Welcome to all Omlet Beehaus Members

[m100]

So if you get foul brood and have poly hives you can sterilise and re-use?
If you have wooden ones they are burnt.

So no replacement cost for the polyhives.

As I read in another thread that the insurance doesn't pay out much poly hives are more economical in this respect.

Is this logic correct?

With wooden hives there is no burning of the hive body, just scorching.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Peter...... no this is not correct, wooden hives are not burnt,they are scorched. The law appears to be unclear about poly or plastic,but they cannot be scorched, cannot be burnt,so would have to be taken away and destroyed at a registered place at the beekeepers expense,or sterilised with chemicals?

 

[Black Comb]

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Fabbee Lady]

Searching for any information

I have read with interest all the comments about BeeHaus . I am at present attending classes with my local group. When we had demonstrations of several different hive types we were told we would need a spare hive in case our original colony got too large and needed splitting to help prevent swarming so the Dartington looked ideal but rather large. I hope a BeeHaus will be better suited to the space I have available. Also neither my husband nor I are interested in making up flat pack hive kits. I imagined that a plastic hive would be easier to keep clean but the only comment I got from other beekeepers was that you couldn't use a blow torch. What to you clean them with and is propolis and wax easy to remove without damaging the plastic?
I would be greatful for any helpful comments as I feel I may be facing opposition from my mentor (who has been beekeeping for 23 years) and other Association members and I would like to be able to hold my own as I feel the BeeHaus would be the best for me. Another thought, how heavy is the roof compared with, say, a Dartington or a National?

 

[ian]

Hi Fabbee

First off, you can clean any plastic hives with bleach,soda,virkon and elbow grease. Common practice in mainland Europe on plastic hives.

Whilst a Dartington/beehaus can be split, it's really not suitable for running 2 full size units. (You may need to consider this)

You are correct a standard Dartington roof is a bit of a lump, the plastic beehaus is no way near as heavy.

At the end of the day you can keep bees in virtually anything so it's a case of pay your money and take your choice. I would however say that for the price of a beehaus you could buy and stock 2 conventional hives. If you don't want to make up hives send a mail to Hive maker or Tom Bick on this forum who would be happy to help you out.


Regards Ian

 

[Hivemaker.]

Fabbee
if you are not interested in a cedar hive,or the cost of the beehaus, you could buy a poly hive,you could contact forum member Rooftops for details about these.

 

[oliver90owner]

Fabbee Lady,

In addition to my response to your other post:

I was not suggesting you keep 2 colonies in the one hive; exactly the opposite really - you would require two hives, at twice the expense!

There is not so much difference in the dimensions of the two variants. The Dartington roof can be made, as mine, in two pieces (mine are actually joined but could easily be used as separate halves).

The four hives I was referring to (for the cost of a beehaus) were to include flat-pack seconds as frames and that seems not to to your liking. I would not recommend some of the polyhives on the market. Hivemakers suggestion is a good one.

There are far more local issues than you can envisage, as a non-beekeeper. Those local beeks will have a wealth of experience and you need to listen to them carefully.

My advice at this instant would lean toward a complete polyhive or wood equivalent and the bare necessities for swarming, unless I was aquainted with all the relevant issues for your particular situation. If the predominant hive in your area is National, polynationals are not so common and decent sized ones more than a premium!

I am confident your local beeks would also recommend expansion to two colonies (at least) if at all possible, so your use of all the available space with one large hive may be flawed. No easy decisions - and it is your call.

I could measure and weigh component parts if you would like, for comparison. Pm me if you do.

Regards, RAB

 

[Fabbee Lady]

Thanks for Bee Haus info

Many thanks for all the information chaps. I went to meeting last night and now have a mentor who has been beekeeping for 25 years. She is open minded about Bee Haus. I also met a young Dartington hive man who is keen on Bee Haus so that helps. I now realise whatever happens I will need a spare hive of some kind. One reason for wanting a Bee Hause is that I can get all the kit necessary for starting out in one go and, having priced readymade hives and individual bits of kit on various websites I don't think overall it is overpriced. You have to pay a bit for convenience.

I shall keep an eye on Beekeeping Forum, I find it all enlightening.

 

[Brosville]

herrumph! I started beekeeping last year, and for a TOTAL expenditure of around £100 have 2 hives (one top-bar, one Warre) both home-built by a self-confessed woodworking klutz (me!), using free plans downloaded off a natural beekeeping site, populated by 2 local swarms (tenner a time to the local swarm man), secondhand smoker £10, white boilersuit £18, hat and veil £12...............
As for "easy to clean" - that worries me, and conjures pictures of bees being asked to lift their legs whilst they're hoovered under, and a rigorous scrubbing of everything in sight once a week, removing all that nasty propolis 'cos it looks untidy..........

 

[Hombre]

So Brosville dear chum, does that make you more the nature conservationallst or a cash conservationalist?

PS Do you have a stripy rugby shirt? PH is playing hard to get . . .

I now realise whatever happens I will need a spare hive of some kind.

Ideally you will need a 14x12 hive of some sort to accommodate the same size of frames as used in the Beehaus. Otherwise all sorts of little niggles may become apparent when the Beehause frames just don't fit in a different sized box.

