Hive Lifter Tongs

Hive Lifter Tongs grip beehive boxes so they can be lifted individually or as a group with a crane on a vehicle or trailer. Full beehive boxes can weigh up to 90 pounds and are stacked up to five boxes high. The tongs for this crane are strong enough to lift 300 pounds and grip the finger-pockets on the side of the hives. Beekeepers with back, leg and arm injuries cannot lift hive bodies to inspect for queen health, mites and viruses.  With the increase of diseases in beehives and reduction in honey bee populations, it is more important than ever for beekeepers to do frequent inspections of their hives. While large cranes mounted on trucks and trailers are used by commercial beekeepers to lift pallets of hives, these hive tongs will work with small cranes used by sideline beekeepers to grip and lift the individual hive bodies.

AgrAbility provides critical assistance to enable people in the agricultural industry with an injury, illness or disability to continue working. Arthritis, back injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, amputation, paralysis, and other medical conditions restrict beekeepers from completing necessary tasks. Functional limitations include mobility to the hives, bending over to inspect frames, lifting hive bodies, grasping frames, moving hives, gripping hand tools, and hand cranking extractors. While specialized machinery exists for commercial beekeepers, smaller apiaries require more manual labor. It is just not ‘worth it’ to spend annual gross sales to purchase one machine. These tongs are low-tech, low-cost, and can be easily fabricated in a beekeeper’s shop or by a local welding company.

78 inches of 1” x 1” x 1/8” square hot rolled steel tubing

20 inches of 1” x ¼” hot rolled steel bar stock

5 inches of 1 ½ x 1 ½ x ¼” hot rolled steel angle iron

3 5/16” x 2” grade 8 bolts with lock nuts

12 inches of 800-lb test strength chain

Cut all your pieces to length.

Overlay the 3 parts that need holes and drill 5/16” clearance holes as shown straight through with a drill press or hand drill.

Tack weld all the parts together as shown. After welding one of the angled legs together, overlay the next parts on top of it to line up the angles so the legs of the tongs match exactly.

Assemble the tack-welded tongs with the 5/16” bolts and test it on an empty beehive box to make sure the geometry works correctly. Once the tongs are working properly with your sample hive, weld all parts solid. Grind the sharp corners smoothly and paint.

Assemble the tongs with the chain and bolts. Happy beekeeping!