In the Beekeeper's Workshop...
One of the joys of beekeeping (at least for some folks) is the opportunity to tinker in their workshops and build the various pieces of equipment that is used in the trade. Not only can you derive the pleasure of building something useful, there often is a very sizeable savings that can be recognized.
For those who want to try their hand at constructing their own bee equipment, here are a few plans which you are free to download and use. Any comments and feedback would be welcome.
-Steve Tilmann
COMB Club Member
 | Solar Wax Melter | With this gadget, you can load it up with your rinsed, raw wax, put it in the sun and then go attend to your other business. You don’t have to worry about anything catching fire and the job will be done at the end of the day. As an added benefit, your wax will come out in near pristine condition since virtually all of the bug parts and other debris will be caught in the wax melter’s wire basket. (download plans) |
 | Honey Bucket Heater | A fact of life that all beginning beekeepers learn is that honey will sooner or later crystallize. Because honey is a supersaturated sugar solution, crystallization is, after all, a natural process. Some honeys will crystallize a lot faster than others. We find, for example, that our fall honey crystallizes much faster than our summer honeys; sometimes within a few weeks after extraction. Whether you store honey in buckets, jars or squeeze bears, you will need some means to reliquify your honey. The heater presented in these plans may be just what you need. (download plans) |
 | Extractor Stand | Sooner or later even a hobbyist beekeeper will consider the purchase of a honey extractor. These gadgets are well worth the investment. All extractors have a stand which can be purchased separately. However, an excellent honey extractor stand can be inexpensively built in your work shop in just a few hours and it will give good service.(download plans) |
 | Styrofoam® Nuc | This design for a Styrofoam® nuc box is easy to build, light weight, inexpensive and surprisingly durable. We run medium depth supers in our operation, so the plans presented are for a medium depth box. However, you can easily modify this plan for a full depth box - or even a shallow. (download plans) |
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