Modeling in Google Sketchup really helped make building fast & seamless. The 2x12x16 are very thick so the hive weights a ton, on the other hand joining pieces was really easy as there is much surface for glue and screws. And I hope this will provide some good insulation against New England winters.
Here’s a Google Sketchup design for a simple top-bar beehive.
Some pics:
Notes:
Only 2 measurements really matter in the design of a top-bar beehive: the angle of the side panels (70 degrees) & the width of the top bars 35mm. They both pertain to bee behavior and this design has them both optimized. From what I gather, other measures are quite forgiving.
This design is simple & well researched, I do not know yet how it will fare in practice, more to come on that.
Material:
All you’ll need as far as wood is concerned is a couple of 2x12x16 and a 3/4″ sheet of plywood:
Lastly, all units are in millimeters but based on standard lumber sizes available at the hardware store.
My wife & I have just released our first children story! As an app for iOS devices. This is the achievement of what started innocently as a small project reading stories to mp3. Months of work, huge investment for the art, it feels great to have put this project behind us.
My only hope now is that the market gods will treat us well.
Here it is in all its glory:
English version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id480065432
Hungarian version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id480080998
French version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id480175112
