Resources for Bee Centered hive designs
My purpose is to re-sacralise the bee. I dream for bees to be living in little temple of workshop that are lovingly made and adorned. Here is my list of resources for some wonderful Australian made hives. I have no personal gain or profit from this. This list is purely because id like to make natural bee tending more accessible and available to backyard bee tenders within Australia. By purchasing one of these hive you are supporting a small scale carpenter. Please contact them directly.
Pyramid Hexagon Hive
This beautiful hive is not just a practical way to house bees, it will become a living piece of art that would make an incredible feature in any outdoor setting.
Thanks to the help of a talented local carpenter, this hive design is now available in Australia. It is hand crafted in the small town of Eskdale, Victoria.
The hexagon hive encourages the use of natural bee-centric principles.
PROS and features of a hexagon hive
- recycled quality hardwood
- small frames means no heavy lifting, they contain no wire or foundation which means that no extracting equipment is needed honey harvest. When it is appropriate to harvest, simply take a knife and cut the honey comb out into a small bucket, you may either hand press, strain or enjoy blocks of raw honeycomb whole.
- This design allows for a small amount of free stlye architecture for the bees on the side edges of the hive. Bees by nature do not design in straight lines, so here we leave some space for them to have creative freedom. This this in mind, this (freestyle area) is a small enough that the comb and be thoroughly accessed to checked for pests and disease.
- 2 x insulated viewing windows with handles
- 2 x small front side openings in different locations similar (wild hives usually have small entrances in multiple locations)
- second box box easily locks into place
* Third box, queen excluder and quilt box is available to fit this hive, they are separate added costs.
Please allow 1-3 months from the time you place your order until time of completion. Dave has been overwhelmed with the incredible response for his work and is doing his best to keep up with the orders. He will only be able to make a limited number or these hives (20 yearly). It takes Dave 50 hours to complete just one hive.
Check out EMBODYBEE YouTube for a more detailed walk through of the
*I recieve no personal profit from this sale, I want to encourage, give resources and support talented carpenters to do what they love. Please contact Dave directly for any more information or enquiry.
Warre Hive
Warre hive built by local bee steward and carpenter.
Contains :
4 radiata pine hive boxes
32 timber frames
1 quilt box
1 gabled roof
1 beetletra base with hive beetle trap and landing strip
Warrè hive mimic a perpetual tree hollow and are one of the most bee-centric hive designs. Allowing bees to be bees and have strong genetics and resilience.
These hives need to be painted or weathered with a hive rub, otherwise they will only last a few seasons if that, while exposed to all the seasons.
Emily also makes divine bee smoker blends and has some hive accessories available through her website.
*I recieve no personal profit from this sale, I want to encourage, give resources and support talented carpenters to do what they love. Please contact Emily directly for any more information or enquiry. Hive to be picked up from the Southern Highlands NSW or organise your delivery.
Kenyan top bar hive
The Kenyan Top Bar Hive Australian style
The ‘Beekeeping Naturally’ Kenyan Top Bar Hive is a high quality product designed and built for the Australian climate by people who care about the environment and who are passionate about caring for bees. Our hives are made from Cypress Macrocarpa.
Cypress Macrocarpa or Victorian Cypress is a reclaimed timber mostly reused from fallen farm tress & wind barriers. The 26mm walls of the hive offer the Bees better thermal insulation allowing them to easily maintain a constant temperature in Australia’s extreme climate.
The Kenyan Top Bar Hive has no frames, therefore offers pests like the small hive beetle little space to hide. Entrance holes strategically placed in the centre of the hive are flush with the floor to allow cleaner bees to do their job efficiently. Lightweight top bars are accurately cut and waxed to discourage cross-combing, eliminate draughts and deter pests and parasites from entering the hive from between the bars. A lightweight and attractive gable roof protects the hive from sun and rain.
While the interior of the hive is totally natural, the exterior is oiled with a mixture of nut and seed oils. In the midst of the highly industrialised and heavily interventional world of honey production, there is an alternative.
The “Beekeeping Naturally” Kenyan top bar hive is thoughtfully designed and meticulously handcrafted to optimize the health of the honey bees and at the same time allowing the backyard natural bee keeper easy, low fuss maintenance of these amazing creatures. Enjoy!!
*I recieve no personal profit from this sale, I want to encourage, give resources and support talented carpenters to do what they love. Please contact Adrian from Beekeeping Naturally directly for any more information or enquiry.