Overview
Custom hive dubbed “Fishing Shack”. Built to the theme of beach living and a relaxed fishing lifestyle.
Customer
Judy Robertshaw
Lead builder
Will Robertshaw
Lead customisation and accessorising co-ordination
Judy Robertshaw
Location
Woodgate QLD
Request From Customer
would like a little old fishing shack as a bee hive to fit the theme of our house and the lifestyle of living in the little beachside town of Woodgate (provided an image of a garden ornament for inspiration. See image below). The key features requested by the customer, for the hive were: Painted green weatherboard with metal roof and rustic verandah. A pelican, boat, tank stand, fish cleaning sink and the use of as many recycled materials as possible. Lastly, they wanted a 2 high box: one brood and one super. (Normally, our custom hives have one brood and two supers built-in. All our custom hives come with a Blue Bee Base Board.
Breakdown of recycled items
The roof is made from old garden edging
Facia boards reshaped wood offcuts
Gutters from old garden irrigation hose
Wall cladding from old wooden blinds
Windows from old picture frames
Door, boat, oars & fishing rod made from old garden sleeper
Rails & pillars from old broken baby gate
Sink is from an old carburettor (tapwear is garden irrigation fitting)
Tank (this side) stubbie cooler
Tank (out of view) old milo tin
Deck, tank stands & sink stand are made from old bee frames
Sign above door was a drink coaster
Life rings covered wooden curtain rings
Ship’s bell was from an old garden ornament
Potbelly fire on verandah is an old cotton reel and garden irrigation hose fittings.
Then there are lots of repurposed odds and ends used for other accessories.
Now let's talk about that Pelican. After a long time of looking through shops and online, nothing I could find were either too big or too small, nothing was just right. That is when during the night, I woke up to an idea and said
“ Why don't I just make one, it can’t be that hard”. So the next day I set out with a goal and gave my idea a crack, and this was the result of the first go.
And as you can guess, this did not turn out the way I had it in my head so back out to the shed I went.
After some adjustments to scale, I had a result worthy of the fishing shack beehive that you now see proudly sitting ready to oversee the bees working. Here is an image of the pelican nearly ready to be painted. The boat and oars followed a similar process.
I hope you have liked this quick overview of the making of the “Fishing Shack”. If you have any ideas of what you would like to see or have a custom-built hive idea of your own, then contact us here at Goodwood Produce today.