Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Swedish beehives  (Read 4699 times)

Offline 2-Wheeler

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 202
    • http://www.beesandblooms.org
Swedish beehives
« on: June 24, 2008, 11:50:39 pm »
On a recent trip to Sweden, I saw these beehives on my cousin's farm. The design looks a bit different from the typical ones in the USA.



-David Broberg   CWOP#: CW5670 / CoCoRaHS #CO-BO-218
Blog: http://beesandblooms.blogspot.com/
My Weather: http://www.leyner.org/
My Flickr Album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbroberg/

Offline MrILoveTheAnts

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 716
  • Gender: Male
    • Biodiverse Gardens
Re: Swedish beehives
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2008, 12:01:40 am »
I didn't know IKEA designed beehives.

Offline Frantz

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 504
  • Gender: Male
Re: Swedish beehives
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2008, 12:52:22 am »
So is that a huge brood box with a queen excluder and then supers on top?? Just guessing so tell us what they all are. Did you get a chance to look inside? Don't tell us you went all the way to Sweden and did not look inside....
F
Don't be yourself, "Be the man you would want your daughters to marry!!"

Offline qa33010

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 949
  • Gender: Male
Re: Swedish beehives
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2008, 02:45:48 am »
   Are those tops vented or were they designed to fit both size boxes?  Are those the brood boxes that all you have to do is lift it up and you can inspect without actually lifting the supers but lean up on the edge?
Everyone said it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle replied, "I won't be one to say it is so, until I give it a try."  So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin.  If he had a worry he hid it and he started to sing as he tackled that thing that couldn't be done, and he did it.  (unknown)

Offline 2-Wheeler

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 202
    • http://www.beesandblooms.org
Re: Swedish beehives
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2008, 03:21:50 pm »
I wish I could have looked inside. But these were placed on my cousin's farm by another beekeeper who wasn't around to ask permission. Not to mention the fact that I didn't bring my tools and veil along on this vacation! 

It looks to me like the bottom (brood) boxes are extra insulated and designed to use supers very similar to the ones we use here. The top cover and the bottom boards look home-made, but I'm not sure. Does anyone else have hives like these?

I really think IKEA may have an opportunity here. The boxes could come flat-packed in cardboard and screw together with one allen wrench. You could have your choice of finish: light pine, dark green or traditional Swedish rust-red.  It sounds very close to everything else they already sell!   :-D

BTW, I was also in Finland on that trip and looked at a lot of blooming flowers, but never saw a single bee! (Granted, I was in the city of Helsinki)
-David Broberg   CWOP#: CW5670 / CoCoRaHS #CO-BO-218
Blog: http://beesandblooms.blogspot.com/
My Weather: http://www.leyner.org/
My Flickr Album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbroberg/

Offline Frantz

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 504
  • Gender: Male
Re: Swedish beehives
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2008, 03:42:33 pm »
Very cool, thanks for the commentary. I am thinking of building some extra insulated brood boxes similar to that. Here in the mountains of Utah we could use them. I was also in Russia lately, and I agree about the flowers and no bees. I thought that was interesting. I was in St Petersburg just across the pond there from Finland. Moscow had bees but I did not see anything in the north...
F
Don't be yourself, "Be the man you would want your daughters to marry!!"