Making hives is a simple but painstaking process. It requires patience, attention, diligence from the owner of the apiary, and, of course, knowledge on the issues of making houses for bees with their own hands.

In order for the bees to be productive and not suffer from weather conditions, it is necessary to provide them with normal living conditions.

Let's consider together - is it possible at home, using drawings, to make comfortable sun loungers, what is the technology for their manufacture, what dimensions can be, and what equipment is needed for this.

Drawings for beehives

There is a huge variety of bee houses, they can be made from various materials and have different parameters, therefore, based on a specific situation, it is better to try to make it yourself. It is better to use drawings for hives that have already been tested by experienced beekeepers. Having chosen it correctly, you can be calm about the comfort of honey insects and the convenience of using a mobile apiary, a couple of hives near country house or an apiary for obtaining large quantities of honey, wax and propolis. When choosing a hive drawing, you need to consider the following factors:

• how many people will work in the apiary;
• features of the relief and climatic conditions;
• the number of bee colonies at the moment and planned in the future.

The structure you make must be stable and reliable, it must have a constant temperature, since the wind and the amplitude of air temperatures, especially in spring, have a detrimental effect on insects.

When choosing a drawing, I take into account how many assistants the beekeeper will have. If the owner plans to work in the apiary without assistants, then it will be necessary to tinker with multi-hives, it will be more convenient to use a sunbed hive.

Experienced beekeepers prefer to install hives of different designs in the apiary, since each visa fulfills its task.

Information for beginners

When choosing a drawing, first decide on the purpose of the hive.

• If you plan to breed queens and receive royal jelly, make beehives - beds.
• For honey and wax production and an intensive increase in families, it is better to construct multi-hive hives resembling a hollow tree.
• For those who have no experience in beekeeping, it is better to start with the Dadant hives.

Making frames for beehives:

The frames of the 12 frame and 10 frame hive are the same. Considering the size (43.5 cm / 30 cm), frames are knocked down from dry slats using a hammer and nails. Small holes are made in the slats located on the sides; for this it is better to use an awl. The wire is pulled and secured using pliers and an awl. In the last hole, the wire is neatly fixed with a loop. Regardless of which hive the frame will be installed in - 10 frames, 12 frames, 24 frames, etc., it has to be waxed, after which it is ready to be installed in the hive.

DIY 12 frame hive creation

A 12 frame hive is similar to a 10 frame hive. For its manufacture, the same drawings, the same tools and equipment are used. The holes are also similar to the 10 frame construction.

Beekeepers are well aware that the most the best option the beehive is a design by Charles Dadant, which has remained recognized and popular for centuries. Rather, not the design itself, I am the result of the fruitful work of him, his successors and followers, who have been improving the shape and size of the hive for a long time.

The Dadanov design contains from 10 to 12 frames. It is preferred by novice beekeepers, since it is possible to combine a multi-hive hive and a beehive - a lounger.

How to make a 24-frame beehive with your own hands

24 frame loungers are so named because their frames lie horizontally. They are easier to maintain, and the problem with their installation is solved quickly.

1. The sunbeds are comfortable for double-queen families, their large size makes the "houses" spacious.
2. Bees in 24 frame hives apply more honey to prepare for winter.
3. These loungers serve faster than a conventional riser.

Large families can be raised in them, capable of providing honey to both the owner and himself and the uterus with good egg production.

The main disadvantage of the 24 frame structure is its heavy weight and bulkiness.

Making 24 frame loungers with your own hands

The work on creating the hive consists in making an oblong box with a solid bottom and a removable top, the inner size of which should correspond to 16-24 frames. For work you will need:

• drawings (drawing of a beehive-lounger or a diagram of the arrangement of an evidence-lounger).
• wood (pine, linden, aspen, etc.), plywood, slate, frames, etc.
• equipment: a workbench or a table specially equipped for this purpose, tools.

Using the drawings, parts are cut out; for the convenience of the design, all dimensions are accurately observed. The side walls are attached to the assembled bottom, after which the front and rear walls are installed. The walls are attached to the workpiece with nails, and tap holes are cut from below. An admission plate and a valve are attached to the entrance. The lid is attached to the top with hinges and sheathed with roofing paper, tin or covered with a fragment of a sheet of slate. The ventilation holes are closed from the inside with nets.

The finished product is opened with linseed oil and painted. On the side, for ease of rearrangement, side handles are attached.

Making beehives from modern materials

Today, light, reliable and practical materials are used for the manufacture of hives - polycarbonate, expanded polystyrene, polyurethane foam, and others. Such hives differ from wooden structures, they have a number of advantages and disadvantages. You need to weigh the pros and cons, and focus on the material:

• reliable;
• durable;
• resistant to bad weather, precipitation and strong wind;
• affordable.

If you want to make a comfortable house for bees with modern materials with your own hands, try building a structure out of plywood or foam. This will be an economical and correct solution.

Styrofoam hive

The dimensions of the hive will depend on how many frames it will be designed for - 10, 12, 16, or 24. This number must be multiplied by 3.75, and get the desired width of the structure. To calculate the length, you need to add 1.4 cm to 10, 12, or to another number corresponding to the number of frames.

The height of such multi-body foam structures is calculated as the sum of the height of the frame and the folds.

For the construction of multi-hull houses for bees made of foam, and they are made multi-hull due to their lightness and mobility, you first need to make a drawing indicating all the exact dimensions. You will need a saw, a felt-tip pen, and a ruler to cut sheets that match the dimensions of the drawing. Since the corners of the cut styrofoam sheet can be sharp, sandpaper them.

To connect parts, it is better to use liquid nails and self-tapping screws. The bottom is made of vises of galvanized materials that are resistant to corrosion, decay and destruction. So that the light shed roof of the construction of foam or plywood visas does not fly off from the wind, a stone or brick is placed on it. The holes are set up as usual.

Plywood hive

Financial opportunities do not always allow beginners to buy or order expensive sturdy hives. Often they have to build structures with their own hands from simple materials, for example, plywood. The material is affordable, lightweight, reliable and environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, such a design is short-lived and is unlikely to serve the owner for more than 8 years. But during this time, the beekeeper will certainly acquire more solid and reliable hives than those made of plywood.

As with any beehive made of any other material, a plywood hive should have a bottom, side walls, cover, entrance, etc. You will need six small sheets of plywood, construction glue, self-tapping screws, a drill and simple tools. You can focus on the dimensions 25/20/3 cm. The joints are glued with glue, or fixed with self-tapping screws, the foam is fixed between the strips. Do not forget for the hole for the taphole and the arrival bar. To give the plywood strength and durability, it can be painted with acrylic paint.

Making a "horned" beehive with your own hands

The half-frame design is popular among weekend beekeepers, when maximum work needs to be done in a short time. They consider sunbeds to be heavy and inconvenient, because it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain multi-body structures alone.

Hives of the Lecina / Palivoda system, or, as they are also called, "horned", are an economical and easy-to-maintain option. Their manufacturing technology differs in that there is no gluing of the shield in the structures, which often causes problems in operation.

Making them yourself, stock up on solid board, for assembly, you will need self-tapping screws, and the main tool will be a circular. The advantage of the hives is the minimum of milling and joining.

Conveniently, the size of the hive is small - it can be made for 8 half frames. Small size- a big plus during transportation, it is convenient to transport it in a car trailer, or carry it under your arm.

It is better for beginners to use blueprints in their work. The dimensions of the bars: the upper one is 9.5 mm, and the lower one is about 7 mm. There is no need to use large sizes, the structure is already quite strong and stable.

The advantages of this design:

1. It is always dry in the hive, which is important for the health of the bees.
2. The hive is light, about 20 kg, which is important for the elderly and beekeepers with a sore back.
3. The design is considered an economical option.
4. You can work with hulls, and in order to find the offspring, you just need to raise the hull.
5. Bees in such hives winter well, the club gathers earlier than in other hives and later disperses.

By listening to the recommendations of experienced beekeepers, you can avoid unexpected moments and put into practice a piece of centuries of experience. It must be remembered that breeding bees is not only an opportunity to get considerable profit, but also a pleasant pastime, so you need to do it with pleasure and in a good mood.

Reading time ≈ 4 minutes

Many summer residents thought about such an interesting activity as beekeeping. At first it may seem that this activity is too difficult for the layman, but it is not. You can make an apiary yourself with just a few publicly available tools. Let's consider in this article how to build a beehive with your own hands. The material will be accompanied by a photo (you can familiarize yourself with the dimensions and diagrams in detail).

Bee hive drawings

In the first image you can see the main assembly drawing of the hive, with proportions, sizes and numbering of the components. The hive consists of three parts: the lower part, the body of the hive and the roof. For the roof, a sheet of plywood with the specified dimensions with feeding slots is used. The structure has hinged sections that can be easily removed if desired. There is also a special device that protects the hive during severe weather conditions.

Tools and materials

Let's consider the main tools that will be used for self-made hive:

• yardstick;
• pencil;
• marker;
• hand saw;
• drill / screwdriver (cordless type);
• drills 3, 7, 12 mm;
• screwdriwer set;
• countertop;
• grinder (angle);
• equipment for welding;
• set of brushes.

