Recently we have been trying to make our beehives out of many different types of materials-partially to show people some styles that they can make from materials lying around in their yard, but also just for the fun of it. Who wouldn't want a beautiful wicker beehive? Our experiment this week was with a grass hive that Agape found on the Gaia Bees website. We used Guinea Grass, which grows like crazy here, and stuffed it into a frame we had made. We then sewed it together tightly enough that it wouldn't crumble and finally attached the sides. We will eventually coat the outside with mud. This hive style is not only incredibly cheap to make (we managed to buil it entirely on scraps we found in the yard) but also will provide good insulation for the bees. We ended up only making a 2 foot box because we underestimated the amount of grass it could take. The finished product came together well though, if a little Dr. Suess-esq.
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| The 2 frames and our pile of Guinea Grass. The bottom of the frame stays on the final product and the side slats get removed. A top slat also gets attached in the threading process. |
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| cleaning and lining up the grass to put in the frame. This just ensures that it will look neater and hold together better in the end. |
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| Grass in the frame. You want to compact it fairly well before you begin threading it. |
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| The completed side with the frame still attached. Notice that we also put on side boards so that we could attach it to the face. |
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| The threading |
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| The final hive with beautiful painted faces by the boys, Megan, and Agape |
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| The grass hive ready for bees! |
