Build Your Own NUC or Buy
Seán Duffy shows members Ian Speirs and Gerry Mac Eoin how to quickly make a pinewood NUC from scratch. No tea and cakes today. Straight down to work. Seán, chairman of the Tribes Beekeepers Association, builds his own hives and NUCs and agreed to give a small demonstration to a small group of members at the clubhouse on Saturday. We were impressed with his skill and knowledge in this area as he quickly took us through the steps including the safety precautions and before we knew it he had a finished product in front of us.
If there are any members planning to buy hives in the near future and are wondering what to do with the flat pack that they received from their supplier, fear not. We will be running a workshop demonstrating the assembly of a flat packed hive. But, most suppliers offer the option to buy a fully assembled hive for a little extra.
The hive assembly workshop has not been finalised yet, but will be advertised on this website, Facebook and our newsletter. But, if you are afraid you might miss it, just ask at the club.
There are advantages and disadvantages to buying and or to making your own hives. The obvious advantage to building your own hive is the price, if you can get decent wood at the right price. But if you have to also buy the tools and other bits, you would need to be building more than a few to make it worthwhile. The measurements have to be precise of the frames will not fit properly and your bees will not be happy or they will build extra comb wherever they can. But, if you are handy with this sort of thing, there is great satisfaction in putting bees into a hive that you built yourself.
