Natural Beekeeping International Forum

Solarpat

This log hive is being made from a Monterey Cypress that we had to cut down because of the danger of it to the house. Unbeknownst to me, it had a big rotten spot probably caused by someone pounding nails in the tree before we bought the place over 40 years ago. In any case, the tree will live on as a log hive. At this stage, I'm done hollowing it out, the observation window is fitted, and the log has been picked up by Brian Vorwaller who will carve the faces of my three grand kids, with the idea being that the entrances to the hive will be through the mouths of the grand kids. It ought to be interesting. Smile

http://solarbeez.com/2015/02/14/gran...ogress-report/
Brian, the wood carver, thinks he can have it done by the end of March so I can set it up for swarm season. Last year I had 8 swarms from 3 hives. This year I have 8 hives. Since I'm a natural beekeeper, I don't medicate, feed, or otherwise intervene in any way in my log hives.
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trekmate · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:17 am Post subject:

If the link doesn't work for you (as it didn't for me) try http://solarbeez.com/2015/02/14/grand-kids-log-hive-progress-report/

Great work! Looking forward to the result. A family of beehives? Very Happy

Jasbee · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:23 am Post subject:

Wow! What an amazing project!

ingo50 · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:36 am Post subject:

Well done, great fotos. How long did all the woodworking take? You have done a very professional job. Please post more fotos when the faces have been done. Let us know how quickly the log is colonised from setting it up.

Solarpat · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:34 pm Post subject:

Solarpat · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject:

Solarpat · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:45 am Post subject:

The wood carver has made some progress on the faces and I have made the quilt box so he can carve a structure to top it off.
Here's some updated photos and a short video...
http://solarbeez.com/2015/03/16/facing-the-challenge/
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trekmate · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:10 am Post subject:

Another great looking hive!

Does the canola oil for the chain saw result in any extra wear to the chain or bar? I often use a "vegetable based oil" but it's not cheap!

Solarpat · Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:12 am Post subject:

ingo50 · Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:33 pm Post subject:

Great faces, what a talent. Please post fotos of the final assembled log hive in situ.

SueBee · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:44 pm Post subject:

If I were younger and stronger and smarter, I'd make one of these. What a beauty you have there!

Solarpat · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:28 pm Post subject:

I'm getting real close now...within a week, I'd say. 😀
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Solarpat · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:25 am Post subject:

Barbara · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:40 am Post subject:

WOW!!!!!!
Absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic. What an amazing work of art and hopefully, soon to be living sculpture.

I thought the other two were sensational but really, this last one is just beyond words!

I so look forward to your next video showing it populated. I doubt any self respecting swarm could resist that!

SueBee · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:54 pm Post subject:

Simply magnificent! I've never seen anything like it, and I hope it sings with bee-life for many, many years!

Solarpat · Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:58 am Post subject:

Solarpat · Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 6:07 am Post subject:

Solarpat · Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 3:16 pm Post subject:

I was starting to doubt myself, wondering whether I would get a swarm this year. The few swarms that I saw were small. We even had a small(ish) swarm land on the log hive only to move on elsewhere. I recalled Hal, my log hive mentor, say that he had to wait 8 months one time for a swarm to populate one of his big log hives.
But we were lucky...two days ago, on May 13, a big swarm came from over the trees and slowly made it's way up to the log hive. My wife was working outside and alerted me. The post below has some pictures and the video play-by-play...
http://solarbeez.com/2015/05/15/grand-entrance-for-grand-kids-log-hive/
To say that we were excited would be an understatement. These bees picked out our log hive. As it turns out, another swarm seemingly had designs on it too. The second swarm was arguably as big or bigger than the first, but they were about 20 minutes late and had to land on the outside where they stayed all night and left about 3:15 pm the next day.
Two days before the 'swarm event,' I had shot video of some 'bee disagreements.' Scout bees were trying to eject other scout bees. I'm wondering if it's possible that these were scout bees from different swarms fighting over the log? I included that video.
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Solarpat · Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 6:06 am Post subject:

My log hive mentor, Hal Strain, has come out with another log hive. Since he is pushing 80 and since he couldn't source an old log, he built one, out of full sized 1 x 12's.
http://solarbeez.com/2015/05/25/hal-nails-log-hive-4-patti-shows-us-her-garden/
I shot video starting in late March with the understanding that I wouldn't post it until bees had actually swarmed INTO his hive. Hal doesn't try to capture a swarm to put in, he wants the bees to actually CHOOSE his hive. That they did, sometime in early May. In our unofficial race to see who would get bees in their individual log hive first, Hal beat me by about two weeks.
In the video, Hal talks about his beekeeping experience, his thoughts on mite control, and how he built his log hive.
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