I bought this barrel from ebay. It’s a 5 litre oak barrel, possibly a bit of a cheap low quality product that might look shabby before long. These would normally be used to hold your wine as they have a wine cask bladder inside. The walls are 10mm thick oak…
Combination Hive Box Article by Brian Keeble I approached Steve asking if he’d be happy to construct a ‘custom’ native bee hive build, thankfully (as my DIY is poor) he agreed. So, after several emails clarifying various issues, Steve got building! The ‘Combination Hive’ name came from Steve himself, and…
The photo below is from the Bee Expo 2016 at Imbil. The little wooden blocks are Solitary Bee Observation Blocks and were made by Chris Fuller of Kin Kin Native Bees . The idea is that some Solitary Bees like Leaf Cutters or Resin Bees will create their nest in…
I’ve been working on some routed timber signs… I’ve used some rough Cypress timber slabs here, putting them through the thicknesser to achieve a nice flat surface. The grain shows up really nicely on Cypress, as opposed to Hoop Pine which is fairly bland. It took me a while to…
This is the new version of my Budding Kit (Budding also known as Eduction). The previous version was quite involved in the construction which made for a great box but was possibly overkill, so i’ve stripped the design right down to simplify the construction while still providing the same result,…
This article demonstrates a very simple design of a Stingless Bee Box – Pine OATH. Standard OATH dimensions are 280mm long by 200mm wide. This design is based on these OATH Construction Plans (OATH – Original Australian Trigona Hive) This is 33mm thick x 100mm wide Hoop Pine which is…
Above: I fetched one of the spare Mail Boxes I usually make Below: Adding a head, tail and feet. The head started out facing forward as you’d think would be normal, After thinking about it i pawsed, and remembering the Mambo dog, it’s better to have the head turning back,…
Native Bee Box with Slim Honey Trays These are slim honey tray frames that sit on top of the standard OATH design. There’s two frames and also the top lid with a similar shallow depth make it three frames for collecting honey. These three sections replace the standard honey super.…
I thought i’d make a few Observation boxes with a fitted lid, not hinged. The lid will be easily removed so you can see through the viewing window and check on the progress of the bees. The top honey super frame. I’ve recessed the viewing window in and removed a section…
The Dictionary describes a Skep as “A straw or wicker beehive”. Quote from Wikipedia “Skeps, baskets placed open-end-down, have been used to house bees for some 2000 years. Initially they were made from wicker plastered with mud and dung but from the Middle Ages they were made of straw. In northern and…
Project Panel – OATH
Octagonal Hive V3
OATH Hive – with Honey Super
Solitary Bee Hotels
Skep – Sisal Rope
Roofs for OATHs
The Outhouse
Hive Positions & Tips
Overheat & mould
Brood Temperature Monitoring
Plants for Bees
So you want to buy some native bees?
Getting Bees in to a different shaped box
Budding – Hive Duplication Example
A visit to Krystal’s
Association – Honey Standards Meeting
Sugarbag Bees – Pollination Box
Australian Native Bee Conference 2018
Native Bee Club – Ann Ross Hive Haven