You also need to decide on a set of basic constituent elements. In our case, you need to prepare:

• loops - 2 pcs.;
• galvanized nails 50x2.65mm - 1 kg;
• countersunk screws 4x25mm - 200 pcs;
• wooden boards 32x18mm - 20 m;
• cladding 6 mm;
• plywood 460x460x12 mm;
• corners made of mild steel 50x50x3mm - 2m;
• aluminum corner 50x50x3mm - 0.7m;
• soft steel 80x80x3mm - 4 pcs .;
• paint for metal;
• glue for wood;
• linen insulation;

Cutting and marking planks

1. 486x32x18mm - 4 pcs.;
2. 154x32x18mm - 4 pcs.;
3. 424x32x18mm - 2 pcs.;
4. 600x32x18mm - 10 pcs.;
5. 564x32x18mm - 2 pcs.;
6. 564x32x18mm - 12 pcs.;
7. 564x32x18mm - 1 pc .;
8. 392x32x18mm - 2 pcs. (cut at an angle of 45 °);
9. 424x32x18mm - 2 pcs. (cut at a 45 ° angle).

Pilot holes

Main node

Steel legs

Next, the equipment of steel legs begins, on which the entire structure will stand. An iron corner is cut off (500x50x50x3 mm - 4 pcs.) And holes for screws are cut. Make sure the holes are opposite opposite pairs. If there is no welding equipment, wooden legs can also be used, but it should be noted that such a support will be less reliable, over time it will begin to rot and deteriorate.

Attaching the legs

Cladding

When making a hive for bees, the liner plays an important role. The shell is cut out and fastened with screws, creating a partial overlap between the sections. This will require additional material(wood or chipboard is used).

Hive entrance

You need to cut a hole for the bees to enter the hive, which is called the entrance. To create a taphole, special saws and a jigsaw are used. The size is 460x70 mm. Do not throw out the scraps, they will be needed later.

Front view

The hinges are attached to the door so that there are wooden sections underneath (to support when opening). The heel is attached under the exit. For this, a screwdriver is used.

Landing board

The landing board is installed in such a way that it does not interfere with the tray that will be installed on the frame. Next, paint is applied in a thin layer. A sander and sandpaper are used to clean the surface.

The ending

The Dadan hive has stood the test of time - the design was invented at the end of the 19th century. Thoughtful design, simplicity and reliability have made it popular among experienced beekeepers and beginners.

American Frenchman Dadant in the 60s of the 19th century calculated mathematically the dimensions of the hive. Sorry, the work could not be completed. Several years later, another beekeeper, the Swiss Blatt, brought Dadant's work to mind and patented the work as a Dadant-Blatt hive.

Nowadays, the Dadanovsky hive is represented by several types of structures. The main differences are volume, material and insulation.

The dimensions of the structure are a strategic issue. It is important to understand what is needed in specific conditions.

• 10 frame. The classic Dadant scheme.
• 12 frame. The square section allows you to position the frames in different ways (with a warm or cold skid).
• 14 and 16 frame. It's harder to work alone. The increased number of frames creates a greater load on the structure.

Material

High-quality material will last longer, will not warp or rot. Materials with a strong odor must not be used.

• Boards. Wood without knots and rot is suitable. An insufficiently dried tree will dry out over time, cracks will appear.
• and fiberboard. Cheaper, easier to handle, but less durable.
• ... Lightweight, warm, durable, soundproof.
• ... Lightweight, warm, soundproof and less reliable.

Insulation

Depending on the temperature conditions choose one of the types:

• Double-walled. The walls are double, insulation (sawdust, moss, straw, polystyrene) is laid in the gap between the walls. Keeps you warm in unpredictable spring weather. Recommended in the middle and northern latitudes of Russia.
• Single-wall. Light option not designed for low temperatures.

What does it consist of

Regardless of its size and other features, the Dadan-Blatt hive consists of the following elements:

• Frame. Must exactly match the drawing, not skew. All other parts of the structure are attached to it. The letok is located in the hive building.
• Bottom. Usually removable. The fixed bottom is more airtight and stiffer, but complicates the work with the bees.
• Extension (store). It is installed during the period of active honey collection. By special techniques, the uterus is not allowed to lay eggs in the store. In principle, 2 extensions stacked on top of each other can serve as a second body.
• Roof cover. Needed for ventilation and insulation of the hive.
• Roof. Most susceptible to weathering. The roof is painted in 2-3 layers or sheathed with tin. Roofs are pitched, gable and flat.
• Minor construction details (tap holes, folds).

How to make a twelve-frame Dadan hive with your own hands

The dimensions and drawings of the twelve Dadan frame hives are given for the single-wall type, since the second walls are built on top of the inner ones, and do not matter.

Preparation for work

With some skill, making a Dadan hive yourself is not difficult. There are several important points.

• Storage and processing of wood in a dry place. Only dried wood is used.
• Study the drawings in advance and imagine the order of work.
• Prepare tools and materials.

A job well done will last a long time. The lifespan of a manufactured hive depends on the material.

Operating procedure

• Blanks are cut from a 35 mm board according to the drawing. The joints are prepared, the folds are selected. The workpieces are ground.
• When assembling wide boards, they are opposed to narrow ones (if the front lower board is wide, the side lower boards are taken narrow).
• The joints are glued. PVA or wood (casein) glue is used. It is important that the glue does not have a strong odor and is not toxic to bees.
• The ends of the connections are additionally reinforced with pins or self-tapping screws. Allow the glue to dry before reassembling.
• The upper notch is drilled out, the lower one is cut along the edge of the body.

In the process of making the bottom, extension and roof, it makes sense to periodically try them on in order to notice mistakes immediately.

• The removable bottom is made wider and is assembled from the boards in a quarter (or in another way with good tightness). Three strips are packed in such a way as to enter the fold at the bottom of the case. Front side remains without a bar for ventilation. Boards can be taken thicker than 4 cm, this will make the bottom heavier, but make it stronger.
• The superstructure (store) is assembled similarly to the body. A rebate is selected along the upper edge of the superstructure.
• The roof is put on the body or store. Over time, they change shape a little, so you need to make the roof landing not too tight. Ventilation holes are arranged on the sides or in the front. To transport the bees, you need to close the holes with a fine mesh.

The size of the twelve-frame hive

The typical dimensions of the elements of the Dadan hive are 12 frames.

• The rebate depth is recommended 18 mm. This means that there is a space of 10 mm between the frame and the top cut.
• The depth of the other folds is selected based on the thickness of the material.
• The gap between the bottom and the frames is left 25 mm, for cleaning and for the convenience of bees.
• The upper notch with a diameter of 25 mm is drilled 70 mm from the upper cut. An arrival board is installed under the entrance.
• The lower notch is 10 mm high and is made almost the entire length of the wall; its length is regulated by special inserts.

Blueprint of the Dadan twelve-frame hive

View of the collection of the Dadan hive. Option with two magazines and a liner.

Hull drawing

To assemble the body, you will need two side and front walls. An upper notch will need to be drilled in the front wall.

Side wall of the Dadan building for 12 frames

The front wall of the Dadan case for 12 frames

Shop drawing

To assemble the store, you will also need two front and 2 side walls.

Side wall of Dadan store for 12 frames

The front wall of the Dadan store for 12 frames

Liner drawing

If you need a sub-roof, it is also assembled similarly to the body and the store, but has its own dimensions.

Roof liner Dadan for 12 frames

Roof drawing

The drawing shows a horizontal roof. If you need a slope, you can raise one front wall by 20mm, and do not forget about the side walls, whose maximum external size will increase to 100mm, and the minimum will remain 80mm. Also, the right side should be mirrored to the left.

After assembling the frame, you need to fix a 540mm * 540mm plywood sheet from above or tie it with a 20mm board, provided that the roof is horizontal. On the inside, insulate, and on the outside, cover with a sheet of iron, tar paper, linoleum or other material that does not allow moisture to pass through.

Roof Dadan for 12 frames

Bottom drawing

When making the bottom, we prepare two side walls (1), the back one (2 without a tap hole) and the front one (2) in which you need to make a tap hole 10 mm in advance for the length of the tab you have prepared. You also need to prepare in advance the bottom (3) from a 25mm board, measuring 470mm * 470mm. Having connected the 2 side walls with the back, we insert the bottom, only then we close the front wall. You can fill a board under the notch.

Dadan bottom for 12 frames

When making a Dadan hive from a 40mm board. internal dimensions do not change. The outer dimension is increased by 10 mm and the rebate depth is changed by 21 mm.

How to make a ten-frame Dadant hive with your own hands

The scheme for making a 10 frame Dadan hive is the same as for a 12 frame hive. You can use 35 mm boards (the load on the structure is now less). It takes up little space and is easier to work with.

The size of the ten-frame hive

Compared to the 12 frame, only the length of the side walls and the corresponding dimensions of the roof and bottom change.

Dadant Ten-Frame Hive Blueprint

The ten-frame hive differs from the twelve-frame hive only in width.

Hull drawing

The side wall is similar to the 12 frame one. And the front and back walls are smaller. An upper notch must be drilled in the front wall.

Side wall of the Dadan case for 10 frames

The front wall of the Dadan case for 10 frames

Shop drawing

As well as for the body, only the dimensions of the front and rear walls change relative to the 12 frame structure.

Side wall of Dadan store for 10 frames

Roof liner Dadan for 10 frames

Roof drawing

After assembling the frame, you need to fix a sheet of plywood 540mm * 470mm from above or tie it with a 20mm board, provided that the roof is horizontal. On the inside, insulate, and on the outside, cover with a sheet of iron, tar paper, linoleum or other material that does not allow moisture to pass through.

