Manfred was visiting from Europe and these three logs collected after a particular strong storm, were still in the barn waiting for some action. We decided to give it a shot and come up with hive bodies to be completed at a later stage.

Looking for the right tree.

A circular groove is gouged with a router and the chainsaw cuts within this shape.

We got visit, we got warm but we finished.

Three hives were eventually completed not without tentative roof designs that had to be revised. The simpler, the better. The walls are between 3 and 4 inches thick, they feature a double top and a double bottom in white cypress. Each hive has now its own life in its own tree, each has been chosen by bees in very different locations. As 2019 is the first season, definitive conclusions cannot be made just yet, but the colonies seem to be thriving. Each hive  is the object of a specific article.