EPQ - Artefact

Learning to build a Beehive I have discovered that learning to build a beehive is not as straightforward as maybe building a birdhouse for example; as a hive needs to be built to an exact standard. This is because bees are quite particular about their home structure, also a poorly constructed one causes problems for the beekeeper as well. It is important to check for signs of a new Queen or disease to ensure the colony’s survival.  So, if the hive is not constructed properly, all kinds of problems could arise and make inspections more difficult and ultimately put the colony at risk. Rather on focussing on how to design a radical new shape of hive, I did some research on existing models and it was apparent that there are four main types of hive that continue to be popular amongst beekeepers today; from the reasons stated in my blog, I opted for the British Standard hive to build. Once I had chosen the design, it was straightforward enough to set out plans and measurements fo...

In this blog post I will be talking about how different the hive is compared to the design I drew and what I have changed and for what reason and also what I would do differently if I made another hive. First off is the floor, if you compare it to my original design, you can clearly see that I didn't include a wired floor in my plan but I have now included this. This is because at the time when I drew my design I was still unsure about what to do - whether I wanted it to be wooden or wire, so I just didn't include it.  I also changed the hive entrance; in the design I had a block of wood that is different to the one in my hive. This is because I thought it would be to challenging to chip out a small piece of wood for the bees to enter and exit out of. So I found it easier just cutting the piece of wood in two, and it would allow more bees to get through the entrance. Another thing that is mentioned in my plan is the hive tray, which is underneath the wire floor. The reason why ...