Dadan roof for 10 frames

Bottom drawing

When making the bottom, we prepare two side walls (1), the back one (2 without a tap hole) and the front one (2) in which you need to make a tap hole 10 mm in advance for the length of the tab you have prepared. You also need to prepare in advance the bottom (3) from a 25mm board, 470mm * 400mm in size. Having connected the 2 side walls with the back, we insert the bottom, only then we close the front wall. You can fill a board under the notch.

Dadan frame drawing

The Dadan-Blatt hive is reliable in mid-latitudes. The standard 12 frame design is easy to manufacture. Using high-quality material and observing the technology, you can count on a long service life of the hive.

Honey can quite rightly be called the "nectar of life", since there are simply no alternatives to the complex of its constituents, along with excellent taste. The hive, on the other hand, is a kind of building for the “production line” of such a precious product, which has a certain design that corresponds to the rules of life and activities of its inhabitants. Therefore, when planning to make a beehive with your own hands, it is necessary to take into account the way of life of bees and the peculiarity of their hierarchy.

The correct structure of bee "houses" should provide for all the nuances related to ensuring a comfortable life and work of these unique insects, and in this regard, it is extremely important to have an idea of ​​how the process of their vital activity proceeds. With this information, it will be easier to understand what and what is meant in a simple design of hives.

The inhabitants of the hive and its basic structure

A few words about the organization of the bee society

Even from the school biology course, many remember that the bee society has a unique organization, a clearly built hierarchy, in which each bee performs a specific function and has a corresponding habitat in the hive.

• So, the work of young worker bees is to feed young animals, since they have better developed maxillary glands that produce royal jelly than representatives of other hierarchies.
• Moving into middle age, the working shoulder becomes a nurse who monitors the cleanliness of the hive.
• Older bees are obliged to build honeycombs, as their wax glands function more actively.
• Bees that have passed into a more "advanced" age usually monitor the protection and ventilation of the hive.
• Older individuals tend to collect honey - they are called gatherers or flight bees.
• Drones serve only for the fertilization of queen bees. They have no other significant functions in the hive, but the family cannot live without a drone divorce. However, towards the end of the season, bees stop letting drones into the hive, and those completely defenseless and helpless die.

In each of the hives in summer period, at the peak of the season, there can be up to 40 thousand individuals.

Basic structure of the hive

"Bee House" consists of several parts - a body, a store, a roof cover and accessories. In each of the sections of the hive, different processes of the life of the family take place, and different divisions of bees live.

This illustration shows a diagram simple hive with one nest compartment. It consists of the following main parts:

1 - Nest housing.

2 - Frame.

3 - Aperture.

4 - Shop superstructure.

5 - Shop frame.

6 - Roof cover.

7 - Roof.

8 - Bottom.

9 - Lower gate valve.

10 - Upper tap gate valve.

Hive prices

bee hive

• Frame- this is the main part of the hive used by all bees throughout the year. In this department, the queen bee is constantly located and makes clutches of eggs in the built honeycombs. In summer, when the bees are most active, the combs are filled with brood, bee bread and honey.

The body in most types of hives is located in the lower part of them. It must be well protected from cold and heat, so its walls are made using insulating material. Wellite is most often used as a heater - it is a thermal insulation board made of paper impregnated with bitumen, but sometimes linen mats or even expanded polystyrene are used.

The body contains nesting frames, their number can vary, usually from 9 to 16 pieces, depending on the size and type of the hive. Frames are included in the kit of removable parts.

The case has a bottom, which is removable in some models. The frames are suspended and must be removed from the bottom by at least 20 ÷ 25 mm, thus forming an underframe space, which is necessary for cleaning the hive before the spring cleaning flight of bees.

For the convenience of this process, some beekeepers increase the underframe space up to 40 ÷ 60 mm. In such a more spacious "room" under the frames it is convenient to place a container with feeding for bees for the winter. In addition, it works as a steam-air valve, in the absence of which there will be a decrease in the activity of the swarming state of the bee colony, because flight bees will not sit on the combs with brood.

The distance between the side parts of the frames and the walls of the body is called an interframe fishing rod, and it should be at least 6 mm, since through it the bees, after building the combs, move from one honeycomb to another. The larger space between the frames, which is more than 10 mm, will be sealed by bees with wax, and the smaller one, already 4 mm, with propolis.

A notch is cut in the front of the body. As a rule, it is done at the bottom, since the hole made at the top removes about a third of the heat, and to keep the heat, only one entrance is often made. This hole should be small, but fully ensure free flight and return of the bees back to the hive. In some designs, two tap holes are arranged - an upper and a lower one. The first of them opens in spring and summer, during the main honey collection period, and closes for the winter. In this case, the lower notch is made small and opened slightly for the winter to provide air access. So, for each frame with honeycombs, it is necessary to leave approximately 10 mm² of open taphole.

In addition, the opening of the taphole can be adjusted using a bushing, if provided in the design of the hive. So, for the wintering of bees on eight cells, the entrance must have a length of at least 100 and a height of 8 mm. During the summer harvest, the sleeve is sometimes completely removed and the notch is opened to its full width. The entryway ends with a "corridor", which is closed by means of a hinged latch fixed to the front wall of the body with a rotating loop. The valve should have three positions of openness: in the summer it opens completely, in the winter it is left half-open, and during the migration of bees, it tightly closes the passage.

In some models of hives, a window is made in the back wall of the housing through which they are installed inside the feeder, frames for wax, etc. For the winter, this hole is closed with insulation material. It is preferable to choose a felt mat for this purpose.

• Store extension or simply the store is the section of the hive located above the hull. Bees put honey in it during the flow period. The shop is usually made with the same linear parameters as the body, and it houses the same number of honeycomb frames. The extension must be warm, so it is thermally insulated together with the body, or double walls are made for it.

This section of the hive is also used for the wintering of prefabricated layers. However, it should be noted that in some models the store is not arranged at all.

• Roof cover (roof panel)- this part of the structure is designed to overlap the store or nest building, protect it from rainwater and at the same time create an attic-like airspace that helps maintain optimal temperature in the hive. However, quite often the roof liner replaces the roof itself, and can have different shapes. In this case, its surface is trimmed from the outside with a thin steel sheet.

If the under-roof is used as a pitched roof, then it is fixed on the wall of the front part of the hive with the help of hinges, and on the back wall it must be tightly fixed to the store section or to the body.

• Completing the beehive elements. This set of parts includes frames, their dividers, a diaphragm, a roofing felt stretcher, ceilings, a dividing grid, insulation materials, a ventilation frame, hinges and a connecting tape.

Framework for the case and shop are made of natural wood. Their thickness is most often from 10 to 40 mm. To simplify the work of bees to create combs, sometimes stainless wire is pulled over the frames, which can be replaced with thick fishing line. Frames can have different shapes depending on the design and type of hive. So, they distinguish:

- low-wide frames with a height less than their width;

- narrow-high - their width is always less than the height;

- square frames.

However, for all frames, the upper crossbar has equally protruding edges - folds. It is on these protrusions that the frames will be held in the hive, resting on rails fixed to the walls of the case or store.

Permanent separators- these details are necessary to ensure a certain distance between the frames. These elements are point and line. Dotted frames fasten adjacent frames at the required distance only at one point, and linear ones along the lower bar. In addition, there are flat and profile side dividers.

In the illustration above, the profile dividers are clearly visible - these are the extensions of the side rails in the upper part, which do not allow the honeycomb created by the bees inside the frame to come into contact. This extension is also often referred to as a shoulder, and its length is about 100 mm.

Diaphragm(insert board) is designed to restrict the bee's nest. Represents a board or fiberboard equal in width to the height of the internal size of the body. It is located inside, dividing the hive into two parts. It is often used when two bee colonies are separated in one hive.

Ruberoid stretcher- this is a sheet of roofing material with a smell completely weathered from it and treated with a special compound, in length and width corresponding to the size of the bottom of the case. It is inserted into the hive through the tap hole when the hive is replenished with fodder for the winter. During the winter, wax crumbs, crumbs from honeycombs and dead wood accumulate on the sheet. Experienced beekeepers determine the quality of the wintering of the bee colony by the spring contents of the stretcher. The stretcher is removed from the hive at the end of winter and stored properly until the end of the season.

Dividing grid It is installed between the body and the store so that the queen bee cannot move from one part of the hive to another. The grill can be wire or plastic stamped. The width of the holes in the grid cells should be 4.2 mm, so that worker bees can freely pass through them, and the queen bees and drones with larger sizes remain in the main nesting section of the body.

Ventilation frame is a lightweight construction made of wooden slats, on which a metal mesh with 3 × 3 mm cells is stretched. The ventilation frame is placed instead of the roof cover in the upper part of the hive, but sometimes ventilation window do in the roof liner itself. It is especially important to arrange high-quality ventilation when transporting hives to a new place of honey collection.

Hinges are intended in the design of the hive to connect the nest housing with the store extension. The hinges are fixed at the corners on the front wall of the hive, between the nest housing and the magazine. The hinges allow either to flip or remove the magazine completely, opening the inner space of the nest housing. In some models, the body and magazine are connected using pull-out brackets.

Connecting tape It is installed along the line of joining of the nest housing and the store extension and the sub-roof, serves for their reliable connection. It is usually made from steel strip 25 mm wide and 2 mm thick. Not applicable to all hive models.

Now, having considered the main design details, it is worth moving on to information about the types of hives.

Popular types of hives

First of all, it must be said that the hives are divided into collapsible and non-collapsible, but the second have not been used by beekeepers for a long time, since it is extremely inconvenient to work with them. In addition, bee dwellings differ in design, volume, materials of manufacture and functionality. One section of the hive can usually contain up to 16 frames, on which the bee colony builds honeycombs for growing brood and storing honey.

