Hive Haven

[GayleD]

At the Nambour garden show, there was a stand with these native bee houses

https://www.hivehaven.com.au

They are hexagon and made from recycled plastic. One claimed advantage is that you don't have to split the hives.

They currently only sell the hives without bees but said they are working with some other bee sellers to provide a full hive.

The Hive Haven V9 has the following features

• Hexagonal shape to mimic a natural tree log.
• Alleviates hive overheating (up to 45 degrees).
• Maintains a stable temperature – encourages bees to forage for longer periods over winter.
• Food grade honey harvesting with minimum disturbance to the bees via 3D printed honey trays.
• Manufactured from recyclable plastic, that won’t rot or require painting.
• Impervious to spore based disease.
• Ventilation holes x 4 enable the bees to regulate temperature and air flow. We have built the box to mimic a tree log. The bees have the option to seal the holes when they need too.
• Our ‘budding’ hole provides the opportunity for you to ‘bud’ a new hive without having to physically open the hive to ‘split’ the brood. The Hive Haven V9 enables you to attach a ‘budding pipe’ from the existing hive to an empty hive. Over a period of months the bees will build an additional hive in the new box. Once the second hive is established the two boxes are separated.

What do people think?

[Lissa]

I missed seeing these there. 

They're expensive, but interesting. I like the concept of the "budding hole". The notion of splitting my hives physically and potentially doing damage was as always angst ridden for me. And you get the 3d printed honey harvester tray. 20yr guarantee (dependent on them still being in business, but still...).

I would personally not like living in something made from plastic. 

They are offering a SNB hive with bees for $825.

[Elaine de Saxe]

Woo hoo, they do know how to charge! Anyway that 'budding hole' is something the long-time stingless beekeepers call an 'eduction' so it's renaming an existing method.

[GayleD]

The splitting is the thing that has been putting me off.  
budding hole = hole made for induction?

Does that mean you could use this method instead of splitting in a standard hive? 

[Elaine de Saxe]

As far as I know yes eduction is an alternate method of hive increase. From reading posts on the ANBees email list (a Yahoo list) I gather that just leaving a hive standing about won't often get new inhabitants. But using the tube directs the bees into the new hive and if it's baited with some native bee wax or brood or something to tempt them, then the eduction works quite well.

[Lissa]

Yep. You would just add a budding hole attachment (not going back to the site to see what they call them - think tube) from your active hive box to an empty hive box and supposedly watch them take it over. I've seen it done with other hives in photos.

[Christa]

Interesting reading, but I feel like the plastic part of the hive is not natural.  If I had my way, my yard would have more log hives but at the moment we have one wooden cypress box for them and they seem happy.

[Elaine de Saxe]

Square-sided wooden boxes are not natural either. Especially when made with exotic timbers. The exotic bees manage quite well in boxes of many designs as I suspect our stingless bees will manage quite well in variations on their log hives. Proof of that is most hives do well if they are placed so the bees get maximum warmth in winter and cool in summer. From what I read, that seems more an issue for them than whether the hive is made from this or that material.

[Christa]

Yes, Elaine, native bees have been found in ground boxes and many strange places but I just like to stick to natural products as much as I can.  

[Elaine de Saxe]

Stingless bee hives are particularly prevalent in water meter boxes for whatever reasons of their own. Put out a bait hive and find it empty; check your water meter and find them busily housekeeping. Who can fathom?