As we have already reported several times, we are researching more appropriate housing for honey bees. In our opinion, the "magazine hives" commonly used, such as Zander or Dadant, have significant defects and do not correspond or resemble the original bee houses in any way. The original home of bees is the forest and the original dwelling is hollow tree trunks. This is how bees have lived for many millions of years and, apart from our domesticated "honey bees", they still do. However, with the major limitation that this habitat can hardly be found in thinned commercial forests.
As part of our workshop concept, our first project was to build a one-room hive. This was followed by the construction of a log hive. The already hollowed out trunk, we reported, is currently drying out. The log hive comes very close to the natural bee dwelling. However, when producing prototypes, we also learned about disadvantages. This lies particularly in the manufacturing process, which is very complex and leads to a lot of wear and tear on the equipment. Despite these difficulties, we remain committed to the topic.
In the past few days we have ventured into a completely new hive project that we developed. Our working title for this is “Wooden Drum Clay Hive”. The concept: From a tree trunk with a diameter of approx. 35 cm, two tree slices, approx. 6-7 cm thick, are cut off and screwed together with straps to prevent them from bursting. One disc serves as the floor, the other as the upper boundary of the bee hole. This ensures optimal insulation at the top and bottom. The panes are connected by wooden strips measuring 55 cm x 5 cm x 2.5 cm. This creates a drum volume of approx. 40 liters. An approximately 15 cm wide “door” is provided as an inspection hatch.
The picture shows the cutting of the two tree trunk slices (ash tree)
The surfaces are smoothed with an electric planer
The cut disc is crossed with band iron screwed together to prevent it from bursting later. The straps are located on the outside (top and bottom) of the bee cave
The two panes are screwed together with spruce wood strips
A free space of approx. 15 cm is left for an "inspection hatch".
The finished “shell” with a removable, closed door that is fixed with wooden dowels
In the last few days we have been able to complete the “shell” of the wooden drum clay hive. The next step is to cover the outside with reeds and then plaster it with a special clay plaster (80% clay, 10% sand, 10% horse manure).
We see in this new structure, using exclusively natural materials, the possibility of optimal insulation that will be beneficial to bee health in both winter and summer. The materials used ensure that the drum “breathes”, so that mold formation in the hive is avoided, regardless of temperature fluctuations and humidity.
We will continue to report on construction progress and new findings.
Kind regards and be(e) good,
The workshop team