Due to popular demand ALL hives are delivered FULLY assembled unless requested in kit form

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What is included in my kit?

The kit parts list can be viewed on the SHOP page. 

The kit includes: 1 hive with lid, inner cover blanket, texturing material, 3 following boards/dividers, 4 entrance tubes and 8 walkway entrance blocks.

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The kit does not include frames/foundations, queen excluders, forest floor material or a stand but, we have included cut lists for our preferred stands that you can utilize.

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While we have provided safety edges on exposed portions of the hive once assembled, during the assembly there are sharp, exposed metal edges which could cause a serious injury, therefore we recommend the use of a pair of garden or work gloves, a long sleeved shirt and safety glasses.

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What does the empty hive weigh?

Fully assembled with the lid on, the hive weighs approximately 44 lbs

Note:  The frames/foundation and forest floor material will add several more pounds to your setup when bee ready.

 

Additionally, insulation with a vented top creates even more problems for bees: 

Without the top vent, the air would be hot and humid, good for bees. With the top vent, the lower parts of the hive are cold and the top parts are hot and have very low humidity, not good for bees.

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Do honeybees prefer non-ventilated hives?

(Please read the science page.)  A sealed, insulated hive provides a bee-friendly environment they can readily control and is very similar to a tree trunk, the honeybee’s natural home.

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How does temperature control equal bee health?

In the RiteHive™ the bees are able to create and maintain their preferred living conditions.  Inside our R 10+ insulated hive, the bees maintain an internal temperature around 8c (46f) during the winter and 35 - 36C with brood (96-97F) in summer. The bees can move about freely in the winter and therefore, are unlikely to starve with food in the box.  The bees are able to optimize brood temperature and humidity to promote the healthiest brood and impair the ability of the Varroa to reproduce in our RiteHive™s.

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How does the colony clear its dead during the winter time?

The forest floor in the RiteHive™ plays a role in maintaining the hygienic conditions within the hive.  If a dying bee does not leave the hive on her own, the housekeeper bees will remove her.  However, in the event of a prolonged period of cold weather where the bees are unable to leave the hive, the forest floor inhabitants will begin the process of recycling the bodies into the floor material. 

We believe the excessive winter die-offs we see in standard beekeeping equipment are largely the result of temperature damage rather than natural attrition. The RiteHive™s’ insulated body stabilizes internal hive temperatures at the level that the bees dictate.  This greatly reduces the number of bees dying in a short time frame and allows the bees time to clear the normally occurring dead on their own.  However, routine monitoring of the entrances for blockage is necessary.

 

Can I use my old equipment?

Yes, RiteHive™ is compatible with the commonly used, Langstroth supers and frames/foundations.  We have chosen not to include frames/foundations due to the wide variety of options available for the specific requirements of each beekeeper.

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Can I use a honey super on my RiteHive™?

Yes, the RiteHive™ is fully compatible with Langstroth style equipment.  The insulated inner blanket and lid can be placed over 2 supers which will sit on the second rail in the top board on top of 2 queen excluders.  This will preserve the necessary bee space between the upper and lower frames.  However, given the known harm caused by upper ventilation, please keep the boxes as well sealed as possible to allow your bees to benefit from the RiteHive's innovations. 

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Is the Forest Floor important to the hive overall?

We are aiming to provide an environment as close as possible to a natural hive in a tree, including the native flora and fauna which would be found there.  Thousands of organisms in the forest floor work to keep the hive 'clean' and ecologically balanced.  The forest floor assists with the recycling of dead bees/larva, dropped propolis, pollen, wax etc.   It also aids in insulating the floor and acting as a moisture equalizer, like a damp sponge, releasing moisture if the hive dries and absorbing humidity if things become too damp, further reducing the workload on those house bees.

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Do you completely remove the dirt from the bottom of the hive yearly or just clean out some and add more?

We never change the forest floor, it is a living ecosystem and is self maintaining.  The only reason we can imagine discarding the material would be due to a disease event, requiring a total disinfection process.  In that case, cleaning and flame sterilizing the steel hull would be necessary, then obtaining fresh the forest floor material and establishing a new colony in the hive.  Even in the event of a dead, non-diseased, colony, we simply remove most of the bodies from the hive and carry on with new bees.    The forest floor will process the dead remaining or the new bees will clean the space to their own satisfaction!  Just as they would in their wild, tree home.

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Why treat the inner sides of the hive with the supplied walnut grit?

A rough interior promotes propolis deposits which are anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal and are a component of the colony’s external immune system.  In their tree home bees would heavily propolize the rough interior, creating an air and moisture proof surface promoting the colony's overall health.

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Why is the Top Board wood?

