Purchasing WBC

[Der Alte Fritz]

Surely you are just perpetuating the myth by doing this. It's akin to promoting rail travel by drawing a picture of a steam engine.

Probably, but the few minutes I have chatting to people about bees are better spent telling the general public that a) Bees are in trouble b) A huge part of modern food production depends on bees c) that ordinary folk can make a difference by planting more pollen flowers, raising the issue with your MP, etc

Have just heard that another person is becoming a beekeeper after seeing our apiary which takes the total to four.

 

[Brosville]

Perhaps Davelin would be wise to look at a Warre - can be built from recycled wood, using free plans, and they actually look like beehives - here's one of mine...

 

[Poly Hive]

I think judging by this forum there are more beekeepers now than since I think any time since I started in the mid 80's.

Bees in huge trouble... BBKA party line?

PH

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Bees in huge trouble... BBKA party line?

PH

Well that is the BKKA message.
Even the Government in the form of DEFRA has their Healthy Bees 10 year Action Plan and the National Bee Unit has expressed concern over Bee Health.
Likewise the European Union has just launched their Europe wide Bee Health Monitoring programme through thee European Food Safety Authority see here

so there is some support for this view in some quarters.

 

[Davelin]

Perhaps Davelin would be wise to look at a Warre - can be built from recycled wood, using free plans, and they actually look like beehives - here's one of mine...

I have no problem with this at all, what gets me is that if you ask someone what a beehive looks like they will inevitably draw a WBC, and perhaps it would be better to suggest that this is now a minority hive, rather than switch to it just to keep people's rose tinted glasses shining.

 

[itma]

... It's akin to promoting rail travel by drawing a picture of a steam engine.

Promotion aside, steam engines are a common part of the iconography of warning signs.
And skeps are part of the beekeeping/honey iconography. Even more than the WBC!

It probably won't change - how many of the public have ever seen bees being kept in a skep? And I suspect quite a lot of them might never have seen a real 'live' steam train. The potency lies in the familiarity of the image, rather than the familiarity of the object.

// I wonder how long it will be before the symbol for a tv/monitor screen ceases to be a 4:3 rectangle with rounded corners?

 

[Poly Hive]

It is indeed the message and its out there for a good reason and nothing at all to do with bees really and all to do with a declining membership.

Not that I am cynical of course.

Just not accustomed to wearing rose tinted glasses and able to see nonsense if it's in front of me.

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

It is indeed the message and its out there for a good reason and nothing at all to do with bees really and all to do with a declining membership.

Not that I am cynical of course.

Just not accustomed to wearing rose tinted glasses and able to see nonsense if it's in front of me.

PH

Its a message (the bees in trouble one) that draws in all sorts of strings and welds them together. Its also several years out of date.

Seasons such as this one, which has been catastrophic for most (although not bad for a few selected corners of the country) apart, bees have actually been on the rise numerically for the last few seasons. 'Bees in trouble' is actually a successful strategy aimed at extracting assistance from the taxpayer in various ways. The ways it has been spent is a different matter altogether...........some, to my view, totally pointless research has been done at great cost.

WBC? Well it IS a museum piece really, but there are still a remarkable number of people have them, and people even start off in them having been persuaded by their mentors that its the only 'proper' beehive. Was told at a prominent bee supplies house that it is still their second most popular hive for beginners. They remain the single most aesthetically pleasing of hives, and if people want them then fine. They are often the 'poster child' of a honey selling establishment, sitting out the front for the public to see, often empty and sealed, as the last thing the beekeeper wants is bees to go into them. Out the back, and at out apiaries, the real production is done in more modern type hives. You can make Nationals look good just by using the ornamental gabled roof sold under different names rather than a simple flat one, thought you then cannot use it upside down as a stand for the boxes you take off to get access further down the hive during examinations. However, if its what floats your boat, then get on with it, better keeping bees in a WBC than not at all.

