Wood Sample Test 2023
Start date: 1 November 2023 Adding a few different timbers to the test this year, Radiata, Plywood and a mystery timber I was given which
Hive Box Design Elements
Photo: Thin plywood bird house with a very strong stingless bee colony inside just south of Coffs Harbour Is there an Industry Standard? There’s currently
Plywood Boxes
A slightly controversial material is Plywood, and here I’m adding to the controversy by using 12mm thick Ply (*for testing purposes only – I’m not
Paulownia Boxes
A few native bee keepers are using this at the moment, I’ve heard some good things and some bad things. This article is just for
Cypress Boxes
Cypress is a very popular wood for making native bee boxes because it’s cheap and the boxes look good when freshly made. There are a
Does paint cause condensation?
The rumour: “If you paint your wooden hive box it will be like covering the box in a plastic bag and cause condensation” What is
Accoya Wood
Alex of Spicers Hollow Native Bees dropped in some Accoya offcuts. I plan to make a box with it and do some of the usual
Coatings Test 2022
I’ve added a couple of new products to the list. Doug Irvine uses the Intergrain Heavy Duty finish on his finger joint boxes so I
Hive Designs – Photo Gallery
All original concepts and designs by Steve – unique to nativebeehives.com Designs – All designs on this site are my original designs unless stated otherwise. I’m
What kind of box should i get?
There’s so many different designs of native bee boxes out there? When starting out you might notice a lot of different boxes, even natural logs
Camphor Laurel Native Bee Box
Can I make a native bee box from Camphor laurel? That questions comes up every now and then. Some say you can’t and some say
Observation Windows
If you keep looking you wont be able to see! Observation windows have become quite popular in the native bee community, though not necessary and
Wooden Pegs
Wooden Pegs / Dowels for Native Bee Frame Construction Wooden pegs or dowels can be used to pin frames together for that fancy box you’re
Box & Material Testing – Temperature
Box Temperature Comparison – 15 November 2021 Box temperature comparison between an empty box and a live colony. These two boxes are beside each other
Wood Sample Test 2020 – 2022
Wood Sample Test – Exposure to the elements I thought i’d throw a few samples of different wood together for some weather exposure tests. Alex
Honey Super Designs & Testing
Stingless Bees can create their honey pots everywhere within the hive but it’s commonly thought they will store their honey further away from the entrance,
Build or Buy Empty Boxes?
Should you start building your own boxes or just buy them? Many new hive owners contemplate that question and probably never work out what to
OATH Internal Volume
A lot of box designs use the same outside measurements of 200mm x 280mm and then use different thicknesses of wood, so it changes the
Splitting Plates and Bars
There’s a lot of theories and personal opinion around Stingless Bee Box designs, here I give some thoughts on Splitting Bars and a Plates. Some
Moisture Content & Wood Hives
This article is about moisture content and wood only, not humidity conditions for bee colonies. Woodworkers will want their timber to be well dried before