Modern frame hives are vertical and horizontal. In the latter, there is only one housing available, which can be extended in both directions, thanks to this, if necessary, the number of frames can be changed. However, the frames for such a design are quite large and heavy.

The vertical version of the hives is increased due to superstructures, while the frames are compact and light.

In addition, there are combined options combining the design of vertical and horizontal hives. These models have several sections, separated from each other by partitions, which can be shifted to one side or the other, due to which additional frames can be installed in the body.

Bee houses are also divided according to their functional use. So, some hives are used exclusively for wintering bee colonies.

Developed very a large number of various types of hives. Some have a unique design, others were designed in a similar way, in different countries, but completely independently of each other, and have different names.

Alpine hive

This type of hive was invented by the beekeeper Roger Delon. The structure is a multi-hull vertical "pyramid" resembling a multi-storey building. This variety appeared as a result of many years of observation of the life and habits of insects, so the beekeeper tried to recreate the natural living conditions of bees in nature to the maximum. Due to the fact that the nesting bodies in this hive are located one above the other, the design has a compact size at the base. In the buildings of the alpine hive there are no partitions, ventilation gaps and grilles, since the supply of fresh air and the removal of used air are carried out using natural circulation through the notch, which is equipped in the lower part of the overall structure.

In order to prevent excess moisture from collecting in the hive and condensation from forming, a feeder or ceiling is provided in the upper part of the structure, which creates an air cushion. The cover, located on top of the hive, is equipped with a layer of insulation material and reliably protects it from overheating in bright sunlight.

The frames of the alpine hive have a distinctive feature in that they do not have a bottom and side bar, and instead of them, a wire frame is made. And for the location of the artificial foundation, a slot is cut in the upper bar of the frame.

The construction of such a hive takes a lot less material, and a thick layer of insulation for the walls is not required at all, since for wintering Delon's hives are covered with a plastic bag.

As you can see from the illustrations, the alpine hive consists of several buildings stacked on top of each other. All cases, except for the bottom one, have no bottom, but combs or rails are fixed on their walls, between which frames are then installed.

Each compartment of the common building can be designed for 3 ÷ 8 frames, depending on the number of individuals in the bee colony.

The bottom part of the structure is made of a board with a thickness of 30 mm. Inner surface the bottom, before installing it, experienced beekeepers recommend soaking it with linseed oil. Outside, the bottom must be covered with paint containing aluminum.

In the uppermost section of the body, under the roof, a feeder-drinker for bees is placed, which is filled with sweet syrup. The feeder is a tray, divided into two parts by a partition, in each of its sections there are protrusions - the so-called "volcanoes", which are covered with plastic cups.

You can make the feeder yourself or buy it ready-made.

Dadant's Hive - Blatt

This hive has a rather simple design, therefore it is very popular among beekeepers. The body of the Dadant hive is usually designed for 12 frames, but it is possible to increase the height of the body by installing store superstructures on top, into which the half-frames are installed.

Prices for drinkers for bees

drinker for bees

Instead of store superstructures, an additional full-fledged hull with standard frames can be installed on top of the lower hull. V winter period all the bees are in the nest box, and in the spring, when the bee colony begins to grow, the installation is carried out the required amount add-ons.

All parts of the hive are made removable, but fastened with hinge locks.

In the upper part of the structure, under the roof, there should also be a place for installing a feeder.

Langstroth's hive

This design is also often called "Ruta", and it allows you to keep several families of bees, which simplifies their care. Such a model can consist of several cases - usually there are from two to six, and each of them contains 10 ÷ 12 frames. The bodies are added as the bee colony grows, so the first hive usually consists of two bodies or a body and a store.

The Ruta hive consists of the following structural elements:

- stands or legs;

- bottom with equipped lower taphole;

- nest building (bee club);

- dividing lattice;

- shops;

- ceiling;

- roof liner;

- covers.

Additional socket housings are installed on the lower housing, that is, the dividing grid will be on top of them.

Nesting or brood bodies are made from whole boards, that is, without cracks, well-rounded to smooth boards 35 mm thick. For the manufacture of walls, soft types of wood are suitable - it can be pine, spruce, aspen, linden and others, but it is better to choose a tree that is not resinous, hardwood. You should not choose larch for this purpose, since it contains a lot of resins, and besides, this wood, when dry, gives numerous cracks and begins to warp.

The walls of the case are tied together with self-tapping screws with the additional use of waterproof glue applied in a straight thorn - such a connection will be strong and eliminate any distortions. An air vent hole is necessarily drilled in each case - its diameter and location are clearly visible in the drawing.

The internal size of the case is 450 × 375 mm, its height is 245 ÷ 250 mm. During manufacturing, 10 mm is added to all the details that form the height, since the wood shrinks over time. The outer dimensions are 520 × 445 mm, and the height of the hive depends on the number of cases and stores.

The case shown in the illustration is designed for 10 frames measuring 435 × 230 mm. They are best made from birch, linden or aspen, and conifers it is undesirable to apply. The exact size of the frames along the width of the side walls is indicated in the drawing-diagram.

Handles are fixed on the sides from the sides, or grooves are made with a size of 30 × 90 mm for the convenience of transporting the hives.

The ceiling panel is made of 20 mm thick planks and has a size of 468 × 395 mm.

Above the ceiling board, between it and the roof, a feeder is placed inside the under-roof space. From above, the structure is covered with a roof of 25 mm thick planks on which an aluminum or steel sheet is laid. Some beekeepers equip the roof with a layer of insulation - a reasonable measure that does not allow the nest buildings to overheat or overcool.

Outside, all surfaces of the hive need to be impregnated with linseed oil and painted - this way the wood will be less susceptible to external aggressive effects of ultraviolet radiation and moisture, and the hive will last much longer.

The photographs below show the construction of the various sections of the hive. Some of them differ from the drawing shown above, but it is not uncommon for beekeepers to prefer their design to this structure, given their own experience in caring for them.

Edged board prices

edged board

So, for example, in the diagram, the bottom surface is located at an angle, with a slope to the arrival board, and in the illustration, the bottom of the hive is even.

All structural elements must fit snugly to each other, therefore, during manufacture, parts must be tried on constantly.

It is best to make a pitched roof and cover it with aluminum or steel sheet. The ramp will protect the hive from rainwater, and unpainted galvanized steel or aluminum will effectively reflect the sun's rays, preventing overheating.

The hives used in apiaries in regions with a cold winter climate are double-walled with internal insulation. In this case, the total wall thickness will be 40 ÷ 50 mm

Prices for aluminum sheets

Aluminum sheet

Experienced beekeepers recommend increasing the underframe space to 90 ÷ 120 mm, as this makes the wintering conditions for bees more comfortable. If such a size of the subframe space was not provided in advance, then the nest housing can be installed on an empty store extension. In addition, this size of the underframe space helps to avoid the appearance and development of wax moths.

To prevent the bees from getting into the underframe space, it is overlapped metal mesh with a mesh size of 4.4 mm, which is framed at the edges with wooden or metal strips.

The frames should be raised above the bottom surface by 150 ÷ ​​200 mm.

In the bottom block of the hive, a retractable pallet is installed with sides 40 ÷ 50 mm high, into which a roofing felt stretcher can be laid.

This pallet can also be used during the treatment of bees from varroatosis. Finely chopped medicinal herbs are poured into it - mainly faded tansy is used for this purpose.

Cassette hive

The design of the cassette hive differs from other models in that the nest boxes are made in the form of drawers installed in a common housing with bars fixed on its side walls - runners along which the cassette bodies will walk. A distance of 10 mm should be maintained between the frames installed in the hulls - this ensures the unhindered extension of the hive, as well as the ability to separate one part of the hive from the main space with gratings or plywood partitions - removable tables installed horizontally.

The cassette design is somewhat more difficult to manufacture and will require more material. But at the same time, it is more convenient to transport, therefore it is these hives that are made for field apiaries.

In addition, the cassette design allows you to keep several families in one hive at once, separating them from each other with plywood lintels.

Considering that each cassette has its own walls, and it is installed in a common body, the hive turns out to be double-walled. In addition, the main body should be assembled from 35 mm thick boards or from two layers of moisture-resistant plywood with insulation installed between them.

To increase the resistance of wood to external factors, it is recommended to impregnate all structural details with liquid wax.

In this design, tap holes are provided on each retractable housing. So, their central holes usually have a diameter of 25 ÷ 30 mm, and slotted lengths of 200 and a height of 10 mm. If it is planned to make a common door for the hive, then the holes for the notches are made in it, opposite the gaps between the cassettes. An arrival rail is fixed under each of the holes.

Anti-mite nets should be provided at the top and bottom of the common body. The entire hive is protected from rain by a pitched roof, under which ventilation slots are provided.

The illustration below shows a drawing of one of the variants of the cassette hive, with the dimensions affixed.

1 - roof with ventilation slots;

2 - upper anti-mite mesh;

3 - arrival rails;

4 - central round tap holes;

5 - slit notch;

6 - pull-out tray with anti-mite mesh;

7 - legs or support posts;

8 - retractable cassette body;

9 - removable table - brackets that can be adjusted in height. Provides the necessary level of convenience when working with the cassette extended outward.

10 - honeycomb frames;

11 - sliders for pulling out cassettes;

12 - doors;

13 - collar hooks for fixing the door sashes.

