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British National Beehives


Based in a small workshop in Tideswell in the Peak District we make Highest Quality British National Beehives out of 1st grade American Western Red Cedar or High Quality Red Deal according to the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Modified National Hive Plans. Everything we sell we make here in the Peak District. We also stock other items of Beekeeping Supplies including Frames, Foundation Wax and Hive Tools. The driving forces behind peak-hives.co.uk are sustainability and quality workmanship. Sustainability because, well it matters quite a bit we think and quality workmanship because customer satisfaction is paramount.



Cedar Scarcity.

Unfortunately building materials are extremely scarce at the moment and pricing is highly volatile. This goes for Western Red Cedar too. I have decided that until the market settles down I will not be making up any Cedar hives or hive parts. We'll be back in operation once the supply issues have been resolved. Many thanks.

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Want to see your National Hive being made? Here's what's going on in the workshop right now. The image is updated every 10 minutes during working hours. Click to see full size...

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blog...

The rest of the centre column is an ongoing blog of what's new at peak-hives.co.uk and other items of interest...veg garden...renewables etc, but please don't let reading about the allotment distract you from placing your order...:-)




A National Hive from Peak District Cedar

Had a busy and tiring day felling two Western Red Cedar trees with tree surgeons Paul and Dan.  The trees had to come down anyway as they were about to topple the chimney stack on the house they were next to.   Once they were down I sliced them into National Hive sized logs and then as soon as possible it’s down to Simon at Rowsley Sawmill where they’ll be milled into 2″ boards ready for air drying this summer.

Peak District Western Red Cedar

Peak District Western Red Cedar

Here at Peak Hives we’re very keen to obtain locally sourced materials if at all possible and many thanks to Dave for giving the heads up on the trees and to Paul and Dan for letting me come along on the day.  Can’t wait to get one of Peak Hives National Beehives made up out of Peak District Cedar.

More locally sourced Western Red Cedar

Local tree surgeon Paul has contacted me with regard to a couple of Western Red Cedars that he has to fell.  They need to come down anyway as they are threatening the buildings nearby.  He’s been very helpful and positive about these trees being used for National Hives rather than just burning them as firewood and is in negotiation with the owners now to see if it’s possible to do a deal on their unwanted trees.

Peak District Western Red Cedar

Peak District Western Red Cedar

Many thanks to Paul!

National Hive Queen Excluder

Peak Hives are now producing framed and wired queen excluders suitable for National Hives with either top or bottom bee space.  Our metalwork supplier sent us the metal grills a few weeks back and I’ve just had the chance to set up the workshop jigs to produce high quality frames to go round the excluder grill.  As with all our other National Hive seperates they can be found in the hive parts section in the left hand column.  I’ll also add them as an option on purchasing a complete hive this evening.

Framed Wired Queen Excluder

Framed Wired Queen Excluder

Queen Excluders

My metalwork supplier has recently sent me a batch of high quality queen excluder grills.  The mission before me (…’should I choose to take it’. R.I.P. a fond childhood memory – Peter Graves) was to come up with a frame suitable for both top and bottom bee space.  To tell the truth they’ve been sitting on the shelf for a couple of weeks now irritating the hell out of me that an obvious solution wasn’t immediately at hand.  The National Hive order that I’m currently working on includes a couple of excluders so in the end I bit the bullet and spent a couple of dead (£££) hours ‘uhmming and aahing’ and making up various workshop jigs.  By five o’clock PM with the help of the new Startrite Pillar Drill I’d got this far…

Making Queen Excluders

Making Queen Excluders

By six I’d cracked it and I’ll make up the two for the order in the morning and tomorrow evening have them on the site as a Peak Hives product.

Happy beekeeping 2010.  Nick

Machinery Upgrade.

Hi.  I’m always on the lookout for new machines and I came across this Startrite Mercury Pillar Drill.  There’s not much to be done with one of these for making National Hives but seeing as I had been coping with a much inferior machine bought from B&Q or a.n.other vendor of rubbish machinery I jumped at the chance.  The new machine is 3 phase and very good at what it’s supposed to do…the old is single phase and rubbish…easy to see which is the better machine.

