sack is enough for three hives), four or five pieces of plank about 7.50m wide and 20cm long — scraps of metal are also good. (it is wise to build your hive so you can use a standard feeder, if you do this you will also need a feeder).
RACTICAL BEEKEEPING
Building instructions 1. Choose a good site for the hive. 2. Clear the site and level it. Clear an area about 3 or 4 m in diameter. 3. Mark out the size of the hive on the ground. Lay all the top-bars side by side on the ground to make a rectangle. Using a stick draw a line around the topbars and mark the comers with small sticks. 4. (Using the lines as a guide, dig a foundation for the hive to 10-20 cm deep. foundation should be as wide as the shovel. 5. Mix up mud for the mortar — use good clay mud, not stony or sandy soil. 6. Build the walls of the hive using the mud blocks and mud mortar. Be careful to build square and straight. Make the walls about 40 cm high (a little less than kneehigh) and take care the hive is the right width. When the hive is finished, a topbar should just fit inside. The ends of the top-bar should touch both sides of the hive (Figure 3). 7. As you build, make sure to make an entrance hole. Make a feeder hole too if desired. These holes should be at the front of the hive which must face the rising sun, so the bees will start work early. Use the pieces of plank (or metal) above the holes, to hold up the wall above. The feeder should fit inside the feeder hole and the entrance should be 2cm by 12cm. Make both of these holes bigger than you require — when you plaster with cement, you will reduce them to the correct size. Both these holes should be off the ground to reduce the risk of ant attacks (Figure 4). 8. Prepare for plastering. After building the walis, take a little mud and smooth out any cracks or holes. DO NOT PLASTER WITH MQD — if you do the cement will not stick properly. To keep the hive dry in wet weather build up the floor with a 5 cm layer of mud. Let the hive dry for 2 or 3 days.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE “MPOFU HIVE” by Peter Bechtel, Bee School, Lutheran Farmers’ Training Centre, Box 229, Piggs Peak Swaziland THE MPOFU HIVE FIGURE 1:
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The Mpofu hive is a new beehive developed in the Mpofu area of Swaziland. This is a very
hot, dry area with strong spring and autumn honey flows. It is an isolated community, without a local source of timber for building hives. The original idea for the Mpofu hive came from Jabulani Mnisi, the Extension Worker of the Mpofu area who noticed two problems. First his farmers were having difficulty in getting standard Swazi hives* because of lack of funds and transport for timber. Secondly the Swazi hives became too hot for the bees in summer resulting in high absconding rates. Jabulani began to experiment by putting hives and metal drums full of bees in holes in the ground. This kept the hives cooler, but other problems such as ant attacks and rotting wooden hive parts became apparent. The final design of the Mpofu hive is shown in Figure 1. ; The Mpofu hive will hold 25 standard topbars. It is made of mud bricks, mortared with mud, and plastered with a cement plaster (stones may be used instead of mud bricks). The cement plaster assures that ants cannot enter the hive, and that it will last for many years. The hive lid is made of metal tiles or plastic fertiliser sacks.
Tools and materials you will need bucket for water, shovel, small troTools:
wel or short, smooth plank. Materials: about 50 mud bricks or large stones, mud for mortar, wheelbarrow full of sand for plastering, 25 standard top-barst, about one third of a sack of cement (one
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FIGURE 2:
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FIGURE 3:
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