Hive lounger

This version of a house for bees is quite large in size, and, unlike other structures, is located not vertically, but horizontally. It is a box, divided into two parts, in each of which a separate family of bees with its queen settles. The advantage of this design is that it simplifies the care of the bees and requires less effort and time from the beekeeper.

Some beekeepers equip the structure with a store, installing it on top of the nesting compartments or between them.

The bottom of this model of the hive is made of a 40 mm thick board, the walls - 25 mm. The size of the bottom of the hive is 580 × 385 mm, the roof is 600 × 405 mm. The height of the finished building is 315 mm, the roof space is 590 × 395 mm, and the height is 80 mm.

1 - feeders and drinkers for bees;

2 - honeycomb frames;

3 - covers overlapping the hive compartments;

4 - handles for rearranging the hive;

5 - common roof of the hive;

6 - hive body;

7 - gate valves of entrance windows;

8 – internal partitions dividing the common space of the hive into separate sections.

The parts of the hive are connected using self-tapping screws. To fix the roof to the body, hinges are usually used so that it can be folded back. In the inner space on the side walls, in the upper part of the compartment, a recess is made at 12 ÷ 15, with a height of 18 ÷ 20 mm for installing the frames.

Prices for a beehive made of polyurethane foam

polyurethane beehive

In the lower part of the structure, on the front wall, a notch is arranged for each of the departments.

The lounger can be designed for one bee colony. It is quite possible to make it according to the drawing below, which, probably, does not even require additional description.

There are many other hive designs. Above, the most popular and most affordable for manufacturing were considered.

Building a simple hive with a gable roof

The beehive, the construction of which will be considered in this section, can be made by any beekeeper on his own, having at hand required material, carpentry tools and basic skills of working with them.

As mentioned above, the first thing that is required to make a hive, in addition to materials and tools, is a detailed drawing of the future product with a description of the elements and their sizes. The dimensions of this hive are 1300 x 600 x 600 mm, and the height is measured from the ridge of the roof.

When assembling the hive, you can rely on this diagram - it shows well all the mates of the parts

To build a structure, you will need to prepare the following parts made of wood and metal:

1 - Vertical body posts - 4 pcs. - 486 × 32 × 18 mm.

2 - Vertical racks of the store extension - 4 pcs. - 154 × 32 × 18 mm.

3 - Longitudinal bars of the bottom part of the nesting body - 2 pcs. - 424 × 32 × 18 mm.

4 - Cross bars for the nesting body, store extension, bottom and sub-roof - 10 pcs. - 600 × 32 × 18 mm.

5 - Longitudinal bars for the nesting body, store extension, bottom and sub-roof - 12 pcs. - 564 × 32 × 18 mm.

6 - Cross bars for the bottom of the nest housing - 2 pcs. - 564 × 32 × 18 mm.

7 - Roof ridge beam - 1 pc. - 564 × 32 × 18 mm.

8 - Roof rafter legs - 2 pcs. - 392 × 32 × 18 mm (in the lower part, the bars are cut at an angle of 45 degrees).

9 - Roof rafter legs - 2 pcs. - 424 x 32 x 18 mm (at the bottom, the bars are also cut at an angle of 45 degrees).

10 - Footrests - 4 pcs. - steel plates 80 × 80 × 3 mm.

11 - Support legs - 4 pcs. - steel corner 500 × 50 × 50 × 3 mm.

12 - Covering the ridge bar - 1 pc. - aluminum corner 680 × 50 × 50 × 3 mm.

13 - Facing board (in this case, unedged is shown) with a thickness of 6 ÷ 8 mm.

14 - Boarding (arrival) board - 1 pc. - 460 × 70 × 6 mm.

15 - Plywood panel with ventilation holes - 1 pc. - 460 × 460 × 12 mm.

For the manufacture of the above design details, as well as for its insulation, the following materials will be required:

• Plywood 10 ÷ 12 mm thick.
• A bar with a section of 32 × 18 mm - 20 running meters.
• Unedged board or wooden lining thickness 6 ÷ 8 mm. Its amount will depend on the width of the selected material.
• Nails 50 mm long.
• Screws 25 mm long.
• Steel angle 2000 mm long and aluminum angle 700 mm long (50 × 50 × 3 mm).
• Steel plates 4 pcs. (80 × 80 × 3 mm).
• Roof covering. For this purpose, the same board can be used as for the wall cladding, or a steel sheet with a thickness of 1 ÷ 1.5 mm and a size of 600 × 1000 mm.
• Folding hinges - 4 pcs.
• Window hinges - 50 × 30 mm - 2 pcs.
• Linen insulation material.
• Linseed oil for wood impregnation.
• Wood paint will be needed if it is decided to paint the outside of the hive.

To build this hive model, you will need the following tools:

• for welding the footrests to the legs. If it is not there, then you can contact a car repair shop or any welder who will do this work in just ten minutes.
• Electric drill with a set of drills.
• with a set of screwdriver bits.
• Electric jigsaw or hacksaw for wood.
• "Bulgarian" for cutting metal. It will only be required if the metal legs are made independently.
• A tape measure, a square and a simple pencil - for marking.
• Hammer.
• Paint brush.

Having prepared everything you need, you can get to work. The whole process of making this hive model will be presented in the table below:

Illustration	Brief description of the performed operation
	The first step is to make blanks for the frame of the hive. To do this, the acquired timber is cut off (if necessary), impregnated with linseed oil and marked according to the dimensions indicated above. Then, the beams are cut into blanks, which are best signed immediately. The work is carried out using electric jigsaw or an ordinary hacksaw for wood. More accurate cuts are obtained with a jigsaw. To save time when assembling the frame, it is recommended that the timber blanks not only be numbered by noting the length on them, but also sorted out by placing them in separate piles.
	To prevent the timber from cracking when hammering in nails, it is recommended to hammer them at an angle. It would be even better to drill a hole in the timber, the diameter of which is 1 ÷ 1.5 mm less than the thickness of the nail leg, and only then assemble it. The hole is also drilled at an angle of about 30 degrees, using a screwdriver, into which a drill of the required diameter is installed.
	Assembly timber frame the hive is produced in a specific order. You need to start by making the lowest frame. To prevent skewing of the corners, the timber is laid out on the construction square before fastening. Each side is fastened with two nails or self-tapping screws, they are driven in or screwed through a longer bar into the end of the short one. The upper frame of the nest body is assembled in the same way. Now they need to be connected with vertical corner bars. They are nailed by setting the nails at an angle first to the bottom frame. Further, on their upper end edges, the upper frame of the body is installed and fixed. So the structure will acquire relative rigidity, allowing further work. Now, according to the drawing, a distance of 182 mm is measured from the lower frame, and at this level, horizontal bars are installed and nailed on the front and rear sides of the frame between the vertical posts. Their top edge should be aligned with the top of the steel corner of the legs. The next step, from the edges of the newly fixed timber, is laid by 52 mm, and bars No. 6 are nailed perpendicular to them, horizontally, along the walls of the hive. A space is formed between them and the vertical posts, in which the corners-legs should freely fit. These bars will serve as a support for the ventilation grill and the inner corridor leading from the entrance. Further, on these bars, also from the edges, 50 mm are measured, and short bars are already fixed perpendicular to them (in the diagram they go under No. 3). The next step is the assembly of the store extension. Installation is carried out according to approximately the same scheme - first, the lower and upper frames are assembled, and then they are fastened together with vertical posts. After that, they proceed to fastening the roof elements. First, the lower frame is assembled, then the roof rafters, installed at an angle, are fixed on it. Then, the latter are connected with a ridge bar.
	The next step is to prepare the legs of the hive. For this, the steel corner is marked out and cut into 500 mm lengths. Then the location of the holes is marked, through which the legs will be fixed on the timber frame. The first two holes should be located 20 mm from the upper edge of the corner, the second at a distance of 180 mm from its upper edge, and their diameter is 5 mm. Next, prepared steel plates are taken and welded to the opposite side of the drilled holes, the side of the legs. It should be noted that some beekeepers prefer to make the entire hive out of wood, including the legs of the structure. However, in this case, the wooden legs will need to be very carefully treated with protective solutions, since the stand is recommended, for guaranteed stability of the hive, to slightly deepen into the ground.
	The finished legs are pressed against the bottom of the vertical racks of the frame and screwed to it with self-tapping screws through drilled holes... Distance from footboard to bottom timber the frame frame should be 300 mm. When the structure is fully assembled, you can think about fixing the top frame of the magazine extension and the nest housing on the inner bottom side of the beam of the protruding stops on which the frames will be installed. The width of the slats can be 8 ÷ 9 mm, they are fixed along the entire length of the side bars of the frame. In addition, from one of the lateral sides of the hive, folding hinges are fixed to the roof frame and the upper frame of the store, as well as the lower frame of the store and the upper nest housing. Thus, the beekeeper can easily remove frames with honeycombs from the inside of the hive.
	Now you need to sheathe the front side of the nest housing with facing material. In this case, wood planks pre-treated with linseed oil were chosen for the frame cladding. They are mounted according to the principle of traditional siding, that is, at an angle to the frame beam, so that each top board is on the bottom.
	The next step, in the fixed plating of the lower part of the hive, cut a rectangular hole with a tap hole measuring 460 × 70 mm. The cut out part of the boards is preserved, since it will be used to equip the hinged door for the newly cut entrance opening.
	Now, under the cut-out window, a small board is fixed, which will serve as a support for the tap-hole hinged door, which, when opened, turns into an arrival platform.
	In the next step, the previously cut part of the trim must be fixed on the hinges that are installed under it, so that it folds outward. V open form the landing board should look as shown in the illustration. To keep the door in a closed position, a plate or a metal strip is fixed with a self-tapping hole over the cut-out hole; it should rotate freely on the self-tapping screw, thus becoming the simplest latch.
	After that, from the inside of the tap hole, the corridor board is fixed to the frame beam. The photo shows a part of the frame, located at the level of the entrance hole, on which the boards or plywood of the bottom will be fixed. Further, the floors need to be insulated. To do this, the nest body is turned over, and linen mats are placed on the floor boards from below, then they are closed waterproofing material, and the outer plane of the bottom is sheathed with plywood. Before producing outer cladding the remaining sections of the hive are cladding, they are sheathed from the inside with plywood, then linen mats are installed on the outside of the plywood in the frame of the frame. From above, the insulation is covered with a windproof waterproofing film.
	It probably won't be superfluous to remind that each of the sections of the hive is sheathed separately so that they can be opened. The sheathing is fixed to the frame with self-tapping screws. Roof covering can also be carried out using the same board as on the walls, or with galvanized steel sheet. However, in the latter case, you will have to add two or three rafters to the slopes of the structure, then sheathe the roof surfaces with plywood, and only then lay metal cover... The second version of the roof is more reliable, since the risk of its leakage is excluded. If it is decided to use a board to cover the roof, then its fixing begins from the eaves of the roof and is carried out sequentially to the ridge. Each of the following boards is mounted with an overlap on the previous one, and so on up to the ridge board. Having finished fixing the cover, an aluminum corner is fixed to the roof ridge. The plywood panel with vents is the last to be installed in the under-roof space. Feeders with sweet syrup are installed on it, as well as on the bottom of the hive, if necessary. In addition, a dividing grid is installed between the store extension and the nest housing during operation of the hive.

