Why the APIVOX SUNNY HIVE is a great choice for any beekeeper.

 

In the title, we boldly claim that our hive is the best choice for the beekeeper. It would seem that we belittle the importance of such inventors of beehives as Prokopovich, Dadan, Ruth and other inventors of national versions of collapsible beehives, of which there are dozens in Europe in different countries ... But, the fact is that collapsible beehives were invented so long ago that everyone forgot about it. It already seems to everyone that the hive is something unshakable in its correctness and completeness. The new century brought a new material - PPU, but not new ideas to the environment of ordinary beekeepers. Unfortunately, their knowledge remained at the level of Prokopovich! That is, at the level of a competent collective farm livestock specialist, who is well versed in the practical issues of keeping bees and obtaining marketable honey, but is completely devoid of the latest scientific knowledge. This is what leads to a lot of completely crazy questions and comments from beekeepers reading materials about our new hive. We'll have to talk about the scientific basis of our method of beekeeping and our SUNNY hive to convince people that our hive is worth its EXCELLENT rating and, most importantly, worthy of investing in its acquisition!

Let's start with the fact that pseudo-scientists who constantly tell us about NATURAL beekeeping in hollows of the trees tell us absolute, deliberate nonsense! There is nothing natural in the fact that bees, like many other living creatures, were able to adapt to life in the conditions in which they turned out to be ... It is possible that еру cause of this  was a primitive beekeeper or they followed after the flowering plants, spreading across the Earth .. We do not know this and probably will never know. BUT, scientists entomologists unequivocally state that the birthplace of bees is somewhere in SOUTHEAST ASIA!

 

That is, an area with tropical and equatorial climate, where the bees can live not only in hollows, which usually do not exist in those forests, but simply on branches of the trees, which can now be seen in the photo of beekeepers from the countries of this region. And it is the climate of Southeast Asia that allows bees to live without any problems in conditions that for European and American beekeepers seems to be not only seditious, but fundamentally unacceptable!

 

 

At one time, we managed to observe the life of a small family of bees, which made a nest in one of the pillars of the Roman aqueduct built in the first century AD. But, we will not, on the basis of this, say that aqueducts are a natural habitat for Spanish bees!

So, having defeated this crazy theory about the "natural" life of bees, we can begin to study modern scientific data AND FEATURES of our SUNNY hive.

In our description of the hive, we say that its main features are:

Significantly more powerful start of brood rearing in colonies living in a new hive in spring, due to the design of the hive, which makes it possible to improve conditions in the nest for brood rearing. Especially when cold wintering conditions are met and the first early sealed brood is removed or destroyed. Early receipt, with a possible lead of 2-3 weeks, of reproductive drones in spring, due to the design features of the hive, which allows improving conditions in the nest for brood rearing. For professional breeders, this means the possibility of earlier obtaining of fetal queens, and this is a significant competitive advantage. Obtaining early May honey due to an earlier increase in the strength of colonies, which is directly related to the early and more efficient rearing of brood in early spring by bees in a new hive. Early honey from spring honey plants is a particularly valuable product for any beekeeper! A possible increase in the overall honey productivity of colonies due to the liberation of some bees from in-hive works the task of which is to create comfortable conditions for brood rearing  throughout the spring-summer season.

And we confirm it once again! And here is the reason for such confidence ...

As everyone knows from the works of scientists, the bees maintain temperature in the nest in the range of + 33-36C. In the rest of the hive, the temperature is not specifically maintained or regulated. But the experiments carried out with the brood of bees showed that these temperatures are not optimal for the brood, but temperatures of + 37-38C. At such temperatures, the bees in the brood mature 1 day faster. Adult bees tolerate these temperatures perfectly and can generally work normally up to temperatures of +43-46C, and some species up to +50C. But this is the limit. With a further increase in temperature, the bees begin to die.

Thus, the temperatures that are created in our SUNNY hive - + 35-38C, are not only acceptable for bees, but also create additional comfort for them and free them from unnecessary work on heating the nest. And the nest is known to be heated by older bees. They are the ideal "generators" of heat. This is clearly seen in the diagram from the work of Austrian scientists - Honeybee Colony Thermoregulation - Regulatory Mechanisms and Contribution of Individuals in Dependence on Age, Location and Thermal Stress Anton Stabentheiner *, Helmut Kovac *, Robert Brodschneider Institut fu¨ r Zoologie, Karl-Franzens-Universitat Graz, Graz, Austria.