This is a metal hive, and amongst its other duties, the top board functions as a thermal break between the inner and outer walls.  This break in the continuity of the steel prevents the external temperature from being readily transferred to the internal walls or vice versa, as steel is an excellent conductor.

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Should I remove the wax pillars the bees have built on top of my frames?

No.  The bees have built these to lift the insulated blanket until it encounters the underside of the lid insulation. They are the supporting towers of the "bee space" and should not be removed.  They also allow you to gently replace the blanket and lid without harming bees, if you give them a little time to get off the high points.

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What does the Insulated Blanket do?

It allows the bees to seal the hive tightly to the top board, preventing warm, humid air from escaping.  Bee-controlled ventilation is essential, (see previous questions about insulation.)  The pillars hold the insulated blanket above the top of the frames and create the required Bee Space.   Additionally, it can be used to keep the hive calm during inspections and greatly simplifies closing the hive after inspections with a minimum of ‘squished’ bees.

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How do the walkways help the bees defend against predators?

Wasps follow the smell to the hive and find themselves at the bottom of entrance tubes under the hive.  Here they are obstructed by the perforated walkway and the odour is very weak at the walkway entrances. 

Something we have noted is that the queen places a brood nest over each tube, this has resulted in several unanticipated benefits: Firstly, there are always active bees at the entrance since the brood is there, as opposed to traditional hives where the guard bees tend to return to the body of the colony as the temperature drops, leaving the colony exposed to more cold tolerant wasps and hornets.  Additionally, making splits becomes almost effortless as the brood is naturally divided into potential splits, with stores already placed appropriately around each brood nest area.

Please resist the urge to 'arrange or organize' the colony, they know what they are doing!

 

One observation made, while under a hive in a cloud of wasps, was that when a wasp follows a bee into the walkway, it soon finds a gang of energetic guard bees surrounding it.

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Why walkways why not a simple hole?

With typical side openings, the guard bees are exposed to the elements where the faster-moving, more cold-tolerant, wasps can readily attack them.  Also, the colony is exposed to wind and rain entering the hive.

Over this summer, I have been astonished by watching a guard bee come down the walkway and witness the prudent wasp take an “exit stage right” approach to its survival.  We have noticed a reduction in wasp interest in our hives, probably due to the lack of reward for their efforts.  Too much pain and no gain.

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How thick is the insulation in a RiteHive™?

The 2-inch-thick insulation gives the hive a R-10 rating.  That’s twice that of double-pane windows. 

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How do I feed my bees in the RiteHive™?

In-hive frame feeders are very easy to use and access in the RiteHive™ by placing them at the ends of the hive.  Remove the lid and carefully peel back the inner blanket to expose the feeder tubes, pour in the feed and close the hive up again.  In the past we have used feeder jars on the forest floor, adjacent to the colony, used patties and even supered and fed with buckets/jars in super above a standard inner cover!  Luckily, RiteHive™ bees require far less feeding, but it can be easily accomplished using the same general methods as in other hives.

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Is dry sugar a suitable emergency food for bees in a RiteHive™?

No, a starving colony will have a very low humidity level compared to an uninsulated hive and the bees will be unable to utilize the dry sugar.  Moistened sugar, fondant or even spraying the bees with a light syrup can serve in an emergency.

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Can I harvest pollen from my RiteHive™?

A small amount of pollen is dropped naturally as the bees move down the walkways.  Should you wish to collect it, a screen tray can be constructed below the walkways, but please do not use a solid collection box, as it would impair airflow to the hive and potentially direct predators to the walkway entrances.

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I am a new beekeeper, now what?

While we believe the RiteHive™ will be a huge asset to any beekeeper, we want to be clear that a colony of bees is livestock.  And as such, it is deserving of thoughtful care and skillful management. It is hoped that anyone wishing to become a beekeeper will first learn about what is involved by taking a course, joining a local beekeeping group and finding a local beekeeper to mentor them.  Alternately, offer to help a local beekeeper, hands-on experience cannot be replaced by a book or video!

For a free, online, beginner beekeeper course:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/animals-and-crops/animal-production/bees/bee-courses

-Honeybees are livestock, requiring care and attention throughout the seasons.

-Beekeeping will cost more, is more work, will take more time and requires more knowledge than you think.

-80 to 90% of all new beekeepers give up within two years, after heartbreaking losses which can harm other local bees/beekeepers.

-It takes several years of hands-on beekeeping to start to know what you're looking at!

The RiteHive™ gives you and your bees a fighting chance and the rewards are amazing!

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What about other treatments and supplements?

We use DFM and Nozevit as part of our colony care.  We now find that Nosema is our most challenging issue rather than Varroa.