The frames for the hive are made separately, and for this it is necessary to take measurements from the inner space of the nest and store buildings. At what distance they should be installed, and what needs to be foreseen to maintain the distance between them and around them - all this is discussed in detail above, in the description of each of the departments of the hive.

You can also add, by the way, that the external cladding can be done both before installing the hive in a permanent place, and after digging the supports into the ground.

To supplement the information posted in the publication, learn more about the advantages and possible disadvantages different types hives, watch the video in which an experienced beekeeper shares his secrets.

Video: Which model of the hive is preferable to stay on?

Beekeeping is not an easy job, but it is profitable not only for its high profitability. Entomologists and agrarians are unanimous: in general, the benefits of the honey bee Apis melifera are not only honey and wax, which is highly demanded in the technique, but even more - pollination fruit plants... Apiary in the country, personal plot, in the garden and next to the garden is definitely worth all the hassle and expenses, if not directly, by the output of marketable beekeeping products, then by increasing the productivity of the economy as a whole.

A ready-made hive in the Russian Federation can be bought for 2000-4000 rubles, but without frames. One beehive in an apiary is not enough. The most expensive equipment for private beekeeping - a honey extractor and a wax melter - can be rented or given honeycombs for processing at first. Other accessories for bee care are more readily available. That is, at the beginning of beekeeping, it makes perfect sense to make beehives yourself: they are not material-intensive, not structurally and technologically complex. This publication is devoted to how to make a beehive with your own hands. The material is designed primarily for beginners.

To do or create?

The hive does not have technological equipment in the usual way. It is primarily the home of the bee family (families). Honey collection is determined by many factors: the experience of the beekeeper, the method of beekeeping, the quantity, species composition and density of honey plants in a given place, the location of the apiary on it, and finally, just the weather. But honey yield from a hive depends on the correct choice of its type and quality of manufacture much more than milk yield from a cow from the design of its stall.

The bee colony is not a family in the usual sense, nor is it a colony of individuals or a nest. Since the middle of the last century, some zoologists for brief description communities of social insects (termites, ants, social wasps and bees) use the term "superorganism", implying that a "superorganism" is a subject of a population of a given species, a separate individual in it is its structural unit, like a cell in our body, has strictly defined functions , one cannot exist on its own, but a complex exchange of information is constantly taking place within the “superorganism” community.

"Superorganism" in the full sense of the word, another life is at our side, and, according to the apt remark in "The Lives of Animals" in 1969, this word has no more to do with displaying the true essence of the differences between them and us than a puff of smoke to the Club of Famous captains. The internal combustion engine piston is closer to an old soft boot, and its cooling shirt is closer to a piece of clothing, than a bee colony is closer to our family, and its fertile female is closer to a mother or queen.

Therefore, at the beginning of beekeeping, you need to make a hive for bees, firstly, exactly following the chosen pattern. Beekeeping has existed for millennia, but the first frame hive that allowed the full domestication of the honey bee was developed only 200 years ago, it is so difficult for us to understand their life. Secondly, at the start, choose a sample for repetition that is proven, convenient not only for the life of bees, but also for the development of your understanding of it. Chasing only the maximum honey yield at once means dooming yourself to failure in advance. You cannot become a beekeeper, relying only on book knowledge, and you need to make beehives for your apiary so that you can back them up as best as possible and quickly with observations and practical experience.

Fortunately, there are not so many reliable types of hives that make it possible to go from simply ensuring the normal life of a bee colony to honey collection in immediate years over 20 kg per hive, which cannot be said about various kinds of experimental designs. But in apiaries, they both appear and leave them, but the correct hives remain. That is what we will do, how to make a beehive, convenient and useful both for the bees and for ourselves.

Types of hives

The first frame hive, which made it possible to select honey without destroying the bee colony and not excessively weakening it, was created by the Russian beekeeper I.P. Prokopovich in 1814. In 1838, the Englishman Langstroth put forward the principle of bee space, according to which the vital volume of the bee colony must correspond to its strength and increase as it develops. According to these provisions, Langstroth invented his hive, hanging the frames vertically, and in 1851 he finally brought it to perfection, reworking it under the low-wide Ruth frame (see below for frames for hives). Lagstroth-Ruth hive, pos. 1 and 2 in Fig., Is still dominant in professional commercial beekeeping.

At the end of the XIX century. Frenchman Charles Dadant, who worked in the United States, set out to create a hive suitable for places with harsher winters and fewer honey plants, where the profitability of large-scale industrial beekeeping is questionable, but it is quite justified as a help in frequent farming and a center of pollinators. By increasing the number of frames in the body to 12 and the height of the frame, Dadant got a hive that is quite consistent with his intentions. Beehive Dadan, or just beehive-dadan, or even dadan, pos. 3, dominates small-scale, frequent beekeeping, just as Lagstroth-Ruta dominates large professional beekeeping. Small but useful changes were made to it by the Swiss Blatt.

Amateur beekeepers, as a rule, begin their journey with beehives-loungers, pos. 4, allowing, in the presence of a sufficient number and high density of honey plants, to obtain a good honey harvest, having only the initial skills of caring for bees. Qualified amateur beekeepers supplying products for sale and professional IP working alone with the number of bee colonies up to 1000 (approximately), depending on local conditions, prefer Roger Delon's Alpine hive (alpine hive), pos. 5, or its modifications Khomich's hive or Varre's hive, pos. 6. The laboriousness and complexity of caring for them require solid experience, but the production of an alpine-type hive requires 1.5-2 times less materials than the Dadan hive, and the honey yield from it is higher and more stable. In the immediate years, the Alpine is able to give honey yield 10-11 times (!) More and, therefore, remain profitable, and the Varre hive is 3-5 times more than given. In normal and honey years, this difference is smoothed out. Alpine clone hives are light (approx. 15 kg per body with honey), compact, transportable and therefore most suitable for nomadic beekeeping. Such properties of alpine hives are highly appreciated by IP beekeepers, who feed the day for a year.

Hive designs

At pos. with Dadant's hive, the main components of a well-organized bee house are well-represented. The bottom (stand) separates the hive from the ground, and its sloping front wall serves as a landing area for the bees. Between the bottom and the body, there is most often a revolving bottom without a front wall; it facilitates the current care of the hive - cleaning up garbage, removing dead bees. Body - box without bottom; possibly with an additional tap hole in the upper third. In the case there are nest frames on which, so to speak, everyday life bees. The body, if necessary, can be divided into parts by removable vertical partitions - diaphragms. There can be 1 or more hive bodies; a hive of more than 3 hives is called multi-hull.

The store is the same, or less high, a box without a taphole. This is a commercial beehive extension from which honey is taken. The store is separated from the body by a horizontally laid dividing grid - a separator - with cells of such a size that the worker bees can pass through them, but the larger queen bee does not. The bees build the combs in the store and fill them with honey, but the queen cannot lay eggs in them, and therefore the combs in the store are not sealed. Bee hive, designed for the so-called. aggressive method of honey collection, necessarily supplied with a store.

Note: bees are thrifty hard workers. With an aggressive method of honey collection, the surplus of honey and wax is taken from them all the time, prompting the bees to build and build combs for supplies. Allow bees to stock up in abundance on the eve of wintering. Of course, aggressive honey collection is only possible from strong families in their honey years.

Rooftop - a commodity-unproductive extension, a box section designed primarily for organizing correct circulation air in the hive and create a stable microclimate in it. The bee "superorganism" is capable of self-regulation of its internal conditions. The roof cover helps in this cultured bee colony, as does the attic of the house and clothes for us. Depending on local conditions and the type of hive, the roof can be just a flat shield, similar to an attic house or light clothing. Also, the roof cover is possible with a blind or with a ventilation hole (opening).

