Beehive - University design project.

[Chris Weir]

I am currently a student at Loughborough University, studying Industrial Design & Technology. For my final year project I am thinking about designing a innovative beehive that is aimed at the urban/suburban environment, with the intention of making the activity less daunting and more attractive to novices.
I would appreciate your views and any suggestions you may have regarding my project.
Many thanks
Chris.

 

[drstitson]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=39

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Sounds like a good project Chris - good luck with it.
There are already a lot of different hive designs on the market, including the beehaus, which I believe was designed with similar intentions to yours.
However, there is always scope for improvements. You might want to consider in-hive technology - a temperature gauge, weight gauge, web cam etc.

 

[Poly Hive]

Chris?

Good luck with your studies but the UK is plagued with a plethora of hives already.

There are already too many.

I am some 8 miles from you so if you want to have a chat PM me.

PH

 

[kevboab]

A low cost beehive would always be welcome.

 

[oliver90owner]

A low cost beehive would always be welcome.

There is one. It's called a top bar hive. and the cheaper ones are the Kenyan type?

 

[warts]

The only thing I can add of possible worth is think 'storage'. I mean designing a hive that is storage efficient. I never imagined I would a) have so much kit, and b) struggle to have space to store it. I keep my bees at an out apiary, and am lucky enough to keep some of my kit in a lean-to barn. If I kept my bees in my end terrace house garden, and had to keep all my kit here as well, I would have even more of a storage problem than I do now. So clever storage, in my opinion, might be a way forward. Just a suggestion, and good luck

Sally

I would strongly suggest you take up any offer of help (I believe PH has offered). Even better would be to spend some time with a beekeeper (or are you one?). A good design, again in my opinion, is often best done 'bottom-up' rather than 'top-down', if you see what I mean

 

[Flatters]

Good luck with this. My thought would be that a good starting point may be 'what do beekeepers have to make over a standard hive?' One example is winter insulation where people use a variety of different things and change them to suit, like cutting out sections for fondant.

Feeding is another area where there are many different options and a lot of improvisation.

 

[Andy Duff]

With the very cold winters that we have had lately, would you consider designing a very very deep roof that incorporated all round insulation, that can just be slid over a national hive. this could of course only be used with open mesh floors. My biggest worry is losing colonies from cold and the cost of replacing them. The ease of use of hives is a minor problem compared to disease, theft of hives, the mad weather, mad queens, mad asian hornets and the mad price of wood. good luck

 

[drstitson]

"With the very cold winters that we have had lately, would you consider designing a very very deep roof that incorporated all round insulation, that can just be slid over a national hive. "

I'd thought about that - for lightness i'd suggest poly with outer layer of varroa type mesh to deter woodpeckers.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Could you design a feeder that works?

 

[rae]

What would I want in a hive if materials were no problem?

1) I'd like it to be collapsible. A 14x12 brood should be 4 components, flat pack, lock them together and deploy. At the end of the season you have a dense stack of panels, rather than a shed full of boxes.

2) I'd like it to be modular. So I can take a single wall side, and that will be a super. Stick three together, and I have a 14x12 panel. Two would be a nat brood.

3) It needs to be light, have good insulation and be woodpecker proof. Titanium shell, poly insulation with a wood veneer interior. Or maybe not...!

Give me something compatible with nationals but with those characteristics and I'd be a buyer...

 

[Chris B]

The inflatible log hive. Maybe not as daft as it sounds. I'd try one.

Filled with hydrogen. Explodes if attacked by a woodpecker. Loss of 1 colony would be worth it.

 

[Andy Duff]

"With the very cold winters that we have had lately, would you consider designing a very very deep roof that incorporated all round insulation, that can just be slid over a national hive. "

I'd thought about that - for lightness i'd suggest poly with outer layer of varroa type mesh to deter woodpeckers.

Brilliant.
The mesh used is actually stainless steel and is widely used in industry for screen filters it is quite cheap if it is bought on a large scale and can be bent and fitted into expanded poly moulds prior to injection. The only problem is how to seat the cover without blocking the entrance and without cutting the lid/cover as stainless wire is not easy to cut.

 

[Travelator]

I'm guessing that a design project needs to display interesting and innovative use of materials, but doesn't necessarily need to sell by the thousand to established beekeepers?

Here are a few ideas that I would like to see:

- I think flat-pack correx hives (eg for nuclei, swarm collecting) have already been done. But you might be able to do one with novel features.

- Conventional hive with interesting materials and IKEA style assembly - no pesky glue and nails, just an allen key.

- Disposable plastic frames (again, already been tried, but you might be able to add an interesting twist)

 

[RoseCottage]

I'm with the others...

A hive that can have easy plug n play components would be ideal and would potentially allow cost reductions to be achieved.

Nothing too complex reduce the number of required panels, build in a clear panel for quick observation.

A simple (nail/glue free frame design that simply snaps together and can quickly be emptied and reused.

A single moulded floor rather than several components - added weight by filling feet with sand/water...

Most time in beekeeping for us is frame and hive assembly.

As stated a few high-tech elements -temp reading of colony, remote view, external Wasp traps, lightweight but can be painted.

All the best,
Sam

 

[drstitson]

"The only problem is how to seat the cover without blocking the entrance and without cutting the lid/cover as stainless wire is not easy to cut."

Integrated mouseguard strip welded to bottom of mesh on one side.

obviously have to offer Brood, Brood and half and 14x12 variants.

another issue is space occupied in storage during the active season - would need to come in 4 pieces with MB type joints for assembly/disassembly for storage in the flat.

 

[Chris B]

I think the time is ripe for a cheap not-for-profit poly/plastic hive. A number of suppliers have invested in moulding for their own designs (and it would be very interesting to hear compatibility stories). But they aren't selling much cheaper than wooden hives, and in one case much more expensive.

What about a co-operative initiative? It might even attract grant funding.

 

[Poly Hive]

As far as I can see the poly is quite a lot cheaper, however...

It all comes down to supply and demand, and until the people involved can shift tens of thousands the price will realistically stay higher than most of us, and most of us are cheapskates, want.

It's that simple.

Further if you are supplying a product which is particular to one country then you are further hand tied if you think of it. So what price (literally) a poly WBC? Or even worse a Glen??

By the way this design project crops up every year at Loughborough. Or has for the last four years that I know of, seems a lecturer there is a lazy so and so.

PH

 

[Headnavigator]

Add to all the above some kind of theft-proofing, and portability - it will need to be transportable for some, for OSR/heather seasons. Inner surfaces that can be easily cleaned of propolis would be helpful to those of us with living treacle-factories.
And can we have an eye to appearance too please? Doesn't have to look like a compost box, options from 'country garden-friendly' to camouflage would be appealing.
Love the idea of electronic gizmos for monitoring too, perhaps that could be retro-fitted to existing hives?
We don't ask much, do we?
However - beekeepers often seem to me to be extraordinarily tight when it comes to replacing existing kit, some of the stuff I've seen in use is so decrepit it would disintegrate if a bee sneezed, you really would have to design something exceptional to charm the money out of some pockets. Your best marketing bet is new beekeepers, I suggest.
Good luck, 'build a better mousetrap . . . etc'