Leveling

The making of a hive stand

The making of a hive stand turned out to be more involved than I expected. I took the bee keeping class, I read the books, and I talked to experienced apiarists. By most accounts the simplest hive stand I could make would be with a couple of 4x4s and some cinder blocks. Figured I’d plop them down and that would be it. Easy peasy. What I didn’t realize was that the need for level ground beneath the hive was more than a mere mention in the books and conversations I had; It was, in fact, critical to everything.

I didn’t have a level at home. Couldn’t find one in the garage so I went back to the hardware store and got me a nice handy serious-about-my-work level. As soon as I put it on the wood for a check and saw that it couldn’t be more UN-level I knew the easy stand idea was too good to be true. Discovered that a tiny bit of a slope is pretty significant, and learned that if the hive is tilted, the bees will build comb that way too! Makes sense to me.

So I hatched a plan, recruited hubby, searched YouTube, and then got to digging, and digging, and digging some more. Along the way I gained a new respect for leveling, real and metaphorically speaking.  Bottom line: balance is worth the effort and so much depends on it.