The cover (functionally - the ceiling) of the hive protects it from precipitation; in the case of pavilion keeping of bees, it may be absent, and in good weather it is often replaced by a cloth blanket - a canvas. The roof of the hive (functionally - the cover) is often made single-pitched, and ventilation holes are cut out in its gables. A flat roof, if it covers the hive for a long time, must be periodically raised to ventilate.

Langstroth Ruth Hive

Hive of this type multi-hull with housings and magazines of the same height, designed for standard Ruta frames (see below). Ventilated or blind roof caps, depending on local conditions. The number of buildings and shops in the hive is determined by the beekeeper from experience, also based on local conditions. One honey-filled case or magazine weighs more than 20 kg, therefore an assistant (s) is required to work with Langstroth-Ruth hives.

Dadant's hive

Dadan's hive gives in an area more or less provided with flowering melliferous plants, honey harvest comparable to that of the Langstroth-Ruth hive, and caring for it and beekeeping in the Dadan hive is not much more difficult than in a bed-hive. The Dadan-Blatt hive for 12 frames 300 mm high (Dadan frame, see below for frames) provides wintering of 2 bee colonies in a temperate continental climate, and at the same time can be made under the standard Ruth frame. Fully filled with honey, the Dadan-Blatt hive weighs up to 35 kg, which makes it possible to handle it alone.

In the Dadant hive, the housing and the store of different heights constitute the hive module. Multihull hives are obtained by stacking modules one on top of the other. This hive is currently known in several varieties adapted to local conditions. In Russia, their own modifications of the Dadan hive have been developed, but due to the climate changes taking place, the Dadan hive in the version common in the northwestern states of the United States and in Canada, designed for 9 Root frames, may be of interest; see its drawings in fig. below. The climate there is much more humid and unstable than in the Central Zone of the Russian Federation. But for us, perhaps, it is still too early to supply the hive with a roof-comb with inserts; then Section Comb Super turns into a simple box, and Inner Cover and OuterTelescoping Cover become familiar cover and roof, respectively. The construction material of this hive is a 16 mm thick hemlock board, which can be replaced with moisture resistant plywood.

Frames for beehives

Removable frames in the bee hive are a kind of foundation on which they build a house - a honeycomb. From the point of view of bees, combs are divided into nesting ones, for brood, and blank ones for stocks. In the honey-filled cells of the first, the uterus lays eggs, the worker bees seal them, and the larvae develop, swimming in food. The blank combs store food for the whole family for the winter and bad weather.

Note: honey bees, although they form a "superorganism", are not endowed with reason and act instinctively. Therefore, in the hive with an excess of space, it is possible to build dummy honeycombs. Their appearance is highly undesirable, since the family's efforts are wasted for both her and the beekeeper.

From the point of view of the beekeeper, the nest and idle combs must be separated, having allocated separate frames for both. In this case, you can take honey and wax without destroying or even disturbing the bee colonies. Therefore, structurally, frames for hives are divided into nesting, placed in the housing, and store.

Most hives are designed for low-wide frames, which are wider than high. Bee colonies tend to develop vertically, so a low-wide frame reduces the likelihood of swarming when there is a large excess of food. Enthusiasts of narrow-high frames inevitably face a decrease in the honey yield as a whole, because when the rudiment of a new swarm - the nucleus - is released from the bee colony, the accumulated stocks are spent on it.

The standard dimensions of the nesting frame of the hive since the time of Ruth are 435x230 mm, and the store, or half-frame, 435x145 mm. The Dadan nest frame differs only in its increased height up to 300 mm, for dimensions and drawings of frames for hives, see Fig. In the opening of the frame, a 2-mm galvanized wire is stretched (inset at the top right in the figure) and a foundation is laid in it, this is a kind of trench for the foundation. The honeycombs will be built by the bees even without foundation, but the honey collection from the hive will then begin later. The frame in the case / magazine hangs on hangers resting on the inner fold of the box, see below.

The width of the upper shelf of the frame is 36 or 37 mm, but the body / magazine of the hive is calculated for a step of installing the frames in 37.5-38 mm. The fact is that a too dense package of frames from thermal expansion can jam in the box, and beekeepers already have a lot of trouble with frames glued to it with propolis. Therefore, based on the local climate, the width of the frame shelf and their calculated step are chosen as follows:

• The climate is even: sea, steppe or others with small temperature fluctuations - shelf 37 mm, pitch 37.5 mm.
• The climate is temperate continental, for example. Central Russia - shelf 37 mm, pitch 38 mm or shelf 36 mm, pitch 37 mm.
• The climate is continental, or if the apiary is in the mountains - a shelf of 36 mm, a step of 38 mm.

The gap between the sidewalls of the frame and the walls of the hive has been precisely verified by beekeepers over the centuries: 8 mm. More - the bees will build it up with honeycombs; less - it will be tightened with a polis and the frame will stick. Methods for extracting stuck frames are known, but why deal with problems if they can not be created?

The gap between the bottom bar of the frame and the bottom of the hive is made larger, 20 mm. Less is impossible, if you deprive the bees of the ability to walk on the bottom or limit it, the family will wither. But then regular care of the hive is necessary: ​​to tear off the frames that are glued to its bottom without ruining the family is still a task.

Assemble the frames on the nails using a special board-mold, see the sidebar in fig; about the tree for frames, see below. Removing the honeycomb and caring for the apiary is greatly facilitated by folding basket frames, see the figure on the right, but given that even a small apiary requires hundreds of frames, labor and money costs for the purchase of stainless wire in this case are far from always justified.

Note: in some types of hives, non-standard frames are used. These will be described below in conjunction with acc. types of hives.

Lounger

A hive-lounger is something like a chest with frames suspended in it, even its lid is often made folding. The lounger hive is also called the Ukrainian hive, which is not true. It was independently invented by amateur beekeepers from several countries of Southern Europe. The hive-lounger came to Ukraine ready-made, and there, frankly, it was spoiled: they deprived the store and adapted it to the narrow-high frames of the Dadanov size, see fig. In fairness, it should be noted that from the point of view of "lazy" beekeeping in regions with a climate favorable for bees and an abundance of wildly blooming melliferous plants, this made some sense.

The device and dimensions of the beehive-lounger for 16 frames (one or two family) and 20 frames (2 family) are shown on the next. rice. In it, the bee colony is encouraged to develop horizontally, and the observation of the bees is facilitated. An indispensable accessory of such a hive is at least 1 diaphragm.

In general terms, the operating mode of the 16-20 frame lounger is as follows:

• During the spring "explosive" peak of flowering of melliferous plants (garden, buckwheat field, lime-tree, acacia grove) 2 families work, the main (main) and auxiliary. Walking bees from family to family does not particularly reduce the honey collection, they are not up to that, a lot of work.
• In the recession of flowering, the auxiliary family is either separated and removed (resettled), or destroyed, or harassed itself: its worker bees kill their queen and move into the main family. The extra space of the hive is fenced off by a diaphragm.
• If the summer flowering of wild honey plants is not particularly intense, the hive works in a single family mode until wintering.
• In the case of violent summer flowering, a nucleus is formed in the main family, developing into a new auxiliary family.

Thus, the lounger hive, at the cost of some reduction in honey yield, is largely self-adjusting and self-adjusting for the honey / non-honey year. Therefore, even rather significant flaws in beekeeping in it do not excessively reduce the honey yield and almost never ruin the family.

Note: if you read or hear the expression “two-queen bee colony”, “double-queen bee hive”, etc. anywhere, do not believe your eyes and ears. Any student of the biology department, not to mention entomologists, will explain that there are no “two-queen” bee colonies and, in principle, there cannot be. By analogy with individual organisms, again forcedly rough and imprecise, 2 bee colonies in one hive are not a two-headed bird in a cage, but just 2 birds in one cage. Which may or may not get along there.

The lounger hive also has a property that is valuable for professionals: since the expansion of bee colonies is directed mainly vertically, one lounger hive is suitable for wintering 2 or more families, which allows you to save weak families. There is no point in nursing them in a large hive; it will be necessary to give abundant feeding. But an overfed family in the spring will not be able to restore vitality and will wither away. Imagine that someone was lying all winter in bed on dietary nutrition, and in the spring it was launched into a felling or an obstacle course. In a small volume and with neighbors, the bee colony experiences weakness, like a soldier in a trench with a runny nose. The appearance and layout of a wintering hive-lounger for 4 families is shown in Fig.

Alpine

Roger Delon decided to create a hive that would allow bees to fully exploit the incredible honey potential of the alpine meadows, but this task is extremely difficult. Alpine honey plants bloom in groups of species during the season; bloom is volley, its peaks are high, sharp and short-lived. Blooming clumps of islands are located, often remote from each other for considerable distances. Daily temperature fluctuations in the alpine altitude zone are also extreme: in the mountains at night and in summer it is winter, and a little cloud came over the sun - deep autumn. For years, bees for a bribe also need a salvo, and they must wait up to several cold days without turning on their wintering instincts, i.e. A mountain hive should warm up quickly in the sun and keep warm well.

Delon the beekeeper came to the conclusion that, first, bees in such conditions need to ensure the possibility of the fastest development of the family. The second, that the most suitable type of hive for this should repeat the natural habitation most preferred by wild bees - a deck with a hollow. And in order to create conditions that will be good for bees, and honey and wax will go to us, Roger Delon, based on the knowledge about social insects obtained by that time (the middle of the last century), developed a very low wire frame capable of holding a foundation without supporting threads ( see fig.), and already under it - a hive of square-shaped buildings with a height of 108 mm, see fig. below.

