THE WILD HIVE

This hive imitates a natural tree cavity, trying to provide an environment as close as possible to what bees would encounter in the wild.

With the intention of providing an environment unmanaged by people.

It is made using untreated timber cut and joined in to a hexagonal cylinder using screws and exterior wood glue.

The internal walls have been roughened to encourage the bees to produce a propolis envelope. Six fixed top bars are fitted for comb attachment, these have a wooden strip coated in bees wax.

The hive is an invitation to local scout bees during swarming season. Place it in a tree if you are able, or on top of a sturdy shed / garage roof or on top of a few concrete blocks, cross your fingers and wait for the bees to find it.

You could of course also introduce a purchased colony of bees into the hive.

The walls are 63mm thick, the internal space measures 24cm across 70cm deep and the usable space for the bees is 34 litres. External measurement 42cm wide 82cm deep. Weight 30kgs

I make these hives/nests with the best interest of the bees in mind.

I treat my hives using a traditional Japanese method of scorching the wood which is shown in the photos. I then add several coats of linseed oil. HOWEVER please let me know if you would prefer it was left totally untreated.

The lower entrance is slotted this allows access for a smart phone to take photos or videos of the bees progress building the beautiful new comb.

The Honey box, this is added to the hive after the bees have established themselves inside the main nest area. The Honey box is equipped with a queen excluder allowing the bees to use it exclusively for honey storage. Up to four half litre jars can be used for honey collection at very little disturbance to the bees. Once a jar is full of capped honey it simply needs to be twisted slightly and lifted out, being replaced by either another jar or a blanking disc. Four half litre jars with a small amount of starter foundation melted in place are provided along with four blanking discs.

I only collect honey between the months of May through to August, in early September I remove all the jars and fit the blanking discs. The Honey box can then be removed, or left on and filled with some insulated material such as wood shavings inside a pillowcase to provide added insulation the nest below.

Dispatch time is around a week for the main hive, and the honey box will be dispatched a week later as they are both made to order.