Bee Hive Plans
If you don't mind a little basic woodwork, you could save yourself a
fair amount of money, and you may well be able to use up a few of those
odds and ends of wood off-cuts lying around in the shed.
These are all top bar hive plans, more suited to some of the principles of
Natural Beekeeping.
Click on the links provided (please note, the plans are in PDF format, and some of these documents
may take a little time to download, and each of these links opens a new
window).
As an aside, i also think it's worth taking a look at the book by Thomas D. Seeley - The Lives Of Bees. Seeley has spent many years compiling research into looking at why wild honey bee colonies have more success than their domesticated counterparts. Whilst mindful of the practical limits of beekeepers, he makes genuinely workable and suggestions to help beekeepers provide environments more conducive to colony health than many hive designs currently offer. It is compelling information, and well worth a read.
Top Bar Beehive
In this 40 page download, Phil Chandler shares step by step, how to
build a top bar bee hive. He even provides a recipe for an eco friendly
wood preservative. This is very important - some wood coatings now
contain neonicotinoid pesticides, and others may contain chemicals unsuitable for use around bees.
Phil wrote "The Barefoot Beekeeper" which outlines principles of natural beekeeping, as well as the thinking behind his design for a top bar hive.
Warré Hive - Metric
Compiled by Dr David Heaf, who wonderfully translated Abbé Émile Warré's
book "Beekeeping For All", this is a metric version of plans for the
'People's Hive', designed by Abbé Émile Warré.
David Heaf also wrote "The Bee Friendly Beekeeper" referring to this type of beekeeping as
'api-centric'.
By the way, if you missed it on one of the other pages, I thought you might also be interested in this lovely free beekeeping book, written by Abbé Émile Warré: Beekeeping For All, again, translated by that lovely man, Dr David Heaf. Enjoy!
So there is one more item available, an that's the plans for a hive created by Roger Delon.
Roger Delon's Warré Hive
Roger Delon was a beekeeper who favoured the Warré hive.
This PDF
contains not only construction detail, but also some interesting
information in which Roger Delon shares his experience and knowledge of
Warré beekeeping.
After you have constructed your hive.......
You will need a range of beekeeping items, but some things can easily be pulled together from items you already may have in the store cupboard, or can easily get hold of.
For instance, a large, clean feather, such as a goose or turkey feather could make an excellent, gentle brush.
See these few beekeeping tips.
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