Lifts for moving beehives

When choosing a hive lift, you can find numerous discussions on beekeeping forums, videos on YouTube, blog posts regarding DIY making.

This is an important and irreplaceable mechanism in any beekeeping industry, which should be given maximum attention.

The content of the article

  • 1 Instead of joining
  • 2 Collapsible lift
    • 2.1 Assembly
  • 3 Universal lift

Instead of joining

At its core, the discussion of lifts is an endless and sometimes controversial topic. Each owner has his own approach to the maintenance of the apiary. Some beekeepers actively use homemade carts and lifts. Others use factory models of mechanisms. Still others modify the purchased model to fit their needs.

We have already described homemade means of mechanization:

Here are three versions of the beehive lift trolley:

And here is an overview of several beekeeping homemade products of this type: Trolley and scales – important beekeeping homemade products

Here is another interesting idea for self-assembly that we spied on a well-known forum:

homemade wood

This hive lift model is designed to work with alpine hives. Its main advantage is its low cost. Supporting elements, posts, crossbeam are assembled from wood. The gate is welded from a metal pipe. Two rollers and a strong rope are used as a lifting mechanism.

hive lift in operation

This is one of the variations of the model with lifting blocks already discussed in the article: Do-it-yourself carts for transporting hives

Large demountable lifts are used for the nomadic maintenance of the apiary. With their help, the hives are loaded onto trailers and platforms. And small trolleys equipped with a lifting unit are designed for intra-access needs – with their help, houses are moved from one place to another within one point, or transported to a trailer and used together with large collapsible lifts.

Collapsible lift

This mechanism is used for servicing multi-hull houses already installed on the platform, as well as for loading them. The device is assembled / disassembled easily and quickly.

The lift is versatile due to the design, the supports of which are transported and installed in any position relative to the loading platform or to each other.

Assembly

The do-it-yourself hive lift is assembled according to the diagram below:

scheme

The rack (marked with number 2) is driven into the ground and attached to the side of the vehicle by means of a bracket. The second bracket fixes the mechanism on a two-legged support (figure 3 in the figure).

A sturdy horizontal tube (marked as 1) is slung between the support and the upright. The fastening here is a metal ring (4) with a welded rod. On the other side of this mount there is a stop for the screw – a threaded boss.

Schedule:

  1. To submerge the bee houses, first set up a rack. A fastening assembly is placed on top (it is inserted with a rod inside the rack), into the ring of which a horizontal tube is passed.
  2. A load roller and a second fastener are put on the same pipe.
  3. The two-legged support is installed in such a way that there is room between it and the side for the free passage of the hand truck. After installation, the rod of the second fastener, also equipped with a ring, is inserted into the support from above.
  4. The tube is secured in place with bolts. After that, you can hang a pulley block and a gripper for loading bee houses to the roller.
  5. The design of this self-made mechanism can easily change configuration during operation. Initially, the horizontal element of the lift is in a parallel plane with respect to the load platform. The hives are brought up on a hand cart and lifted upstairs.
  6. After full loading of one part of the platform (houses are located along the entire side), the horizontal tube is displaced – it runs diagonally, which makes it easier to load the central part.
  7. And then the front support is displaced – the mechanism again becomes parallel to the board, but already on the other side of the vehicle. At the final stage of loading, the houses are installed along the second side.

Universal lift

This mechanism is welded from 20 x 40 mm shaped tubes. Has two frames – support and movable, equipped with a winch. The winch is assembled from two cutters mounted on a 20 mm pipe welded at the ends. The author of the idea is Viktor Efimenko.

The main purpose of the device:

  • moving bee houses within a point;
  • their transportation to the winter house;
  • body manipulation;
  • loading onto a trailer when wandering.

Special attachments can be installed on the movable frame to facilitate the work with the housings. They have grips that fit securely into the metal handles of the body sections.

attachments

In the photo: the upper nozzles for rearranging the bodies and the lower ones for moving the entire hive.

How exactly loading and working with hulls takes place can be found in this short video review:

Without high-quality and efficient mechanization, it is impossible to maintain any beekeeping farm, regardless of its size! Therefore, no matter what lift for hives with your own hands you assembled, the main goal will be achieved – the work when loading houses or performing other beekeeping work will become much easier.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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