The Bee Bed

Um, no. If I build something, it won't 'bee' a thing that results in me sleeping on boards in the woods. I'd likely need more healing than I do now.

May be okay if you're short (less than 6' tall), but a full-sized person needs to scale up the plans.

I've always been a sucker for beehive plans and trivia about beekeeping. An important aspect of it, for me, is relevant measurements I can't lose -- the compressed thickness of my little finger at the center of the nail is one beespace, from the heel of my hand to the knob in my elbow is the height of a frame, the width of my middle and ring fingers are the proper thickness of a frame at the top while the width of my thumb is the bottom width, etc.. Why? It's actually easier than remembering numbers, and it's doubtful I'd have a good tape measure on me if/when a lab accident transports me to the Dark Ages where my most marketable skill will be building beehives for a local lord.

I worked off and on for a few years while at university with a friend who kept bees as a business. You might change your mind as to how soothing the sound of a few hundred thousand angry bees can be while you are moving the hives and changing the supers (the top portion where the bees actually store the honey) to take home for extraction. All this on a summer day with the temperature hovering at 95 Fahrenheit.

They always seemed to find the part of the coveralls and net where they allowed a crack for entry. And that crack usually was at the back of the head where they would land a good sting in the back of the neck or fly around inside the net to get you on the lip. Ah, good times!

KDP -- Things have changed. Instead of stacking supers, you use a horizontal hive, and you only have to tend them twice a year, in the spring to check on them and in fall to harvest. I suppose stings are the same, but having one person whose sole job is to keep you in a cloud of smoke is supposed to help considerably.

Phideaux, I never saw a hive setup as you describe. But I still smell like old burnt burlap.

KDP -- Um . . . how do I say this . . . well . . . okay . . . I'll just dive right in . . . here goes . . . ready . . . okay: the Bee Bed which Paul posted is a horizontal hive with some bits added to the top. In the top picture, that box under the sleeping platform, between the legs, is the hive. The laterals down the middle of the platform are the top of the hive. You remove those to get to the frames.

A good (but slightly wordy for my taste) overview of the process is at: https://www.beeculture.com/the-layens-hive/

I must have been exceptionally dense on the 24th to miss the obvious.

KDP -- I wouldn't know, I've never done exactly the same thing (and if you believe that, can I interest you in a nice bridge . . .)

Phideaux: I'm more interested in "between the legs" on the other picture...

Right. I'll get my coat. Wouldn't want to be stung, anyway.