A couple of home made beekeeping tools

Okay so honey bees have been domesticated since 2422 BCE, and cave paintings record honey being collected way back in 13,000 BCE (thanks for that Wikipedia!) so it's probaby safe to assume all the usefull beekeeping stuff has already been invented however I'm not above a little innovation myself. OKay the first thing I made wasn't my own invention at all and was a blatant rip off of a frame perch I'd seen on the beekeeping course last year. Basically it's a small rack that hangs of the side of the hive and you pop a frame on to give you more room in the hive for doing whatever it is you're doing poking around in there. I thought it was a pretty good idea but I wasn't about to buy one. I figured had enough junk lying about to knock up my own anyway -turns out this is just as well because back then I still thought I had a national brood box so I'd've probably bought one the wrong size. Anyway a piece of wood, a handfull of screws and four brackets later I came up with this:

Frame Perch

It also gives me a 2" shelf on the edge of the hive to put things as I'm working the hive which is pretty useful at times, honestly. You can probably figure out how it works but here's a photo anyway. You can also see a rather rough and ready follower board I cut out of plywood. Since taking this picture I've started placing the perch at the other end of the hive so that any bees which drop off the frames can land on the landing board and get back into the hive.

Frame perch in use

Shortly after installing hive1 I got stung by a bee. At the time I was checking out a fence panel I'd replaced on the side of my neighbours shed which the hives are facing. Basically I'd stood in front of the hive a bee saw me and buzzed out and stung me on the knee. I already knew you weren't really meant to stand in front of the hives and I'd positioned it to make it unlikely anyone ever would, but then I reallised it might be handy for me to be able to see from close up what was actually happening at the entrance. So, I made my next bit of useful kit. I like to call it the "BeeSpy 3000" but most people prefer to call it "just a mirror on a stick." Basically it's a £1.69 walking stick purchased from Newland Avenue with a wooden handle carved to vaguely resemble a whale, a very cheap plastic framed shaving mirror from Wilkinson's and a tube of Poundshop high grab glue. Here it is in all it's glory:

The BeeSpy 3000!

Yes, it does look a bit pervy. Lets me stand next the hive and see what's happening at the entrance and on the landing board tho. I can also pop it under the open mesh floor and look up into the hive too to see how many frames the bees are on.