can be on your top and inner cover or even a super box when inspecting the hive, which is helpful.
Purposes of a bee hive stand
1. The beekeeper’s convenience
The beekeeper must add honey supers to the hive as it grows, and the bees produce more honey to accommodate the increased output. In addition, during dense nectar flows, the bees require more room to store the honey.
The height of the hive rises with each layer you add. The extra layers can easily reach the average shoulders making it challenging to inspect the hive from this height or collect honey.
2. The height offers bees protection.
The bees’ safety is primary in determining how high the hive is above the ground. If the hive is rather close to the ground, several pests and predators may enter it and kill the bees.
An insect invasion by ants, beetles, and other bothersome insects are more likely to occur in a hive on the ground. The bees may leave the hive and find a new home if these bug intruders become too many. Skunks and predators loiter before a beehive to grab bees as they leave or enter the hive.
The best way to combat such predators is by elevating your hive off the ground.
The bees have an unobstructed flight route to and from the beehive entrance when they are elevated above the ground.
3. Clear flight path
Due to the hive’s elevated location, weeds and grass won’t obstruct the entrance. However, this makes it difficult for the bees to move around while leaving or returning from foraging.
This allows your bees to fly freely to and from the hive, boosting their effectiveness and output. It also aids in preventing other insects from scaling weeds and grass to reach the hive and endanger the bees.
4. Helps manage humidity
The hive’s inside atmosphere is carefully maintained by bees so they can rear their offspring in a warm, dry environment.
The internal environment of the hive may be affected if the hive is too close to the ground due to an increase in internal moisture levels. The humidity will change due to moisture absorption by the hive’s wood at ground level and moisture transmission through the wood fibers into the hive.
This may result in mold growth inside the hive, rendering the environment unlivable for the bees. A potential issue for the hive can also be periodic flooding brought on by rain. Heavy downpours can cause brief surface water flows that are several inches deep.
5. The wood hive is protected by elevation
Even the beehives themselves are expensive pieces of beekeeping equipment. Therefore, you must ensure your equipment lasts as long as possible if you want your beekeeping business to be profitable.
Most beehives are composed of wood, making them vulnerable to degradation when exposed to substances that could harm the wood. Hives too close to the ground risk being wet from dew, absorbing ground moisture, or even getting inundated by groundwater during heavy downpours.
If the wood cannot dry out and is constantly exposed to a damp atmosphere, it will begin to decay. This will shorten the hive’s lifespan and cause it to disintegrate too soon.
How to make a beehive stand
Although two hives will fit perfectly on this stand, it was intended for three to four hives. Additionally, we strongly advise using pressure-treated “PT” wood to prevent weather-related wood rot. Finally, as you want to ensure that your hives are level, you must also keep the stands level.
Materials Needed:
Qty. 2 – 2in x 8in x 10ft
Qty. 1 – 2in x 4in x 8ft
Qty. 1 – 4in x 4in x 6ft
Qty. 1 – Box of outdoor deck screws ~30
Qty. 1 – Bag of play sand (Used for leveling stand)(optional)
The stand’s legs are made of four 18-inch lengths of “4 in. x 4 in. x 6 ft.”
To create the outer rails, divide each “2in x 8in x 10ft” into two 95-inch portions.
The “2in x 8in x 10ftleftover “cuts will serve as the end caps.
The “2in x 4in x 8ft” should have a 1-in cut-off. This will be the mid-rib of the hive stand.
Additional items, albeit not necessary:
- Rock or mulch for the area where the hive stands.
- A weed barrier to cover with the hive stands – Exterior latex paint or stain
Conclusion
There are no established guidelines for the height of a beehive stand. As a beginner beekeeper, you should develop your own preference.
After sometime as a beekeeper, you will learn how to assess a site to establish the ideal hive height for that location. Older beekeepers typically maintain hives at various heights on various apiary locations according to the surrounding area’s needs.