Startrite Mercury

Startrite Mercury

National Hives from Chatsworth Cedar

The first batch of locally sourced Chatsworth Western Red Cedar has been milled up by Simon at Rowsley Sawmill and I’ve just stacked and ‘sticked’ it to air dry.  Simon’s milled it into 2″ waney edge boards which I can then machine up into either national hive rails or slice down the middle for hive ends/sides.   Kiln drying would be too expensive so we’ll stick it cover it to protect it from the rain and wait…

Chatworth Western Red Cedar

Air Drying Chatworth Western Red Cedar

Top and Bottom bee space National Hive

I’ve had quite a few requests to produce top bee space national hives.  Got an order finished this morning so just before my lunchbreak I decided to ‘jig up’ for offering top bee space nationals.  Basically the difference in machining requires the production of a deeper top rail for supers and brood boxes and a suitable mortice in the brood/super sides to accommodate the deeper rails.  Anyway to cut a not very long story shorter here’s a couple of pics showing the standard British National Hive option of bottom bee space and the new optional top bee space…

Bottom Bee Space National Hive

Bottom Bee Space National Hive

Top Bee Space National Hive

Top Bee Space National Hive

I’ve also put together a little page on the debate between top and bottom bee space…here

I’ll update the site to allow choosing top bee space as an option later tonight.

Flat Pack National Hives picked up from the Workshop

Hi.  Rich came up on Wednesday to the Peak Hives workshop and picked up his flat packed national hives.  Was good to see him again and Steve who came along too.  Rich is an experienced beekeeper so by agreement (and the fact that they wouldn’t fit into his car otherwise) I didn’t seperate them out into individual units.

Here’s the kit he took…

Flat Packed National Hives

Rich's Hives

I’m getting plenty of enquiries about making up batches of frames and will endeavour to have a go this weekend (I do have to make a special meal for the oldies though on Saturday as it’s their golden wedding anniversary).  The other thing that I need to respond to is enquiries about ‘top bee space’ national hives.  It’s technically sorted but I want to have a go at machining some up before offering it as an option.  Coming soon, probably tomorrow.

Allotment news is that I made some space this afternoon for another fruit tree in the garden…it’s getting tight on space and I’ve another two trees to plant.  I wonder if the farmer who owns the field across the road would mind.

All the best and as usual, happy beekeeping 2010!

National Hive Roof Detail

A quick post to show a detailed view of our lock joints on a standard national hive roof.  Originally I was using a dovetail jig but thought it was worth while investing in the required tooling to make the roofs as per the specification laid down by the British Beekeepers Association Modified National Hive plans which are the mainstay of all Peak Hives products.  I’m hoping to find some time in the next couple of weeks to make up a few observation hives…those dratted orders keep getting in the way though.

Happy beekeeping 2010!

Lock Jointed National Hive Roof

Lock Jointed National Hive Roof

Peak Hives Workshop…

Hi. I thought it might be informative to show the workshop (or the ground floor machining area at least).  This is where all our national hives are made.  Upstairs there’s an assembly area and shelving for hive parts.  As you can see it’s an old building which in it’s time has been a cow shed, a hen shed, a joiner’s workshop, an electricians workshop (The whole of Tideswell was electrified from here), an artists studio, a joiner’s workshop again and now peak-hives.

The image is several shots stitched together using ‘hugin’.

All the best and happy beekeeping for 2010!

Peak Hives Workshop

Peak Hives Workshop

National Hive Gabled Roofs…Update

I’ve just updated the prices/availability regarding the National Hive Gabled Roofs reflecting the fact that we’ve decided not to do them any more in flat pack.  The reason is that the roof structure with the top finishing piece is, I think, a weakness (given that its the most exposed part of a hive) and it’s better to have a single one-piece metal roof cover which, thanks to Swift Engineering of Buxton, we can now provide.  It means it’s not feasible to send them out as flat pack as the metalwork will get spoiled in transit.

We want you to get the best use out of our products for many seasons and this decision was made to ensure that’s the case.

My own view is that for practical beekeeping the flat roof might be the better solution as you can turn it upside down and put supers on it etc but I understand the desire for the aesthetics that the gabled roof provides.

Feedback, as always, is very welcome.

All the best.  Nick

14×12 Nucleus Hive dry assembly

Just working on orders and there’s a couple of 14×12 nucs in there in red deal so I’m making up a batch of 5.  Here’s the brood chamber dry assembled.  Back to the workshop now to start on the roofs.

14x12 nucleus hive

14x12 nucleus hive

Repairing my Wadkin BAOS Planer/Thicknesser

Our Wadkin BAOS, my favourite machine, died the other day as the wormwheel on the thicknessing feed motor lost it’s thread.  Fortunately there are plenty of these machines about and you can still buy spares from places like Advanced Machinery.  Very good company to deal with!!!

