Apiary Construction Begins

a·pi·ar·y [ˈāpēˌerē] noun a place where bees are kept; a collection of beehives.

     Today we started building a “home” for our bees. It’s not that beees are very picky about where they live, but having them in a neighborhood could possibly ensue some panic among neighbors, so we decided to build a privacy fence for our bees. We started around 9:00 a.m. first surveying the area and determining where the enclosure should be placed. We have a fairly good size area to work with, however, some of the area will be shaded by oak trees in the summer time. After determining the exact spot, it was time to set the first post. Needing to dig the holes two feet deep, I measured two feet from the tip of the hole diggers up the handles. I then put a piece of black tape on one of the handles. When the digger is in the hole, and the black tape can just be seen even with the ground, then the hole is two feet deep. I dug the first hole and set the first post, and then relegated the task of digging post holes to my son Noah and his friend Brandon. As youngsters, their backs are a little more suited for that job.

     Now I must tell you, that this was a custom build. We did not follow any of the traditional fence building procedures. We used the width of the fence panels to determine the post spacing. Based off the first post, we held the fence panel in position and marked where the next post should go. After marking that spot on the ground, we dug the hole, put the panel back in position and centered the post where we felt it should go, held it in place, checked it for level, plumb and square and then set them with quickcrete. After the posts were set we then screwed the panels to the posts. We got 3 sides completed before the rain forced us to call it a day.