I would worry about that Warre hive in whoevers pic it was. Just does not look wide enough in its footprint to be properly stable. 8 frame Langs blow over easily in a side wind, and that does not look any wider. Looks like a good sheltered location though, so in that particular circumstance its possibly a non issue. Not sure but may also be made of plywood, my personal least favourite material for beehives. OK for roofs and feeders etc, but not for main bodies.

 

[Luminos]

Ted Hooper is pretty dismissive of WBC's
Mine are pretty much all on 14x12 BB's now though

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Well I would tend to agree that some of the research is pointless (Sussex University's Waggle Dance Program would be first on my axing list were I Galactic Ruler) but let us put into some kind of perspective here.

Total Bee Research spending by HM Gov and industry in measured in Millions of pounds. The spending on wining and dining by HM Gov, MPs and MEP runs into Hundreds of Millions of Pounds.

HM Gov spends about the same amount of money on Bee Research as it does on keeping those stupid palm trees in the entrance of Portcullis House (around £200,00 a year).

So I say "dump the palm trees and double the research budget! Off with their heads!"

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Ted Hooper is pretty dismissive of WBC's
Mine are pretty much all on 14x12 BB's now though

I was planning to run mine as double brood as the bees are quite a strong colony.

Compared to the National, it costs more due to the double skin and holds one less frame and does not have a 'square' box so cold way or warm way is more of an issue.

In fact I was thinking of running it using Deep boxes only not shallow supers so a frame or too less will help with the weight. Being a coastal location, winters are cold and damp so an extra skin might be an advantage.

And with only 3 hives it does not matter about the fiddly aspects. The National hive has a pitched roof which would be a nuisance in a big apiary.

 

[Brosville]

Just as point of information, the Warre is mine - it is made mostly from untreated softwood, the floor and landing board are marine ply - it's securely "tied" down when heavy weather is threatening.......

 

[Easy Beesy]

Coming at this from another tack - what abut having a roof, base and 'lifts' made to fit around your nationals? I know it's a faff but then at least you only put out money on the outers. Probably cheaper than buying a full wbc too That way you can run the inside on 14x12 or anything else you want. And the public only see the image you want (and they expect).

 

[Griff]

Sorry but I think there is a degree of pandering to ignorance going on here.

Whats wrong with a sign saying "Beehive"?

In fact I find the public are not so blinkered as you might think.

PH

Regarding the BEEHIVE sign.I am in the fortunate position that I don't need signs to explain what my bees live in because they look like beehives ---yes they live in WBC's.

 

[For want of a better word]

Sorry but I think there is a degree of pandering to ignorance going on here.

Whats wrong with a sign saying "Beehive"?

In fact I find the public are not so blinkered as you might think.

PH

Just shown some pictures of various beehives to my little ones.. they know the difference between a WBC a National or even a Long Topbar!!!
BUT BOTH pointed to A SKEP as a REAL BEEHIVE !!!!!

​

 

[Griff]

Nice one.

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Out of the mouths of babes.....

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Coming at this from another tack - what abut having a roof, base and 'lifts' made to fit around your nationals? I know it's a faff but then at least you only put out money on the outers. Probably cheaper than buying a full wbc too That way you can run the inside on 14x12 or anything else you want. And the public only see the image you want (and they expect).

Yes I had thought of that but I need another hive anyway, so was going to get the WBC and then see what the fit of the lifts was round the current National hive. So it is a good idea.

 

[Poly Hive]

Sighs some education needed then but given the avatar no surprise really!
PH

 

[Heather]

WBC lifts will not fit your National- I would suggest if you are new to this malarky- stick with one type.
I have both and initially kept picking up the wrong hive box for the hive I needed to increase- most frustrating when shed is not very near!! Fast learning curve.

But I like WBC's too...the lifts most useful when dissecting a hive . And double glazing in the North is useful... Both have good and bad points - like men really