New Member with Layens hives in France.

[Katherine]

Hello, I am very happy to join this forum and hopefully to share experience with other beekers and particulary those using Layens hives.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Welcome

 

[Murox]

Hello, I am very happy to join this forum and hopefully to share experience with other beekers and particulary those using Layens hives.

Hello and welcome. there are some here who run horizontal hives of various sorts although most use a vertical hive system. I run a couple of horizontal long deep hives myself. I have always favoured deep frames so I built the the hives and set them up with ERB frames (Einraumbeute), I do however run them very much as Layens.

 

[enrico]

Welcome, good to see a fresh face!

 

[Austin]

Hello, I am very happy to join this forum and hopefully to share experience with other beekers and particulary those using Layens hives.

Hello, I live in France too, in the Orne (61). Which area are you? Austin

 

[Katherine]

Hello, I live in France too, in the Orne (61). Which area are you? Austin

I am in the Sud Manche. Le Teilleul.

 

[Katherine]

Hello and welcome. there are some here who run horizontal hives of various sorts although most use a vertical hive system. I run a couple of horizontal long deep hives myself. I have always favoured deep frames so I built the the hives and set them up with ERB frames (Einraumbeute), I do however run them very much as Layens.

I built my own Layens hive but was given a nuc on Dadant frames. I had to convert my hive to take these, but haven't done it the right way. I followed the advice of Fred Saulet who puts out regular videos and has recently been trialling Layens hives. He abandoned his conversion later, but after I had already done it his way. The colony has developed well and I left all 11 frames for the bees to winter on. I have since learnt of a better method of conversion on horizontal hives .com. I'm going to build another hive so I can transfer these Dadants next spring this new way round. It's a long way round to get the hive I really want to work with.

 

[Murox]

I built my own Layens hive but was given a nuc on Dadant frames. I had to convert my hive to take these, but haven't done it the right way. I followed the advice of Fred Saulet who puts out regular videos and has recently been trialling Layens hives. He abandoned his conversion later, but after I had already done it his way. The colony has developed well and I left all 11 frames for the bees to winter on. I have since learnt of a better method of conversion on horizontal hives .com. I'm going to build another hive so I can transfer these Dadants next spring this new way round. It's a long way round to get the hive I really want to work with.

Yes conversion can be an issue but as you have found horizontal hives .com you can smile all the way. I have found a homemade top bar and some cable ties very handy at times. I managed to cycle out the converted national frames I initially used over 2 seasons and draw 25 plus wired but foundation-less deep frames and create two artificial swarms in the second season. Where I am the pollen and flow can be poor due to weather, so I fed liberally the first season removing some capped stored syrup to give back to them the following autumn. Hope it all works well for you.

 

[Katherine]

Yes conversion can be an issue but as you have found horizontal hives .com you can smile all the way. I have found a homemade top bar and some cable ties very handy at times. I managed to cycle out the converted national frames I initially used over 2 seasons and draw 25 plus wired but foundation-less deep frames and create two artificial swarms in the second season. Where I am the pollen and flow can be poor due to weather, so I fed liberally the first season removing some capped stored syrup to give back to them the following autumn. Hope it all works well for you.

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of cable ties.

 

[Katherine]

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of cable ties.

Update. The bees overwintered brilliantly and I had a very strong colony ready to put into a new Layens hive. This time I used the adaptations show in horizontal hives.comie.theframes turned by 90 degrees vertically. I can operate the hive properly now.
I have had a snag concerning the length of the hive. I couldn't get the last frame inspite adding some allowance along the total width. Wasn't dir what to do with this and do put a follower board in which didn't fit the gap either. Perhaps the bees will access and build on the roof. Time will tell.
It looks from Dr Leo's plans that he adds 1mm but difficult to know as his plans all in metric. What do you think?

 

[Ian123]

You may have done yourself a favour if the design is similar to the Thornes layen the frames are a bugger to remove as they are surrounded by a rim. I’d suggest you make an easy to remove dummy board that actually fits the gap, that may help the issues. Ian

 

[Murox]

I use a 'dummy' board made from foil faced kingspan, never had a problem with bees building anywhere odd.

 

[Katherine]

Thank you for your support. I think I'll make a slim dummy board to make getting into the frames easier. I bought a Spanish 12 frame Layens and it has a 2.5cm strip/thin top bar which I think is for the purpose. It seems odd that the Thorns hive has a rim. Can't imagine why.

 

[Katherine]

Not sure what Kingspan is. I'll look it up. I have used ply.

 

[Ian123]

Thank you for your support. I think I'll make a slim dummy board to make getting into the frames easier. I bought a Spanish 12 frame Layens and it has a 2.5cm strip/thin top bar which I think is for the purpose. It seems odd that the Thorns hive has a rim. Can't imagine why.

Click on the smaller picture above the details. Try lifting those frames out! It would make a good rug box for the bottom of the bed though. Layens Hive

 

[Katherine]

Click on the smaller picture above the details. Try lifting those frames out! It would make a good rug box for the bottom of the bed though. Layens Hive

I watched a video on YouTube this week of a Spanish beekeeper with Layens transhumens hives, like mine. He didn't bother to make sure all the frames were beautifully parallel and tight. No follower board either. The lid went back on with bees all over the frames. As he'd left gaps, it wouldn't matter.
I'd be interested to hear from people who have worked both with solid and open ones and what their conclusions are.

 

[Murox]

Not sure what Kingspan is. I'll look it up. I have used ply.

Kingspan - PIR is a rigid insulation board.

Layens frames are sized so there is no open gap at the top of the frame - they meet when pushed together making a "ceiling".