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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:53 am Post subject: I'm building another log hive...a big one |
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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.
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. _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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trekmate Golden Bee

Joined: 30 Nov 2009 Posts: 1137 Location: UK, North Yorkshire, Bentham
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Jasbee Nurse Bee
Joined: 18 Nov 2014 Posts: 39 Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:23 am Post subject: |
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Wow! What an amazing project! |
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ingo50 Scout Bee
Joined: 30 May 2014 Posts: 311 Location: Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:36 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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ingo50 wrote: | 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. |
Thanks for the kind words, but it's far from "expertly done." I'll give updates as I get them from Brian and Zada Vorwaller (the couple that's working on it now.)
In the meantime, here are a couple of 'prequels...'
This first one is the very beginning when I asked Brian (the wood carver) to advise me on where to open the log up so he would have plenty of room to carve the faces. He wanted a good 4 inches so he drew it out for me.
http://solarbeez.com/2014/12/14/three-kids-log-hive/
The above post also has a video of Hal talking about his log hive. Hal is my mentor when it comes to log hives. When I first joined the bee club, he was the ONLY one doing something that really appealed to me. "Non-intervention beekeeping." "I'm not going to feed, medicate, or take any honey. The bees can swarm as often as they want." His log hive is actually bigger than mine and the observation window is a good example of what I'd like mine to be.
The second post has a short (sped up) video showing me un-expertly sawing the wedge out, but I was rather proud of my "chainsaw angle selfie." I just hope I didn't go too deep because every time I tried to saw out a section, the chainsaw cut deeper than I intended, then I encountered a big rotten section caused by some nails someone drove into the tree. I was surprised to realize how much rot resulted from nails.
http://solarbeez.com/2015/01/03/progress-on-3-kid-log-hive/ _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, Trekmate, for correcting that link. Yes...you got it..."A family of beehives."
or what naturally happens when you get a male and a female together...kids!
Okay, maybe that's a little over the top.  _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:45 am Post subject: |
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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/ _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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trekmate Golden Bee

Joined: 30 Nov 2009 Posts: 1137 Location: UK, North Yorkshire, Bentham
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:10 am Post subject: |
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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! |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:12 am Post subject: |
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trekmate wrote: | 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! |
I've used it for a few years and haven't really noticed any extra wear and tear on the chain, but I don't use to make a living, only to cut firewood now and then. _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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ingo50 Scout Bee
Joined: 30 May 2014 Posts: 311 Location: Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Great faces, what a talent. Please post fotos of the final assembled log hive in situ. |
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SueBee Foraging Bee
Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 121 Location: United States, Pacific Northwest, Camas
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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If I were younger and stronger and smarter, I'd make one of these. What a beauty you have there! |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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I'm getting real close now...within a week, I'd say. 😀 _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:25 am Post subject: |
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Solarpat wrote: | I'm getting real close now...within a week, I'd say. 😀 |
I guess it took longer than a week, but I'm happy with the results.
http://solarbeez.com/2015/04/22/grand-opening-for-grand-kids-log-hive/
I've included a little video to highlight the construction of the log hive.
At this point the hive is not occupied (at least not by honeybees) and I haven't seen a single swarm yet, so I hope this carved log will graduate into a hive sooner than later.  _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Barbara Site Admin
Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 1857 Location: England/Co.Durham/Ebchester
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:40 am Post subject: |
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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! |
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SueBee Foraging Bee
Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 121 Location: United States, Pacific Northwest, Camas
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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Simply magnificent! I've never seen anything like it, and I hope it sings with bee-life for many, many years! |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Barbara wrote: | WOW!!!!!!
I so look forward to your next video showing it populated. I doubt any self respecting swarm could resist that! |
Thanks, Barbara. I shot another video yesterday. It's a sort of walk-through of my other two log hives, a look at the numbers of bees at the entrances, and speculating which one might possibly swarm first. Since both log hives were populated by a volunteer swarm, which built up very fast, whoever decides to occupy the GK log hive would want to have those traits because it's so big, plus they are log hives, and would like to populate another log hive, right? I can only hope.
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=xv7oHBRYM1E _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 6:07 am Post subject: |
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SueBee wrote: | Simply magnificent! I've never seen anything like it, and I hope it sings with bee-life for many, many years! |
Thanks, SueBee. That's a very poetic way of stating it. I hope I get a swarm too, but I realize it's a big gamble. My log hive mentor, Hal, has built another log hive. He is playing the waiting game too. The race is on...  _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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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. _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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Solarpat Foraging Bee

Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Bandon, OREGON, USA
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 6:06 am Post subject: |
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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. _________________ This forum is a great place to learn the buzz on bees. |
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