Do you want to get into beekeeping? I have two beehives on the homestead, and I love the joy that they bring me. Sitting by them, watching them buzz about foraging the wild flowers creates a peaceful environment for me to relax in.
How do you build a bench for beehives?
Before my bee hive families arrived, I got busy preparing a home for them. First of all, I needed a sturdy stand to set the hives on. I would. Not suggest setting your beehives directly on the ground. By doing this, you give bugs and other creatures easy access into your hives. Building a bench for your beehives allows your hives to be off the ground and away from potential threats and predators.
The bees are going to have it difficult as is, so give them a save head start by building a DIY beehive stand. I shopped around online, and finally decided to build my own. I used 3-inch exterior deck screws to attach everything.
When I finished cutting and screwing the boards together, the stand was very sturdy and sat low to the ground; however, it didn't seem right just setting it out there on the prairie.
The ground wasn't level for one thing, so I decided to build a good strong foundation using 3/4 crushed rock and landscaping pavers. I purchased rocks at Home Depot.
Before building the foundation, I first placed the hive stand on the ground and marked where the legs would sit. Then I removed the stand and dug down about 4 inches under each leg. In these holes I placed about 3 inches of crushed rock and on top of that a landscaping 12" x 12" paver I purchased at Home Depot.
These pavers were inexpensive and they gave the foundation quite a bit of stability. I added rock under each as needed to level the pavers. Since my level is too short to span the distance, I used an 8-foot 2X4 with the level on top to get the pavers all level.
After you having everything leveled and your stand in place, you will want to stain your beehive bench. Staining helps the wood become water-resistant and withstand the sunshine. I stained mine a chocolate brown!
After I placed the bee stand on the pavers, it became clear that a single wind storm would blow everything over, and it would only be a matter of time before that happened. Yes, the bee stand is heavy, but it gets very windy here and I'd rather address this now than in the middle of the night. I purchased some steel anchors on Amazon and when they arrived, I secured each leg of the bee stand to the prairie.
I am so happy to have a DIY beehive bench for my hives to safely rest on. One less thing for me to worry about on the homestead! You can see how the bees are doing on my most recent vlog Hive Inspection
