Has anyone tried a Hex hive?

[Candiebears]

http://organicbeekeeping101.com/hexhive.html

They're pretty and all... but are the practical? Has anyone here used/tried one?

[flyboy]

1 Expensive
2 made of cedar which generally PPL avoid as cedar repels/kills insects
3 then you basically have to buy their gear.... unless you like to build like me and you just build your own.
4 foundationless so there will be less honey

It does look cool and does make sense from the bees viewpoint, as no tree is square.

[flyboy]

One thing I like is that there is an entrance at each box rather than one @ the bottom.

[Michael Bush]

Cedar works fine.  The bees will do fine.  The beekeeper will be frustrated because you have three different size frames...

[flyboy]

Thanks Michael. I would actually like to try cedar as it is lightweight and pine is hard to get locally.

[CaseyT]

I can't believe that bees know, or care, about the shape of the boxes - whether square, hexagonal, or tree hollow shape.  Bees often choose to nest inside building walls that are all square, as we well know.

[KeyLargoBees]

This is sort of like all of the cosmetic pet products out there....dogs and cats don't care if their collars and leashes match but people buy designer stuff anyway...its marketing to the owner and of course if you throw the word organic into the mix its okay to charge more because people KNOW its got to be good for the bees and environment (just a tad bit of sarcasm there) but I wont get up on my soapbox about how easily people can be manipulated by "organic" marketing ;-)

 But hey if you have the spare money to spend..... they are very pretty and will make an interesting conversation piece in the garden.

[Candiebears]

I was thinking more along the lines of finding/creating a plan and building it myself. No time soon. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with one! Thanks everyone!

[flyboy]

It would be pretty easy to design. All you want is to make the width compatible with a regular frame and the length you would just eyeball to be slightly wider than the 5 frames.

Then the rest would be simple geometry. I would try one for fun to see what I could see.

I would use pocket holes/screws/ala Kreg to hold it all together, like I do with all my frames.

Another choice would be to use splines cut horizontally to give it strength. Easy on the tablesaw with some sort of jig. Or maybe biscuits.

Looks like they use staples to hold it together.

It would be lighter as there would bee less frames.

If you want good info on how to build hives get the book Building Beehives for Dummies" http://www.dummies.com/how-to/home-garden/Hobby-Farming/Beekeeping/Building-a-Beehive.html

[gdog]

Look up Beez4life on youtube, Jeff out of Clinton Wi. has made them and the design he has is simple and makes sense, Ive tried some of his ideas and they work and they make sense. Im just saying you have to try for yourself and decide.

[Rurification]

Just popped over to see the pic.  Wow, is that pretty.   I can see why you want one....[me, too!]   

The only problem I would have is that all the woodware would be dedicated - no swapping out with other hives, and no grabbing something from the pile to put on if you need it.   I have really loved being able to swap out parts from the pile and know that they'll all fit just fine.   [Really, really wish I'd skipped the beginner hive set and just stayed with all mediums.] 

[mikecva]

Looks nice but with only 5 frames to get honey from and having to pick up a box and ~ 3 'tacked' in frames, that might be more then my old back can take. Any idea how big the frames are: full, mediums or what? Are the 5 removable frames standard frames?  -Mike

[Hops Brewster]

It seems to me the same prinicples of air-gap and paper insulation could be adapted to Lang hives.  I already use the hole-in-top-box principle, closing lwer holes with wine corks.  I guess foam bottom boards are around, too.
The hex shape is sort of purty tho.  But not purty enough to make me change my equipment.   

[OldMech]

   Why would Foundation-less mean less honey??  Kinda stumped on that one.. usually that means MORE honey in my own experience...  But as Mr. Bush stated.. it would be frustrating not to be able to move combs about as needed....   I have used cedar in many different applications and have not noticed any ill effects. I use cedar chips in my smoker as well..    Otherwise, yeah, pritty!

[Eric Bosworth]

   Why would Foundation-less mean less honey??  Kinda stumped on that one.. usually that means MORE honey in my own experience...  But as Mr. Bush stated.. it would be frustrating not to be able to move combs about as needed....   I have used cedar in many different applications and have not noticed any ill effects. I use cedar chips in my smoker as well..    Otherwise, yeah, pritty!

Good question. I am wondering the same thing. I got nucs this spring that had plastic frames. They seem to have little interest in drawing out the plastic. But the foundation less frames they are building comb like crazy.

[Michael Bush]

"...swarms hived in June would fill their hives full of nice straight worker combs, and the combs would be filled with brood during the first two weeks after hiving...nor would a swarm having a full set of combs given them, or the frames filled with foundation, be a whit better off at the end of two weeks. Mr. P.H. Elwood has noted the same thing; thus proving that the theory that it takes 20 pounds of honey to produce one pound of comb, will not hold good in cases where bees desire comb..."--G.M. Doolittle ABJ Vol 20 No 18 pg 276

"...yet foundation is far from being a success, when compared with natural worker comb. In the first place it hs sagged badly, unless built out in cool weather, and even in cool weather it sags so that the cells in the upper part of the combs measures 4 1/2 cells to the inch (5.6mm), while natural comb for brood purposes measures 5 (5.08mm); also some of this built out in cool weather, when filled with honey and sealed over, sagged so as to tear the cells apart and set the honey to running, with the mercury at 90 degrees in the shade, while not a natural comb stirred a particle. In the second place, it requires twice as much fussing and looking after, to get it built out into half-way decent combs, that it takes to get natural comb built; and thirdly, it costs more than natural comb, where you have to pay more than 50 cents per lb... I have said nothing of its use for comb honey, as I have discarded it from the boxes altogether, for the reasons that when honey is plenty and the bees are secreting wax, they simply add their wax to the foundation, never touching it to draw it out a particle. By scraping the wax off we have the foundation just as it was given to them, and nobody likes to eat such stuff. My advice would be, discard it from the boxes altogether"--G.M. Doolittle, ABJ Vol 15 No 1 pg 11

[OldMech]

Excellent quotes!!

   They dont hold up well when it comes to plastic, but the fact is bees like natural a lot better than plastic if given the choice...  I firmly stand with CABoW.  (Cheap Arse Beekeepers of the World) in not paying for foundation.   

[Eric Bosworth]

I have only seen one good reason for plastic. When grafting it is easier to see the contrast of a white spec on black plastic. Other than that I find it obnoxious. I only have some because it came in nucs... And some of what I have is yellow so even the grafting use isn't valid.

[Eric Bosworth]

I do like the CABoW acronym. Maybe I'm lucky but I have never had the bees screw up comb without foundation.

As a computer geek I have lots to remember. PEBCaK is one I use a lot... Problem Existing Between Chair and Keyboard.