Omlet Beehaus

Last Saturday was lovely a day so myself and Sally Tipping decided that a trip to Temple Newsam was required. The committee had asked me to make use of the Beehaus Omlet plastic hive this season, as some members have been expressing an interest in it. With this in mind we went to have a look and see if we could get it up and running. Well it certainly needed a good clean! So with a bucket of bleach and soda crystals the two of us went to work scrubbing away. Normally it takes me about 30 minutes to clean a whole hive this time we spent 2 ½ hours scrubbing it clean - wow. My first impression was how flimsy the parts were. The side walls of the supers were corrugated plastic which is a haven for pathogens and bacteria. The walls were so thin that they moved bringing into question bee space some were already warped. The Beehaus allows 2 colonies to be hived with entrances at both ends. Inspecting the bees therefore means that you have to reach over the sides with your arm to pull frames out. The frame size is 14 x 12, although I know people use standard nationals and allow the bees to produce comb below the runners. Reaching over to pull frames, in my opinion, will annoy the bees during inspection and will be heavy. Therefore getting a straight lift will be difficult. This I will confirm when we install bees into the Omlet. Thanks to Sally Tipping who helped and also took the photos. If people want to come and help with inspections on a Wednesday evening, please come down you will be most welcome. If people were interested in using an Omlet but not sure come and have a look and try it.