The Pine hive was a salvage project based on the principles of the Freedom hive. It is an unmanaged, frameless, insulated, observation hive. The inner walls are constructed with scrap wood from old fence panels. The insulation consists of wool panels reclaimed from our friends’ pet food packaging. The outer walls and roof are made of an old bed frame which was no longer needed. These consist of the slats, the bed rails, and the bed head (roof). The stand was made from scrap wood from a friend. It helps to ensure the bee-line is above eye level, so gardening can be done around it. The glass was reclaimed from an old refrigerator. The cavity is roughly 60 litres. It has a warre style quilt within the roof, and an insulated floor.
25 May 2024
The Pine hive was populated with a swarm that originated from the Freedom hive. This means they have come from treatment-free and no-intervention stock. The swarm was shaken in in the evening. We then left for holiday for a fortnight.
1 Jul 2024
The beauty of an observation hive is that one can peek into the hive without disturbing the bess nor suit up. This was thus ideal for our neighbour who had become interested in bees over the last few years. We were able to set it up in their garden without them needing to read or learn about beekeeping. Just over a month from installation, the colony had built comb filling about a quarter of the cavity. Uncapped larvae was seen in the cells towards the back of the hive.
21 Sep 2024
Over the summer, the pine hive has thrived. In four months, it has almost filled the 60 litre cavity. Hopefully they survive winter.
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