steve gibson

Thank you for all the interest. It's about helping increase the population of wild honey bees by offering them more places to live - rewilding? They would prefer hollows in standing trees but this is getting near to that and still being practical. The hives can be strapped high in trees as well. For me it's an add on to my coppice business and I am taking guidance from Matt Somerville who is one of the experts - The Freedom Log Hive – Bee Kind Hives BEEKINDHIVES.UK start 27 minutes in. I hollow out the middle using a chainsaw and a large gouge. The species need to be durable but relatively easy to hollow out. They do look good as well.

Hi. I'm looking for trunks to make into log beehives. They need to be a minimum diameter 18 inches all round and 33 inches long. Species need to be larch, douglas fir, scots pine or sweet chestnut ie something durable. I need up to 10. Preferably in the South Oxfordshire or Berkshire area. Is there anyone on here who could supply these or know of anyone who could? Any help or advice appreciated. I've attached a photo of an example. Thanks. Steve

Thank you for all the advice. It's for milling so I'd be looking at getting a bar and chain from a uk supplier. Have been advised elsewhere to get the pro version. Not sure about import tax so I'll look into that. Farmertecs seems to have quite a big following in the US so there's a bit more info around from there. Used ms661 seem quite hard to come by and condition could be unknown.

Hi. I'm looking into buying a farmertec g660 but it looks like the only place I get get one from in the uk is from china via the ebay store -machinerypartstore. Does anyone know where else I can acquire one in the uk? I'm also open to getting a used one but there doesn't seem to be much of a market for them. Thanks in advance. Steve

I'm building a solar powered solar drying kiln and am looking at suitable fans so need an idea what the max temperature might be inside. There's quite a lot of info on the web suggesting 150 degrees F but that is for kilns in the US. Just wondering if anyone has one in the south of england and knows what temperature they have reached. Thank you.

Is there anyone in the Berkshire or South Oxfordshire who could give me some experience/teach me about milling (portable or chainsaw) and drying? Maybe in exchange for some labouring? I would like to start producing dried timber (mainly hardwood) on a small scale both for myself and other makers/craftspeople. I will be doing cs30 training in a couple of weeks but am coming at this from a user of timber and have very little experience at present. Part of my plan is also to build a solar powered kiln. Unfortunately I'm the wrong side of 50 but still fit and strong and keen to learn. Any offer of help would be appreciated no matter how small. Thanks Steve