Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[Chameau]

I have just built my second Kenya hive and put a glazed panel on the rear of this one. This is subsequently covered with a removable timber panel. Yet to be populated. Is there any reason a similar vision panel couldn't be incorporated into the base area of the perone hive. Together with a secondary timber panel insulation shouldn't be an issue. Any thoughts before I fire up the machines and make perone number one?.

[Barbara]

No reason why not. People incorporate them into Warre Hives too.
I will be interested to read how you fare with your Perone if you go ahead. My personal feeling is that my bees prefer smaller volume hives and the Small Hive Project is more of interest to me than large volume. I don't think people in temperate climates have had much success with Perone hives. At least, there was a lot of interest and excitement about them here on the forum a few years ago but few people reported success and I certainly recall reading of multiple failures.
I know my small volume hives over winter on very little stores, swarm early in the season (early-mid May) which coincides with a good nectar flow and gives swarms and parent colony optimum chance of survival and generally seem to be happier and more robust than those in larger hives.
It is also interesting that Oscar Perone has moved away from honey bees and is now working with stingless bees which I believe are much smaller volume colonies.

[joshrobs]

Interesting, I had not heard of the small hive project, thanks Barbara!

[Chameau]

Thanks for that. Tell the truth I am a joiner with my own workshop so knocking up a few different types of hive is easy for me. Probably build the Perone and leave it in my woodland until next spring so I can give them all next summer to prepare for winter. I will keep you all in the loop.

[catchercradle]

The Perone I had on an organic farm, the colonies (yes two in opposite corners of the hive) didn't survive. That was some years ago. I may try putting a swarm in it again next year but only if I get a biggie.

Certainly no reason to not do one with an observation window though.

[Barbara]

If you are a joiner, then a cathedral hive might be something else you might like to build. Basically it is a Kenyan TBH but with a vaulted roof/top bars. The advantage is that the combs have more support and are more stable as a result and can therefore be deeper which many people believe bees prefer. Holes are also drilled through the comb guides in the top to provide what are referred to as super highways, which allow the cluster to migrate from comb to comb in the winter more safely and efficiently. They also look aesthetically pleasing, but require a bit more time and craftsmanship than many of us have.

[joshrobs]

Out of curiosity, do super highways have any analogue in natural nests?

[Barbara]

In a natural vertical cavity like a hollow tree, the combs are long but not so many of them in number and the cluster moves upwards into their stores as winter progresses mostly between the combs with little horizontal movement, so no real benefit I would think.
In an horizontal hive the cluster must move more from one comb to another as they eat through their stores. Modern hives are also usually less well insulated than tree cavities, so they are more vulnerable to the cold and moving around the side of each comb can potentially expose them to more risk from that, whereas in the domed roof of a cathedral hive, that upper space will trap the heat better and provide for safer migration from one comb to the next. You will sometimes see holes created or built into natural combs but whether this is intentional planning for winter migration I could not say and it is not a very common finding and may well depend on the lay out and orientation of combs within the cavity. I think the domed nature of the cathedral hive means it's combs are solid to the top bars down to the midway point, do bees would find themselves at the top of the dome on an empty comb and then have to descend to below the midway point to circumnavigate the comb if the super highways or a bee created equivalent are not present.