Bees are the new chickens...

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Bees are the new chickens...

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sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 13 10:44 pm Post subject: Bees are the new chickens...
omlet beehaus

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 6:03 am Post subject:
Stylish, & for a complete package, not that expensive

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 8:21 am Post subject:

mousjoos wrote:

Stylish, & for a complete package, not that expensive

Pretty expensive when compared with this or similar offers from other suppliers*

*can you tell that I used to watch Blue Peter?

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 9:15 am Post subject:

Midland Spinner wrote:

mousjoos wrote:

Stylish, & for a complete package, not that expensive

Pretty expensive when compared with this or similar offers from other suppliers*

*can you tell that I used to watch Blue Peter?

I thought inexpensive for what seems like a self contained easy start type thing, but of course there are always cheaper options but then this I think is aimed at a particular (ie less rustic) "clientele"

& yes, you have Blue Peter written all over you

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 9:31 am Post subject:

mousjoos wrote:

Midland Spinner wrote:

mousjoos wrote:

Stylish, & for a complete package, not that expensive

Pretty expensive when compared with this or similar offers from other suppliers*

*can you tell that I used to watch Blue Peter?

I thought that it looked expensive, plasticy, gimmicky and, from what I've seen of the specs, would be more fiddly to manage than a conventional hive. But, as has been discussed on here before, Downsizers are probably not the target audience for almost anything that anyone sells (unless it's tractors, yarn or grass-fed beef).

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 5:50 pm Post subject:
Horizontal hives stress the bees less than a conventional vertical hive, but plastic will degrade with time, is non sustainable & non repairable.

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 13 7:09 pm Post subject:

Tavascarow wrote:

Horizontal hives stress the bees less than a conventional vertical hive, but plastic will degrade with time, is non sustainable & non repairable.

It's not horizontal though, it's two brood bodies side by side & it has mini supers to go on top. (Mini supers because they've made them half the size 'to make it easier to lift')

mochasidamo

Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 615
Location: Montgomery

Posted: Thu May 09, 13 8:10 am Post subject:

Tavascarow wrote:

Horizontal hives stress the bees less than a conventional vertical hive, but plastic will degrade with time, is non sustainable & non repairable.

Horizontal hives do not stress the bees less...or bees would surely nest in fallen trees and place their honey to the side. They do not.

But we agree on the plastic

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15996

Posted: Thu May 09, 13 7:35 pm Post subject:

We had a look at these a few years ago because some members of the beekeepers association had either bought them or were thinking of buying. Look fine, if expensive, as long as everything is going well, but if you get EFB or AFB, there are some rubber bits that wouldn't be cleanable. Assume you can get some spray for the plastic, but otherwise anything that is normally sterilised by scorching would have to be disposed off.

mochasidamo

Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 615
Location: Montgomery

Posted: Fri May 10, 13 10:49 pm Post subject:
....and something rarely considered by the urban beekeeper: the cost of specialist removal and incineration as there will often be nowhere to build a firepit, Beehaus, tbh, or box...

dan1

Joined: 23 Jun 2010
Posts: 102
Location: Bristolish

Posted: Wed May 22, 13 5:31 pm Post subject:
It's basically a plastic version of the Robin Dartington long deep hive (I think he helped/sold them the design). It has some of the advantages of HTBH and conventional hives.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Thu May 23, 13 3:15 pm Post subject:

mochasidamo wrote:

Tavascarow wrote:

Horizontal hives stress the bees less than a conventional vertical hive, but plastic will degrade with time, is non sustainable & non repairable.

Horizontal hives do not stress the bees less...or bees would surely nest in fallen trees and place their honey to the side. They do not.

But we agree on the plastic

It's easier to work a single storey hive & less stressful on the bees.
Having to remove all the upper boxes which contain most of their stores to get to the brood & queen definitely causes confusion & disorientation in the hive.
I would never work a vertical hive without smoke & veil, but the horizontal hives I've inspected (Kenyan TBH & Dartington) have been easy working from one end to the other, nearly always without any smoke or veil.

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Thu May 23, 13 3:54 pm Post subject:

Tavascarow wrote:

mochasidamo wrote:

Tavascarow wrote:

Horizontal hives stress the bees less than a conventional vertical hive, but plastic will degrade with time, is non sustainable & non repairable.

Horizontal hives do not stress the bees less...or bees would surely nest in fallen trees and place their honey to the side. They do not.

But we agree on the plastic

It's not a horizontal hive - there are supers - scroll down the link page, there's a diagram. It's the worst of both worlds.

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