Open Source Beehives - Colorado Top Bar v3.0

[Aaron Makaruk]

Hi Wikihouse Community,

The Open Source Beehives project is a collaboration between Fablab Barcelona/Vallduara & Open Tech Forever, based in the United States in Colorado. We are building CNC-routable, flat-packable beehives with smart sensors that stream data wirelessly to an online application. Our goal is to demonstrate that the open source hardware community can directly address global crises, in this case the widespread loss of bee colonies known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), instead of relying on centralized, corruptible institutions to solve our problems for us.

Colorado Top Bar - v3.0

We are almost ready to prototype version 3.0 of our hive, and I thought it would be a good time to share the newest design with the Wikihouse community.

Feel free to contact us anytime, and if you have ideas on how we can improve the design, please comment in this thread. Thanks

[Aaron Makaruk]

Colorado Top Bar - v2.0

Here are images of our previous design. We were using a locking nut, but we had issues with plywood consistency, and the wood wears down over time loosening the joint over time.

Alastair anticipated this:

"The CNC 'nut' is brilliant. There could be so many uses for this. The issue we imagine will be whether your plywood is hard enough that it wont mash the edges and lose functionality very quickly once exposed to the elements. Presuming you've tried this? What's the 'push down' tolerance on it."

If you look at v3.0, you'll see that we are using a wedge now, which is future proof as the wood wears down. Below are photos of a rough plywood version that looks decent, but we made a better one with oak and a linseed finish (not shown) that we felt was really beautiful. As we get more photos taken, we'll post them here.

[nick]

Aaron,

What a fantastic purpose and concept! I surely hope that Paul Cline in Las Vegas sees this. He had proposed a beehive concept at one point for R&D.
Have you thought about finger tenons with friction wedges that are driven in parallel? Also, Beeswax! after the linseed oil application to help sustain the ply when exposed.

I certainly experiencing a genuine feeling of "goodness" after reading your post. What a great cause to be proactive about.

[Aaron Makaruk]

Thanks Nick - I found a few examples of the things you've suggested, but I'd like to ask you to post a photo or two of what you were speaking of. Also, if you'd like to connect Paul and me, please have him email me at: aa...@opentechforever.com - thanks for the beeswax tip - I just set up a test hive with a fresh coat of linseed in my yard, and I'll be letting it sit in the winter weather to test its durability. I think I'll put some beeswax on it to give it a better shot.

Thanks

[nick]

[nick]

Hey Aaron,  This was the quickest thing I could find on hand.  This may not demonstrate the joint very well. Essentially, once the boards are clicked into place, you drive a slightly wedge shaped piece inline with the Finger tenons. The friction created is quite substantial and holds even better if it swells slightly.  They are pretty easy to remove also.  Just my .02 cents worth.  Love the concept and want to make one myself. 

Take care,

Nicholas