Roger Delon made his hive-deck composite for ease of maintenance; the number of its buildings can be up to 12 or more. The roof of the Alpine hive is deaf, like the arch of a natural bee hollow. There is only one entrance, there are no ventilation holes in order to reduce heat loss. Ventilation is also like that of wild bees in a hollow: air enters through the notch, rises under the roof, cools down there, goes down and comes out again through the notch. Bees ventilate themselves by fluttering their wings. There are also no shops, separators, diaphragms, etc., which we need more than bees. Thus, although outwardly Roger Delon's alpine hive is similar to the multihull Langstroth-Root, the differences between them are fundamental.

The first tests of the new hive gave a result that Delon's colleagues did not believe at first, despite his impeccable reputation: the bees did not steal honey and did not go from family to family, even when there were 40-50 sq. m. melliferous lands. In the very immediate 1988, Roger Delon's hives yielded 20-22 kg of honey, and those located in the same area gave 2 kg each.

However, beekeeping in a Roger Delon hive in terms of complexity and requirements for the professionalism of a beekeeper can be compared with caring for a canary or budgie released in the spring into the garden. Labor costs for working with many small frames also increase 3-4 times compared to the Dadant hive. At the same time, on flat places in the burst flowering of melliferous plants climatic conditions are not so extreme, but even there the bees do not have time to take all the available nectar and pollen, and from the surplus of the bribe they begin to steal honey, instead of thoroughly exploring the surrounding melliferous areas. Therefore, we often offer for sale as alpine hives the hives of V. Khomich and Varre, modified for flat conditions, based on the same principles.

Khomich's hive differs from Roger Delon's hive in the increased body height of 220 mm, which reduces the number of frames with the same total area. The Varre hive has been redesigned for a custom wooden frame of reduced height and increased width, see drawings in fig. on right; it is even easier to confuse it with the Langstroth-Ruth hive. The honey harvest from these hives in bad years is less than from the prototype, but this is due to the lower productivity of honey plants. In the mountains, its significance takes on fantastic values ​​due to the transparency of the air, moderate temperature and high insolation.

Ozerov, etc.

From time to time, among beekeepers, interest flares up in the Ozerov and Lupanov hive under the frame increased to 500x500 mm. In the conditions of Central Russia with a long, but rather sluggish flowering of not very productive melliferous plants, according to the authors' plan, it was supposed to give the same effect as Roger Delon's hive in the mountains. But - it was smooth on paper. The 500x500 frame is far from optimal for the development of a productive bee colony (are there many dry warm hollows half a meter across?) And instead of increased marketability in the hives for large frames, there is the allocation of side families, the walking of bees and the theft of honey.

How to make hives

The assembly method for the hive frames is shown above. The assembly of the hive sections from the point of view of carpentry is somewhat complicated only by the need to select the folds at the top and bottom. The fold at the top can be selected both inside and outside, see fig. The outer folds provide a detachable connection of the sections when assembling the hive, and the hangers of the frames rest on the inner fold. If it is not possible to use a milling machine, the folds can be exactly selected with a special folding plane - the scherhebel. They collect hives on nails: a lot of self-tapping screws of various calibers are needed for an apiary, they will cost a lot, and they will not add strength to the hives.

The hangers in a poorly maintained hive can stick to the rebate, which is why enthusiasts are constantly proposing designs of rebate-free hangers. But in practice, it turns out that the side gaps in all of them "walk", which is why the frames are no longer glued with their shoulders, but with the sidewalls, which is much more serious. In general, the best non-rebated gimbal is proper, timely maintenance of the hive.

What are hives made of?

Traditionally, hives are made from seasoned non-resinous spruce, chamber or room dry, i.e. up to 8% humidity. In the air, then it will not completely damp, because from the inside, it is saturated with the fumes of bee bread, honey and the secretions of the bees themselves. They make frames from the same spruce, but best material for them linden. Linden wood is light, which makes the whole hive lighter, and very viscous, does not prick under nails.

MDF is similar in properties to linden, but, as far as is known, no one has yet tried to make frames from MDF. Beekeepers are conservative people, and for good reason. However, MDF is not chipboard or fiberboard at all, it exudes gaseous products ("gas") even less than linden. More precisely, it does not gas at all: it completely lacks synthetic binders. MDF is obtained by pressing wood pulp at an elevated temperature, as a result of which practically pure lignin remains. For the outflow of phenol-containing compounds, etc. MDF is not certified because That is unnecessary. In general, the MDF hive frame is perhaps the only thing a novice beekeeper can experiment with.

Plastic hives

Recently, hives from different types plastics. The Finnish styrofoam hive, see fig., Is quite popular due to its relatively low cost and immediate readiness for work: set, put frames, and you can inspire a family. Also, the undoubted advantage of expanded polystyrene hives is negligible heat loss, but with their other features it is worth and worth understanding in more detail.

The popularity of Finnish beehives has spawned numerous attempts at DIY styrofoam hives, but they are not the same thing. Polyfoam is the trade name for expanded polystyrene foam. The last phrase is not a tautology, i.e. not expressing the same thing in other words.

Expanded polystyrene as a raw material is sold by polystyrene granules saturated with dissolved gases. In the production of foam products, they are poured into a mold, which is heated to 80-90 degrees; in artisanal conditions - immersing the form in hot water. Gases are released, the granules swell, fill the mold tightly and stick together; on the surface and on the cut of the foam, its cellular structure is clearly visible.

Styrofoam is a very fragile material, and advice to make hives out of it, fastening the plates ... with self-tapping screws, it's not even funny. The styrofoam hive will shrink as you carry it, even before it is filled with honey. And it is not realistic to mold foam at home from granules: a form to which the foaming granules would not stick is expensive.

According to another method, the granules are foamed separately and the hot, viscous foaming mass is pressed (extruded) into a mold, this is the so-called. extruded polystyrene foam, EPS. EPS is much stronger than polystyrene and you can extrude hive sections from it. But - only at a suitably equipped enterprise.

However, this is not all. The general strength of EPS is higher than that of many types of wood, but the local strength (for scratching, cutting, pressing with something sharp) is much less. Therefore, if the hive is made of EPS, it is impossible to remove the stuck frame from it without damaging the hive itself. Likewise, it is impossible mechanical cleaning Styrofoam hives.

And that is not all. EPPS, like its more durable and expensive substitutes (polyurethane, polycarbonate), is not absolutely resistant to ultraviolet radiation, temperature fluctuations, atmospheric precipitation. A protective paint / film increases its durability, but claims about a service life of ... 30 years are also not funny from the point of view of the most reckless marketing.

And that's not all. Yes, plastics do not absorb condensation, it flows down in a plastic hive, from where it is discharged. But in a populated hive it is always warmer than outside. In a wooden hive, the condensate is immediately absorbed without evaporating back, and diffuses outward - the dew point always shifts to the colder (more precisely, less warm) side. Therefore, the microclimate in a wooden hive at the same external conditions more favorable for bees than in plastic ones, especially since in the latter there is no outflow of air through the walls.

And this is still not all. Almost any plastic, especially EPSP, when heated and under the influence of the slightest admixtures of volatile organic substances in the air, gasses, which is not useful for either bees, honey or its consumers. Experiments with heaters have shown that EPSP slabs, tightly walled up in building construction, over several years they seriously decrease in volume, emitting droplets of styrene - a viscous yellowish liquid with a specific odor. In the atmosphere of the hive, there is more than enough volatile organic matter.

Note: hence another argument against plastic hives - disinfection / pest control, for example. against mites, and the treatment of bees in them by spraying drugs is impossible, and medicinal syrups are very problematic.

Finns are not worried about these circumstances: in the local climatic and economic conditions, disposable hives for disposable bee colonies pay off very well. Moreover, a considerable, if not the main share of the income of Finnish beekeepers comes from the sale of wax for technical purposes. Which the Finns have, by the way, of excellent quality. But beekeepers specializing in the production of food and medicinal products of beekeeping subject the hives made of expanded polystyrene to harsh and well-founded criticism, see, for example. track. video about Shapkin's hive.

Video: about Shapkin's hive

About warming hives

From the above it follows that it is also undesirable to insulate plywood hives with foam, and this is true. For insulation of hives, it is better to use foam rubber - expanded polyethylene (PE). PE does not exactly gas, because lends itself to chemical attack only by strong acids and alkalis, it is resistant to outdoors... Think about the problems with plastic waste.

Penolon is produced in sheets up to 12 mm thick, therefore, to insulate the hive, you will need several layers of it. It is not necessary to insulate the hive over the entire surface, turning it into a thermos: for normal wintering of the bee colony, some heat exchange of the hive space with the environment is necessary. The scheme and method of warming a plywood hive are shown in Fig.

When choosing foam for insulating a hive, you need to request a specification or a certificate for it from the manufacturer and make sure that the base is high-pressure PE, suitable for the manufacture of parts, incl. medical equipment. In the production of low-pressure PE (otherwise - catalytic PE), a cadmium catalyst is used. Its traces in the finished product are negligible, but cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic carcinogens of the highest degree of danger with a cumulative effect. In the past, low-pressure PE household utensils were labeled "For non-food products and substances", but now "alternative" suppliers hide the mention of how to get their PE away in paper.

Finally

So where should you start with? Completely without experience, or, if the apiary is intended primarily for pollination, from a beehive-lounger. In the latter case, it is possible to use a Ukrainian lounger without a store, and then it is better to entrust beekeeping and honey collection to a visiting beekeeper.