Rotating hive

[MuswellMetro]

has anyone every seen one of these#

it rotates at 1 hour per year per hive, what has that lost in the translation!!!!

i assume it makes the varroa dizzy and they fall off, as it also controls varroa

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bit like this........http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3146&highlight=rotating+hive

 

[thedeaddiplomat]

Assume it really only works on the Circle Line??

 

[MrB]

If you could get the supers to rotate as well you would have a self extracting hive!!!

 

[Mike a]

 

[drstitson]

1 hr

they're not referring to rate of rotation - the 1hr/hive/year is inspection time needed.

nothing is lost "in translation" per se just a screw up as the english section has lost a block of text vs the french:

"Séléctionne la fécondation et la production du miel par une rotation systématique de 180°, une fois par jour, á partir d‘avril jusqu‘á août
Rotation systématique facilite le travail de l‘apiculteur pour une heure/an/ruche"

promotes growth and honey production by a systematic 180 degree rotation once a day between april and august.
beekeeping work needed: 1 hr/year/hive.

anyone fancy making moulds for round foundation? any coopers/wheelrights out there who can make the frames?

 

[RoofTops]

The main idea behind these hives was to prevent swarming as the bees can't raise queen cells as the "down" direction keeps changing. Great idea in theory but it also shows how some beekeepers love to make beekeeping as complicated as possible.

 

[drstitson]

hurdy gurdy hive

i'd love to see one made in long dartington formation.

you could also make a mechanism to protrude a frame at a time like an indexed cd storage box OR a juke box mechanism to extract a frame and present it for examination.

just ideas......

 

[For want of a better word]

Post this up on 1st April please!!

 

[drstitson]

.....

on quick calculation, assuming dadant/langstroth footprint, you'd get around 10000 cells per disc or 100,000 per hive.

interesting idea that if workers find the arc of brood honey stores at bottom they move it up to supers!

 

[RoofTops]

It might just be possible to adapt a Dartington.

What you would need are a couple of supports at either end and basically turn it slowly like spit roasting. The frames would have to be clamped and the varroa floor would probably have to go and any honey would have to come from brood frames.

Just don't mention it to Omlet...

 

[drstitson]

ideas ideas

can't see why you can't use a varroa floor.

whatever size you make just need rotating end plates which attach to walls - one with handle on outside of hive - and two castellated bars running between them at 180 degrees to each other. one fixed the other removable to allow the slotted brood discs to be retrieved (don't know how easy retrieval would be without hive tool access for leverage).

handle free end would attach to fixed vertical QE wall so honey frames kept isolated.

Could even arrange one that allowed variable brood size - QE spindle panel moveable and replaceable/telescopic bars to hold frames.



Now what about a helical setup with one continuous long strip of foundation????

 

[Hombre]

One of the links that Hivemaker pointed to "Konya" hives, the picture is the guy that Chris B identified earlier in the year as the Romanian, Hedgerow Vlad, he gets about a bit.

 

[Teemore]

I think this is more bee meddling than bee keeping.....

 

[Hawklord]

What you would need are a couple of supports at either end and basically turn it slowly like spit roasting.

Sounds like a girl I used to know.

 

[bruce]

there's a good explanation here http://www.apiservices.com/articles/us/rotating_broodnest.htm

 

[MrB]

i wonder what impact rotating frames have on the waggle dance!!??

 

[drstitson]

"i wonder what impact rotating frames have on the waggle dance!!??"

Absolutely none i presume - bees don't orientate to the comb they orientate to vertical (presumably using their very own internal "iphones").

Anyway the comb isn't constantly rotating it just flips 180 degrees twice a day during the active season, so the "up-down" axis of the hive is essentially fixed almost all the time, it's just reversed for half the time.

 

[Hombre]

. . Anyway the comb isn't constantly rotating it just flips 180 degrees twice a day during the active season, so the "up-down" axis of the hive is essentially fixed almost all the time, it's just reversed for half the time.

The frames of the broodnest are circular and rotate by 180 degrees at a determined pace. The alteration of up and down stops the quiet conditions necessary for the reproduction of the mite.

A single rotation in a day does not disturb the bees.

http://www.apiservices.com/articles/us/pictures/rotating_beehive_3.jpg Hedgerow Vlad says rotating and not flipping and so is 180 degrees changed twice a day, consistent with continuous rotation throughout a 24 hour period. Y

I believe that you are the first person in two years to have interpreted the motion as flipping and not one of continuous rotation, and would be interested in your view of why this might be and how it might be accomplished. High speed flip or continuous slow motion flip. LOL

From looking at the frames, I would ascertain that the drive mechanism is by friction roller against the bottom edge of the frame, with a couple of guide rollers in the roof.

 

[Mike a]

Would be interesting to see how the cells are formed on the blank foundation or plastic comb if it is rotating all the time, I wonder are all the cells at the same angle or not and if there could be a problem on very hot days when the nectar could dribble out when the cell is effectively upside down.