My grandson Levi came by and his father sat him on a Layens hive and he thought that was fun! He is only 3 months old so everything is either lots of fun or no fun.
Started three Layens hives and did not get enough pictures during the framing process. I really have embraced the idea of building out the walls with plywood and ripped 2x4s and then gluing and screwing the walls together. It just makes for a much more solid build because the corners are much more solid and tough. Yes, it definitely takes longer to build than solid wood but the one inch of R5 insulation adds better heat/cold protection. We then wrap the hives in plywood on the outside which adds additional strength to the box because the glue and staples are joined to the side walls and bottom. Tyvek house wrap helps with moisture between the box and the cedar.
You cannot tell in these pictures but one of the hive bodies is taller to accommodate Langstroth standard frames on end. The customer requested 5 conversion frame so they could buy a nuc and place them in this hive. So we added a couple inches to the top for these frames. It will be interesting to see how the bees react to the large gap below the Layens frames over time. I suspect they will not care unless they get super crowed.
These hives are almost done now and ordering the metal lids this week. I have to add the hardware and already started cutting the frames.