Our usual routine supplement/preventative/treatment schedule looks something like this:

At the first opportunity to open for a brief inspection to verify stores and brood, each colony gets a treatment of DFM as a gut probiotic.  If there is any concern about Nosema a treatment with Nozevit is started instead and followed with the DFM.

Once we are into spring buildup and able to perform mite checks monthly, thymol treatments are used as needed with good records maintained to eliminate any colonies with mites from our breeding colony selections.

In August we check that all the colonies have sufficient stores or feed as required, providing DFM at the same time.

In August/September, we watch carefully for sudden influxes of honey stores, as it is the result of robbing in our location, as there is no late flow here and is frequently accompanied by many varroa.

In October, each colony gets a Thymol treatment and a final dose of DFM before winter.

About 50% of our colonies only get a Thymol treatment in spring and fall as a preventative while the others require supplemental treatments through the season.

The cost of a homemade Thymol pad is less than $1, a dose of DFM is about the same and Nozevit is about $.50 for a 2 dose treatment.  On average our treatments and supplements cost between $5 - $10/colony/year.

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How does the RiteHive™ make beekeeping easier?

In a horizontal hive, the bees build laterally rather than vertically which involves the stacking of boxes.  While we acknowledge bees seem to prefer vertical accommodations, they do manage a well-insulated space of any configuration better than a stack of thin-walled boxes.  By eliminating the layering of boxes, inspections are a breeze even for children, physically challenged/injured or seniors.   Routine beekeeping tasks, such as making splits and harvesting honey do not require handling more than one frame at a time.  This ease of use translates to more enjoyable interactions with our bees and ensures we don't put off the necessary care, dreading having to lift multiple, heavy boxes just to complete an inspection.

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How many frames does the RiteHive™ hold?

The hive holds 23 deep frames or 22 if the following board is used between 2 colonies.  This is a larger volume than would be found in a tree hive but provides the extra space for harvestable, surplus honey.  It can house one to four colonies, depending on your needs and beekeeping goals.

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How does the RiteHive™ improve Honey harvests?

Winter resource consumption in an insulated RiteHive™ is less than 1/4 of that required in traditional Langstroth equipment.  A commonly recommended weight of stores for overwintering in our area is 60 lbs per 10 frame colony in a Langstroth hive.

Our average, 11 deep frame colonies use about 10 -12 lbs of honey to overwinter, (5 frame NuCs don’t finish one frame).  That could equate to 45 lbs of HARVEST-ABLE honey @ $15 - 20/lb = $675 - $900 for one colony in one year!  Or at least the saving of the equivalent weight of sugar/syrup (and the resulting nutritional deficiencies.)  There is also some evidence that bees in insulated hives are more productive.  See the Science page.

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Why is the RiteHive made of steel?

Over the last 7 or so years we worked with insulated, wooden structures.  While we had very good results with our bees, the hives invariably had weaknesses and ultimately failed.  The high humidity within the structures promoted warping and unequal swelling of the hive frame, continually creating gaps, causing air leaks and defeating the goal of imitating the natural tree home.  Additionally, the hives became very heavy in our efforts to keep the hives straight and level.  We even created units out of insulated plastic, which also work well for the bees, but lack durability.  When we met a local metal working wizard, we made the jump to steel, now, we and our bees are happy we did! 

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How does the RiteHive™ compare to Langstroth equipment in price?

Comparing is a bit like oranges and apples but, a reasonable comparison might be: 

A RiteHive™ which holds 23 deep frames is roughly equivalent to 1 deep brood box with 2 mediums used as honey supers.  This configuration is commonly used in our area.  Therefore:

1 RiteHive™ = $749.00

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Langstroth (prices from various local suppliers)

$30.  Screened bottom board

$37.  Deep box

$35.  Medium super

$35.  Medium super

$29.  Inner cover

$8.    6 metal frame rests

$49.  Quilt box

$44.  Hive cover

$88.  Hivehugger insulation (closest I could find to replicate R 10 or better)

$3.     Entrance reducer

$8.     Mouse guard

$30.  Robbing screen

Total $396

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In both cases, you still need the frames/foundation of your choice. 

Painting is optional with the RiteHive™ but not for woodenware, which requires regular maintenance.

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Now the benefits of the RiteHive™ shine!  

• Decreased mite treatment expenses

• Increased honey available to sell or use (15 lbs vs 60 lbs used for winter stores means 45 lbs of honey to use or sell @ $10 -$20/lb = $450 - 900 per year!)

• Decreased mortality (one colony saved equals the difference between standard equipment and the RiteHive). Our winter mortality is 10% vs the national rate of 40% or more.   

• Or overwinter and sell a couple of NuCs each spring.  Currently, a NuC sells for $350 to $420 for an overwintered NuC in our area.

Now, add ease of use and durability to equal happy bees and beekeepers!

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