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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Tim Hiatt <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:22:36 -0700
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Aaron,

I hope you have a cordless variable speed drill with extra batteries. That
will make life much easier on assembly. And makes the enclosure easy to
disassemble for future use.

I suppose you're looking at a u-haul or similar rental flatbed. I'm not
familiar with those, but I suspect you won't get 8 feet between the wheel
fenders (unless there's a rental flatbed entirely above the wheels?), so
I'd plan on only one 5-package rack wide the length of the trailer.

I'm not sure the length of the packages you're getting, I would guess 16
inches across the mesh side and maybe 10 inches tall. They go on the
trailer with the mesh facing the sides of the trailer, wooden sides facing
front and back. The packages are loaded wooden sides tight with gaps
between the packages aligned so air passes.

I would suggest framing two wooden walls for the sides of the enclosure,
20-24 on center, with 2x4s and thin sheeting on the outside. The dimensions
depend on how you stack. I'd say, with a 16x10 inch package (a guess on my
part), you could go 6 high and into a 7th row, for about 8.5 feet. You'd
built your side wall enclosure 9.5 or 10 feet long. You want a couple feet
above the packages (and room for your head while loading). They could be
transported pyramided in the back of your pickup. Or you can adjust the
length/height accordingly, once you confirm size of the flatbed waiting for
you.

The roof would be framed also, with the sheeting hanging 5 inches over the
size of the frame on the long side. If you do built it for one unit wide,
at least 6 inches clearance between the units and the walls would be good.
On assembly, screw the roof sheeting into the top of the side walls. The
front would be similarly framed, with sheeting overlapping the side walls.
You want at least a 6 inch tall area without sheeting across the top of the
front wall. That should be at least a foot and a half or two above the
packages, so no wind directly hits them. You can also put smaller vents in
the front wall, perhaps behind the tailgate. As long as your pickup exhaust
reliably exits to the side.

Inside the front, you'll want a secondary wall about a 6 inches to a foot
behind the sheeted wall. This will simply be a sideways "H" shaped surface
to stack your packages against, 2x4s or 6s. The "H" should be secure with
the walls. In the middle of the "H" will be a hook or securement of some
kind for tying down the load. This false wall allows circulation for the
front of the load.

As you load, strips of lathe will be stapled along the top of the stacks (I
hope) to secure them side to side. Also, as each row is loaded, you will be
stringing your strap/rope/tie down/cable from its connection to the "H" at
the front, through the middle of each row, until the last full row of
units. There, a lighter-duty "H" will hold the back of the load, and
whatever method you chose to secure the packages front to back will be
tightened. The remaining unit could be lathed to the back of the secured
load.

At the back, close it with a similar simple, screwed in place (but not as
heavy) rear wall, but with at least 6 inches or much more of opening along
the bottom, and perhaps smaller ones in the middle. This causes the air
from the front to pass through the packages as it exits. Be sure the back
wall is well secured, it could blow out. I used to "cross tie" the back
with rope or straps to help support it. It wouldn't hurt the packages to
have no back wall, except for the sun that might be on them, and the loss
of structural support for the back of the enclosure.

Jerry's right, get a two-axle trailer if you can find one. Another option
is to borrow a flatbed one-ton from someone near your destination and build
a similar structure on it. In that case, you might be able to go two units
wide.

Secure the whole thing by at least a pair of 2 inch straps from side to
side, and 2 front to back. If there's a wooden deck, screw the front and
side walls down. If there's a bumper on the front, put the enclosure up
against it. Or if there's stake pockets in front, put a large nail in a
piece of wood and drop it in the front stake pockets to use as a bumper.
Slamming on the brakes is your enemy.

As to the water suggestion, I've never used it, although it might be nice.
I used to go from California to northern Alberta, and without water had
little dead bees in the bottom of the packages. But, don't stop in the
daylight if you can help it, nor at night while it's warm. Bring a
friend/co-pilot and do your best to eat from a cooler and minimize daytime
stops. Here's the Biology part of the post: they generate a lot of heat,
and once they know they're too hot and start fanning/roaring, it takes a
lot of cool to get them to relax. Heat is the killer; they will cluster if
they get cold, which is fine. Even stopping at night is a mistake unless
you have seriously cold temps, like 50 F with breeze or fan. I like Jerry's
suggestion of a temp sensor. You could drill a hole in a wall and mount an
indoor/outdoor temp gauge on the outside wall, with the sensor on a wire
secured in the middle of the load. But more important than temperature is
air movement. Without that, their own metabolic heat and rising CO2 will
cause them to fan, creating more heat, and lead to chain reaction/meltdown.

If you drive with temps below 60 F, you might partially close the front
upper vents by screwing more sheeting of top of the existing sheeting, but
never cover the vent. If it rains and it's not heavy, I wouldn't worry
about closing the front vents.

What an adventure! It sounds like fun. If this description seems good to
you, I can answer more questions off-list. I'm sure there's many opinions
on what temps are safe and how to do this.

Tim

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