Beehaus Review – Season One
The Beehaus has been an object of desire for me since I started beekeeping and the Omlet team kindly provided me with one to experience and review. I set it up and populated it with honey bees in May 2018.
Here is my first season review – and I would be really interested to hear the experiences of other beekeeper’s who use the Beehaus.
Summary
The bees have thrived … and importantly, the ergonomic height and double brood box (allowing easy combining of colonies and artificial swarming) has meant there is almost no heavy lifting and shifting and no pressure on my back. This has to be one of the key benefits of this hive.
Overall
- The bees have done very well in this hive. They produced honey, they are strong in numbers and they are healthy. Obviously I could say the same for my wooden 14×12 hives but the point is the bees have thrived in the Beehaus, as they would in a cedar or poly hive
- The high stand, thick insulation and entrance that helps defend against wasps has given me confidence that they are protected and have a good home
- The double brood box allowed me to:
- Easily unite two colonies without the lifting and shifting boxes of bees
- Give the bees extra space to put further honey stores
- Be confident that I can readily perform an artificial swarm next year
- The thick insulation should further help see them through the winter
- The high stand and ease of combining hives and artificially swarming takes the pressure off beekeeper’s back and is excellent ergonomically
The Frustrations
- The cover boards slide around and it is a challenge to make sure they are bee tight. I’m getting better at this and always make sure it is bee tight … but I would have thought they could have been designed to simply slot into place
- Where the grey panel meets the green panel, my Beehaus has a large gap. I have had to tape this up (see photos below)
I look forward to continuing my beekeeping with the Beehaus. My back particularly appreciates working with this hive.
Reader Feedback
I would be really interested in the experience of other beekeeper’s who use the Beehaus.
Read More
- My original Beehaus review
- Beehaus Website (20% discount as I write this post)
- I also have an active page where people are looking to buy and sell their Beehaus: Beehaus For Sale. This is free to use, but I sometimes take a few days to approve adverts and replies.
- I keep notes of my beeking in My Apiary
Video Of Beehaus In Action
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Hi roger I’m 19 living in Bristol and I am interested in beekeeping and keeping my own would you recommend the beehaus as a first hive I am only looking to have one beehaus in my garden. Thank you
Hi Thomas. Look at all the options and work out what is best for you. I can’t recommend as everyone has a different situation.
Hi I live in Kent and have had my bees in a Beehaus for one whole year now. One significant problem, when I tried to do a ‘split’ in the spring creating two colonies, the bees were able to walk up and down from one end to the other and dispatched the queen. I have bought a new centre divider without improvement and have tried various ways of making it bee proof without success. Any suggestion?