In Part Three of our five-part Hive Types Series, we talk with Colorado Master Beekeeper and columnist Tina Sebestyen about the Long or Horizontal Langstroth. Horizontal hives are very much like the traditional Langstroth hives, which are vertical stacks of boxes, except horizontal hives are only one box high and about three boxes long. The very best thing about horizontal hives is that you never have to lift a very heavy box off the top of a hive to get to what’s below that box. Essentially, no lifting for the beekeeper.

Horizontal hives, using 30 frames, can have the front door on either or both ends, or in the middle. If there is just one opening, it should be on the end, so the bees build their nest a frame or two of honey right next to the entrance, behind that some of the bee bread, then the brood next, and at the end away from the front door will be the honey. Not up, but back.

Burlap can be used instead of inner covers, using 4 or 5 pieces laid on top of the top bars. The bees will stick some of this to the top bars with propolis, but also leave passageways so they can go over the top of the frames. This very much resembles what a nest in a tree would be like. Propolis is good.

Tina explains there are additional advantages for the beekeeper: You use much less equipment. It’s all in one box. No more supers in the garage, with frames, feeders and the like. Plus, swarm control gets a lot easier, especially if you have entrances on both ends. If you find swarm cells in the brood area, simply find the queen, move her to the other end with some brood and bees, and move the divider board from the very end to the middle, open the second entrance and you’re set. You’ve made a split without using any more equipment.

Tina has written several articles on horizontal hive keeping for Bee Culture magazine (starting with the February 2020 issue), has loads of info on her web page and is in the process of writing a book on the topic.

She shares it all in this podcast. Listen today!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

• Tina's Website - https://beequest.buzz/
• Follow Tina on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bee.longing/

 

• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC