Ant barrier for beehive

This is a foot with a built-in oil moat to go under a beehive to block ants from gaining entrance.

There are two versions. The original and a second with a side port for adding the oil (it makes it much easier to fill).

Print instructions

Print Settings

Printer Brand: Solidoodle

Printer: Solidoodle 4

Rafts: No

Supports: No

Resolution: .3mm layer height

Infill: 80% rectilinear

Notes:

Use a near-solid infill for maximum compression strength (but not 100%). I chose rectilinear because various studies have shown that to be the strongest over honeycomb, etc, and it prints the fastest. Do not turn on supports (no way to clear from inner cavity) - part was designed to print without supports. Once print is complete, the outer support cylinder will easily peel off.

Post-Printing

vapor treatment

Although this weakens the strength of the part a bit (8-20% depending on who's study you read), I felt vapor treatment was necessary to ensure the surface is water-tight so the oil won't leak out slowly and rain won't leak in. To get the vapor to the inner surface where it was needed I had to add a fan to the chamber to move the air around (first attempt without the fan only treated the outer surfaces). Make sure you use a brushless (spark free) fan!

Filling

It is a little tricky getting the oil into the cavity. I ended up bending a piece of tubing to reach over the lip. Add about 20ml (part holds about 25ml before overflowing).

If you choose to print hivefeet2, there is a side port which makes filling much easier - especially once installed. The only complication there is to avoid is auto-siphoning back out. The trick is to hold the syringe at an angle with a bubble of air at the top so that is the last thing you squirt in.