Here’s the BAOS on it’s side hanging from a block and tackle whilst I effected the repair.  Remarkable how much weight can be packed into a smallish machine.  Took all day (sorry if it’s put your order back) but by the end of the day my fav machine was doing the business again and had been oiled up and greased to boot.  Now tomorrow has to be back to production and building up stock of British National Hive parts.

Wadkin BAOS under repair

Wadkin BAOS under repair

lock joint for national hive roof.

As a quick break from making up a batch of national nucleus hives today I had the chance to test out my new gear for making lock joints for national roofs.  previously I’d been using dovetails (which are perfectly suitable and in my opinion in some ways better) but given that all the big boys use lock joints I felt it necessary to follow suit and so here’s the test pic on a couple of bits of scrap western red cedar…

testing a lock joint for national hive roof construction

testing a lock joint for national hive roof construction

fighting orders…then machines!!!

it’s twenty to twelve at night and I’ve just got back from the workshop…covered in grease and mess from trying to resuscitate a machine.  tomorrow’s national hive making is going to be pushed back while I try to get the part needed for my Wadkin BAO/S planer thicknesser.  If all else fails then I’ll use the older machine that we have in the workshop (thanks to neil) to do the thicknessing but the BAO/S will still need that part and it’s a matter of sourcing it without being stung (no pun intended) for too much cash by the parts dealers.

ugh! 2009 has been an ‘interesting‘ year.  roll on 2010!

sunday ebay…flat pack western red cedar national hive super.

Another listing for a national hive super on ebay….here

Thin kerf blade for making National Hive frames.

Arrived today.  One pricey blade!  A quick break from making up orders and stock to perform a test with the new blade.  Cuts like a dream.  Finishes as if it’s been through a planer.  The cut width is a tiny 1.7mm!!  This will certainly do the trick of getting the maximum number of National Hive frames out of the timber used.  I’ll be making up a batch of frames next week probably starting with DN4 Hoffman’s to be supplied with our brood boxes or sold as flat packs.

Thin Kerf Blade used for making National Hive Frames

Thin Kerf Blade used for making National Hive Frames

National Hives just in time ordering…binned!!!

Not sure how M and T are doing but we’re snowed under with orders.  Initially I was working on a just in time ordering system.  That’s been binned as I can see that if I don’t have stocked shelves of National Hive parts then I won’t be able to cope.  So every order that comes in now is being made up but doubled…one for the customer and one for the shelves…

I’m also fretting about delivery times…Adriana is taking charge of running the business as regards that so I shouldn’t be so concerned given that she’s a background in managing businesses very sucessfully…

worries gone?  not quite but almost…

Cheers and here’s to a good beekeeping 2010!

Nick

National Hive Roof and Frames…

We’ve just purchased some tooling to improve upon our National Hive Roof design.  Now roofs will be constructed using 1/2″ lock joints.  Frames wise I decided that it was worth investing in a thin kerf saw blade for our table saw.  Each cut will only waste 1.7mm instead of the usual 3.2mm.  When machining up lots and lots of little parts (ie. frame bits) it will be much more economical if each rip through the timber only consumes 1.7mm….that’s the theory anyway and it’s backed up by me getting the plastic out to pay for an expensive saw blade…

We hope your bees will be happy in our hives and would welcome feedback in the new season…photos or comments please and we’ll set up a gallery area on the site.

All the best

Nick

peak hives will be making national hive frames

here’s the first of perhaps many thousand…a quick bit of jig making and we’re producing Hoffman DN4 frames.  More tests to do but the initial test was today and if we can make the Hoffman self spacing frame then the others shouldn’t be a problem.  if you’ve a request for a frame type then please mail me.

DN4 Hoffman Frame for National Hive

DN4 Hoffman Frame for National Hive

national hive production line…

Paul (from Oxfordshire Beekeepers) came up today to pick up 11 Flat Pack Western Red Cedar National Hives comprising standard floor with entrance block, standard brood box, 2 supers in red deal and a 4″ roof with galvanised metal cover.  It’s turning into a production line…

flat pack national hives lined up for collection

flat pack national hives lined up for collection

six well used tools…

here at Peak-Hives we take hive making seriously.  whether it be ripping and planing timber down to size, tenoning top and bottom rails, putting just the right bevel onto bottom rails, morticing out our national brood box and super ends everything is done with precision and care.  In the picture you can see 6 well used items from the workshop…getting things square is as you can see very important and that was the main idea behind the photo…but up in the top left you can see the other little tool that has edged it’s way into the shot and deserves a mention…without that calculator there’d have been many a costly mistake it has to be said…trusty little fella has aided me many a time…

six-well-used-tools

squares and calculator used in national hive making