Russian Alpine Hive
- Thread starter Little John
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Little John
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Hello Korki7 - well, this is only my first year with this style of hive, so there's still something of a learning curve in progress. 
Results so far have been mixed:
the frames have been a great success, with the bees apparently not being troubled by the wire at all - they readily incorporate the wire into the comb, and if there happens to be an empty box beneath the frame, then they simply keep going ...
I now have several 108mm frames with 200mm deep combs attached to them. (So to house these, I've simply strapped two 108mm boxes together)
It would be good to report that the one-piece base/ entrance/ removable OMF unit has also been successful, but in practice it has been a failure - in particular the 'periscope entrance': although of adequate size whenever the hive is 'ticking over', it's responsible for a traffic-jam whenever a large number of bees need to use it simultaneously.
Also the slidable OMF, although carefully made and thought to be a precision fit, has been allowing bees through a small gap 'somewhere' which I can't easily identify, and due to the restricted entrance many bees have been employing this means of exit. The only way to find the gap would be to remove the veil and get my head much closer in to see - but the bees exiting via this gap seem rather cross at the inconvenience (it must be a very small gap), so I won't be attempting that ! I'll be making a more standard, and less 'clever' design <wry smile> during the coming winter months.
Although I installed bees far too late in the year for swarming to be a problem, I've taken the precaution of buying an AMM queen (which is currently housed in a National for now) which I trust will be more appropriate for this size of hive.
At one point I also thought about using much deeper boxes, but as you probably know Warre found that his 400mm boxes - although the optimum size - proved too heavy to lift easily, so adopted the 210mm box height instead. But - with a mechanical lift, 300mm should be manageable - they'd certainly make for a much better size of brood comb.
Presumably you're planning on supporting your 310mm combs with something more than just Top Bars ? Wire frames might be worth considering ...
'best,
LJ
Results so far have been mixed:
the frames have been a great success, with the bees apparently not being troubled by the wire at all - they readily incorporate the wire into the comb, and if there happens to be an empty box beneath the frame, then they simply keep going ...
I now have several 108mm frames with 200mm deep combs attached to them. (So to house these, I've simply strapped two 108mm boxes together)
It would be good to report that the one-piece base/ entrance/ removable OMF unit has also been successful, but in practice it has been a failure - in particular the 'periscope entrance': although of adequate size whenever the hive is 'ticking over', it's responsible for a traffic-jam whenever a large number of bees need to use it simultaneously.
Also the slidable OMF, although carefully made and thought to be a precision fit, has been allowing bees through a small gap 'somewhere' which I can't easily identify, and due to the restricted entrance many bees have been employing this means of exit. The only way to find the gap would be to remove the veil and get my head much closer in to see - but the bees exiting via this gap seem rather cross at the inconvenience (it must be a very small gap), so I won't be attempting that ! I'll be making a more standard, and less 'clever' design <wry smile> during the coming winter months.
Although I installed bees far too late in the year for swarming to be a problem, I've taken the precaution of buying an AMM queen (which is currently housed in a National for now) which I trust will be more appropriate for this size of hive.
At one point I also thought about using much deeper boxes, but as you probably know Warre found that his 400mm boxes - although the optimum size - proved too heavy to lift easily, so adopted the 210mm box height instead. But - with a mechanical lift, 300mm should be manageable - they'd certainly make for a much better size of brood comb.
Presumably you're planning on supporting your 310mm combs with something more than just Top Bars ? Wire frames might be worth considering ...
'best,
LJ
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Hi John,
I hope you are well.
Is there any continuation on Russian Alpine beehives? Thanks
I hope you are well.
Is there any continuation on Russian Alpine beehives? Thanks
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Hi ThamesValley
John hasn’t been on the forum since March 2018
rolande
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Is he still here? I hope so but somehow doubt it. You could try contacting him through his website 'The Heretics Guide To Beekeeping' (which itself doesn't appear to have been updated since 2019)
rolande
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@ThamesValley , for what it's worth, LJ gave up on those small boxes and turned his attention to an extra extra deep bs frame which I think he named the dadant-national or some such thing.
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Thank you for the information.
I was trying to reach LJ on his site before... no answer...
Last winter I built five Alpine hives, four of which are populated now. At the time when I was making them I didn't find anyone beekeeping on this type in the UK, although the other compact-formats like Warre/Delon and its modified variations are quite popular here.
My version of Alpine Hive is h-120mm box, brood and supper, with h-110 mm frame, 300mm x 300mm format of the chamber. 8 wooden frames per box with a self-spacing sidebar. The floor has a mesh and I adopted Warre's gable roof with a canvas mat on top and saw dust/woodshaving isolution quilt.
This particular modification is designed for harvesting comb honey.
I've just harvested some honey - 1 super from each hive, enother two are still to come.
Are there any other followers of this idea or any link to it?..
I was trying to reach LJ on his site before... no answer...
Last winter I built five Alpine hives, four of which are populated now. At the time when I was making them I didn't find anyone beekeeping on this type in the UK, although the other compact-formats like Warre/Delon and its modified variations are quite popular here.
My version of Alpine Hive is h-120mm box, brood and supper, with h-110 mm frame, 300mm x 300mm format of the chamber. 8 wooden frames per box with a self-spacing sidebar. The floor has a mesh and I adopted Warre's gable roof with a canvas mat on top and saw dust/woodshaving isolution quilt.
This particular modification is designed for harvesting comb honey.
I've just harvested some honey - 1 super from each hive, enother two are still to come.
Are there any other followers of this idea or any link to it?..
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rolande
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I'll find his address out and drop him a line just to check.... its so easy to lose contact with people without even realising.
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