Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Che Guebee Log Hive

It was not my plan to make this log into a bee hive this year but as with many things in my life inspiration has the last word. So I went ahead and turned this log I've got last year into a vertical log hive. This log's walls are between 35 mm and 90 mm thick and is approx 137 liters in volume (70 cm tall).
Feral Honey Bee Colony is often found in hollow trees and it seems to be their main preference but they can be found in other hollow places like an attic, outdoor toilet, barrel, etc ...
Im hoping to get a feral swarm move into it this year.
I placed a solid floor onto the log so mice cant get in
placed a few oak branches across the log to support the comb
placed a 5 cm layer of pine wood shavings to mimic the hollow tree floor which is full of debris in which microorganisms and other beneficial insects can hide.
then I seeded the hive floor with rotten material found inside this tree to add microorganisms
then I sprinkled crushed propolis onto the wood shawings to create hive smell. Bees prefer to move into hollows which already housed bees in the past. I even used a few drops of Lemongrass Essential Oil as swarm lure which mimics their Nasonov pheromone.
I melted a few bees wax guides to add more hive smell to the log
bees can start building the comb on these planks. I can also replace those for top bars in case I want to transfer one of my old Queens into it from my kenya top bar hives
Big flat rock as the roof. Lets see whether it keeps the rain out of the hive.
Nails are there to stop the birds from nesting in the log. This top entrance hole is 40 mm in diameter.
Lets see if this log hive can attract a swarm :)

3 comments:

  1. I just started looking at your web site. I'm in complete agreement with your natural beekeeping philosophy. I'm ashamed to say that I fed my Warre hive sugar. I was totally conflicted with the idea. It was only one box going into winter. This year na-da.
    The log hive came through the winter with no intervention and threw 6 swarms. Hope that's okay. I've been seeing more drones of late, but you know, it's okay. I'm not taking any honey. If they decide to move out, I won't mind. If the wax moths come in and clean it out, it'll be ready for more bees later.
    To get bees into my log hive, I put out 8 bait hives with little success. Then I happened on a pest control man who gave me the location of a bee tree. I hung a bait hive right on the tree and ten days later they were bringing in pollen. That's where my log hive bees came from. If you get a chance, talk to a pest control person...they might know where the bee trees are.

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    1. Yes, Im generaly against sugar feeds but in case of a failed nectar flow, as it happened last year here in Sweden, im ok with it. If I didnt feed my two top bar hiv colonies they would have starved. Their comb was totally empty in September and rain didnt give up. So I fed syrup, sugar beet syrup 5:3 and they went through a very long harsh winter -25'C)

      My philosophy is more like guideline not a strict dogma :) so if bees need feed I feed them.

      Will look for the ask. Thanks

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