This build was a collection of firsts….first time we have ever built 9 hives at once! Definitely need more carts and need to clean up the mess. As to the mess we are still under a burn ban so do not want to burn up all the scraps but will have to do that soon, just going to have to watch the burn barrel. I have the wheels in the shop to build a new cart but I am thinking it needs to be slightly skinnier than the two I have. Also we have LOTS of plywood scraps and might use that to fill out some of the carts because they are just frames. Then when they are not in use, I should be able to double stack the carts to save more space.
Also the first time we ever purposely turned a hive over to ship! Check out these pictures! The customer brought out a Uhaul because they only had a small trailer and we still did not have enough room for 9 hives. Turns out with the moving blankets we were able to turn over 1 hive and they packed in great. The hives were going to the San Marcos area and they reported no issues with the drive and unload!
This was the fastest we have ever built some hives before! I see the first pictures were from 8/12/2023 but I probably worked on them a few days before. But considering they were picked up on 9/2 that is about four weeks and all while working a full time job! Yeah, it is time for a break before the builds for Spring 2024 start….maybe get in some bow hunting this year! Honestly, pine hives are built in less than half the time of a cedar hive because we do not need to plane or finish any of the boards!
What did we learn? I need a wall mounted cubby hole to put all the wood scraps that have any length. I typically keep anything that is longer than 10 inches and they go under the carts. However, when moving the carts with hives out to customer vehicles they lose scraps and parts. Time to find somewhere else for them.