 

[Poly Hive]

Dear Fabbee I would suggest in utter seriousnes that BEFORE spending a penny on kit, whether modern or ancient that you go visit some hives and find out two things.

Firstly can you stand over an open hive and not be driven to move off at speed. No problem with doing that as not everyone likes being in that situation.

2nd. Make sure you are stung and observe closely how you react.

If both of those are ok then carry on with what ever type of beekeeping you want to do.

If you do not do the above two you are at serious risk of wasting a lot of money and endangering your health.

PH

 

[Fabbee Lady]

Thanks for that info. have already done that. Have been used to a relative keeping bees since I was a child so am aware of most of what is involved.

 

[Fabbee Lady]

Bee Haus

Please, please does anyone reading this OWN a Bee Haus? If so a) are you pleased with it? and b) if not what are the drawbacks?

I get advice from all directions about why I should not own one but nothing as far as I can tell from an actual owner.

 

[Poly Hive]

I do not and will not.

Why? I think it is made from the wrong materials and is based on a faddish design.

I say this having had out of the norm hives, but of a standard design for over 20 years. But in the knowledge they are better for the bees.

PH

 

[Mike a]

By the way has anyone thought about how bees build their nest?
As it's un-natural for bees to expand sideways they expand up wards, so with this and the Dartington you are asking the bees to expand in a way that is not a natural characteristic for them. Just a thought.

Regards;

imho its no more unnatural for them to live in any square box with a wide entrance mesh floor and a maze of wooden frames. However I do like my home made hive based on a Dartington hive although I should of made it with thicker wood but 18mm seems to be good enough for our winters.

I checked my girls today and they were out flying in this years high of 10'C

 

[Tom Bick]

Please, please does anyone reading this OWN a Bee Haus? If so a) are you pleased with it? and b) if not what are the drawbacks?

I get advice from all directions about why I should not own one but nothing as far as I can tell from an actual owner.

Hi Fabbee Lady

I am surprised no one has being along praising the Bee Haus it is still young and perhaps not fully tested yet, I have to admit I am not a fan its the material in construction to me its just not environmentally sound just wrong but thats me.

Its confusing when starting out on this road of beekeeping and you have a new language to learn and its as though you have to go looking for the information and then its all objective and contradicting wright and wrong at the same time.

One point I will say is that you indicated that you liked the idea of getting all the kit in one go from one supplier, but the starter kit from Bee Hous is only the start and you may need more supers for instance and you will have to deal with them and what if in a few years they decide its not viable and stop production.

The advice other people is good in that take your time try and see other hives you have a good few weeks befor you can realistically start with any bees,

Good look

Thomas

 

[oliver90owner]

Edited by Admin, Becuase Oilver90Owner can not use the Quote function!!!!

Please, please does anyone reading this OWN a Bee Haus?

I am very sorry if you have missed it but you just need to read the replies to your posts! I replied: I have a beehaus and Dartingtons as well as using other formats now and in the past. I can make it no clearer than that.

I have no bees in the one I have - yet, but do have both my Dartingtons occupied. The concept is so very similar (as the beehaus was developed with the assistance of the owner of the copyright for the Dartington long deep hive).

I have a long list of observations and comparison with my Dartingtons, all of which have been passed back to omlette. Most would bear little weight to your choice of hive and/or have been aired on one forum or the other. As I said above, pm me if you want specific details.

RAB

 

[Black Comb]

Fabbee
You seem a little frustrated with the answers?
I think they are spot on.

Firstly underneath this thread in this section are a number of other threads all about Beehaus. I assume you've read them all?

Secondly, Beehaus was only launched last summer so it's very very new in a beekeeping timescale.

Thirdly, as you are rapidly finding out, there is often no 'right' answer in beekeeping - lots of different opinions and only experience shows what works best for you.

I'm approaching my second year in beekeeping and already I'm changing my hive. Fortunately I purposely spent little on on my first hives (well used and cheap) but the lesson is that you really must try out as many hive types as you can and don't commit to loads of expensive gear before you get started.

We are pleased to see you on here and keep asking, but do be prepared for a range of opinions, especially about the Beehaus.

P.S. you asked about propolis removal - the only thing that cleans this is washing soda.

 

[oliver90owner]

Whilst Peter is correct that washing soda will clean propolis, there are others more aggressive than that. Caustic and potash sodas for a start. Metaborate (dishwasher powder is another. There are others, some of which might dissolve/attack the plastic. One of the problems is 'elbow grease' is required to effect the cleaning and for AFB the whole unit would likely need to be dismantled to be sure nothing was left in any nooks and crannies (the inner sides of corrugated plastic would most likely be discarded anyway). I would not want to scorch a wooden brood box, even with a good blow torch (except using it to set fire to the whole pyre!). Any trace of spores is a risk with AFB.

Incidentally, one is probably prohibited from burning a wooden hive in a garden situation as a lot of bye-laws only permit garden fires at specific times and only for items 'generated on site'. Meaning any item not grown on-site is banned! As an aside: not sure where BBQs come in here - probably most contravene one rule or another if one were to put on a 'jobsworth' hat!!

Regards, RAB

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Just make sure you have some sausages ready to BBQ when the hive goes up in flames and you should get away with it!!