Japanese hive - the simplest home for bees
One of the simplest designs for keeping bees is a Japanese hive. It's compact, simple to manufacture and practical construction. It consists of several stacked buildings with a side 300 mm.
The height of each section may vary from 100 to 200 mm. In the Japanese hive for the passage of bees provided only one flight, which is located at the bottom of the lower case. The bottom and the roof are made the most primitive. The material for construction is wood.
The main feature of the building is that, that this model of the beehive does not use the usual framework for us. Honeycombs are the only design, filling the hive from top to bottom.
The weight of one complete body is 12 — 15 kg, at height 150 mm, and they may be up to the end of the season 8. How then all this stays inside and does not fall? Very easy. Each hive body is provided in the center with a cross made of wooden rails or strong metal wire. They house the entire family's harvest.
Attracts in Japanese hives, that beekeeping in them does not require special attention from the beekeeper. The technology of keeping provides a minimum of interference in the life of insects. And marketable products, ie honey, it turns out the same, as if bees were stockpiling in the wild.
It is also interesting for many to try and test new methods of farming in their own conditions, choose the best option for yourself.
Drawings of the Japanese beehive are simple, and everyone can make such housing for bees. And the experiment on non-traditional beekeeping for us can be not only interesting, but also profitable.
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Dadan's hive - we build with our own hands according to the drawings
Beekeeping technology in Japanese hives
It is very easy to keep bees in such houses. Family development is top-down. The upper part of the hive is always filled with honey, and the insect colony gradually transitions to enclosures during the season, located below. In the same way, the community comes in the wild, therefore, such a housing device for bees is most desirable.
Apiculture: subtleties of business
That striped workers began to collect honey, in the spring to each beehive add several cases at once, So, so that the bees were on top, and free space remained at the bottom. Now they will begin to actively rebuild the nest and fly for nectar. With abundant flowering honeysuckle and long bribes, the number of floors in the structure will grow rapidly.
The beekeeper will only have to deliver the necessary fragments, if the whole structure was not delivered at the beginning of the season. In a Japanese hive, bees control and collect honey themselves, all work is carried out without human intervention.
Until the end of summer, when the honey collection is over, bees prepare for winter. This is not difficult to do either. For wintering insects it is necessary to leave a stock of forage in height 400 mm. Everything else, located in the upper buildings, belongs to the beekeeper. To remove structural elements and separate monolithic cells, use a metal string, which cut off the fragments parallel to the joints of the housings.
The small living space of the Japanese hive with the rapid development of families can provoke swarming. To prevent this, the bees should be left with enough free space for development or the colony should be divided into two parts, giving a new home to half the insects. The method of division can also quickly expand the apiary.
Honey is not pumped out in Japanese hives, as is customary in frame constructions. Sealed cells are completely removed from the housings, pulling them out with a knife or other sharp object. Then they are put in bags and squeezed under pressure. It turns out thick correct real honey and wax, which can also be used at its discretion.
How to make a Japanese hive
Quality dry wood will be needed for production, nails or screws, thin rails or metal wire. Installation of the structure is very simple and does not take much time. For convenience, you can refer to the drawings, and the assembly process itself is described below.
Equipment and inventory for beekeeping
- You will need four identical boards to make one case 300 mm in length.
- The height is determined by the selected project, and is from 100 to 200 mm.
- Workpiece width, and hence the walls of the future hive, depends on the thickness of the boards.
- The edges around the perimeter should be smooth and free of chips.
- Details are cut rectangular with an angle 90.
- A hole for rails or wire is drilled in the center of each board.
Connecting elements the case occurs in the end face by means of nails or self-tapping screws. The crossbars are slipped through the places prepared for them, the excess is cut off on the outer edge. Other buildings are assembled in a similar way. If wire is used as supporting elements, its edges are securely fixed on the outside, bending the edge of the corner.
For ease of use on the outer perimeter of the side walls of the Japanese hive screw the handles. When installing, they make the transfer and placement of buildings much easier. The simplest option is bars, carved from wood, which are then fixed with screws.
Under the roof on top of the last building a separate grille is installed of thin wooden slats, but it does not prevent insects from moving freely and moving from one row of cells to another.
The roof is assembled from boards. Beat according to the size of the strapping body and nail several slats to it without gaps. On top of the structure is covered with a layer of waterproofing material.
The bottom is made simple, but removable. Its front part remains open and forms a fly for bees. Details of cases turn out identical and interchangeable. In Japan, it is not customary to use hive stands, there the structures are placed directly on the ground. But for a comfortable family life, prevention of diseases and longevity of bee housing, it is still better to do.
We prepare bees for winter