 

This leads to the effect that we report in the description of the hive - bees in early spring can more easily provide themselves with food due to the rise in daytime temperatures in the hive outside the cluster zone, bees begin active spring brood rearing earlier due to additional heat in the daytime, bees collect more honey due to the liberation of flying bees from the work on heating the nest.

Now let's talk about the second parameter of the microclimate in our hive, which accounts for the maximum attention of our haters - the increased humidity in the hive...

And here again to our aid comes science, condemning illiterate "practitioners" and "naturals". The work of Keith M. Doull, a researcher from the University of Adelaide in the USA, unequivocally confirms the direct dependence of the state of bee colony on the humidity in the hive. All experiments have shown that the OPTIMUM HUMIDITY FOR BEES is 90-95%. It is this humidity that allows the family to develop at an accelerated pace. It is this humidity that corresponds to the highest oviposition of the queens and to the survival of eggs. At the same time, the percentage of healthy larvae hatching from eggs is also maximal. ( Keith M. Doull. THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT HUMIDITIES ON THE HATCHING OF THE EGGS OF HONEYBEES. Apidologie, Springer Verlag, 1976, 7 (1), pp.61-66. ffhal-00890393f )

By the way, the researchers, just as we are, raise the question here about the reason, why bees deliver water to the hive in our conditions of a fairly dry climate! And they are also conclude, that this is required so, that the delicate skin of the larvae does not dry... We are also believe, that the classical theory of cooling of the nest by hanging droplets of water on honeycombs is completely untenable! Insects are cold-blooded beings, and they become more active at higher temperatures, and therefore "love" hot weather. The fact, that the bees ventilate the hive, can only mean, that in the conditions of heat, and corresponding lower concentration of oxygen in the air, the bees simply need more efficient ventilation! What about water droplets? Evaporating water increases the humidity, which is so necessary for the tender skin of open brood - eggs and larvae. High humidity makes it possible for open brood not to turn into "dried fruit" at a high temperatures...  That's what for the water in the hive is needed!  That's why the bees begin to bring water into the hive in early spring, as soon as the brood appears ...  to moisten the dry air of the nest, and not in order to cool it! It seems, that this is also the reason, why the bees place freshly brought nectar around the brood, and only after evaporation of a certain amount of water,  they transfer it to honey stores! Moisture evaporating from nectar, create the necessary humidity near the brood! Thus, it can be assumed, that in spring, bees carry water not only, in order to moisten sugar or to soak crystallized honey, but in order to create conditions for brood cultivation in the absence of a flow of nectar. Water, drying out, could humidify the air in the nest! This is why, when we see the bees near a puddle, or on a drinker, we can say for sure, that an intensified spring brood rearing has begun! In summer, bees carrying water in a hive in hot weather, become an indicator of the absence of significant honey collection in nature. The secretion of nectar is weak, and its influx into the hive cannot ensure the natural maintenance of humidity in the nest. And in such time, it is required additional air humidification , which the bees make using the water, brought into the hive.

Another group of scientists confirms our conclusion with the results of their research. These are Doull, Michael B. Ellis, Kraus and Velthuis. They state - Humidity is also an important microclimatic variable for bees (Apis mellifera L.) as their eggs require a relative humidity (RH) above 55% for successful hatching, with their highest survival being between 90 - 95% RH. They write that high humidity will also indirectly promote brood development... (Kraus and Velthuis, 1997).

Thus, scientists confirm that the increase in temperature and humidity that our new hive creates will definitely have a positive effect on the development and condition of the bees and their brood. We have also observed this for 3 years in our experimental apiary.

 

Some of our ill-wishers claim that in our hive there will be problems with removing moisture from honey or it will turn sour or something else will definitely happen ... We claim that for three seasons we received excellent quality honey in the SUNNY hive without any problems. The only difference is that it was easier to extract it, since the temperature in our hive stores is somewhat higher than in ordinary hives.

 

 

 

Let us now consider another effect of the hive - a decrease in the number of infectious diseases... No matter how strange such a statement may look, we can responsibly declare that during THREE YEARS of our research we have never observed any fungal and infectious diseases in bee colonies living in our hives. We have never seen combs stained with diarrhea, either in summer or spring or winter.

 

Bees hibernate in SUNNY hives perfectly due to the fact that there is a large volume in the bottom, where moist air from the breath of bees can fall, and where all the frost remains. This allows to maintain a nest in winter with minimal humidity, which, combined with low temperatures, causes intestinal diseases in bees.

 

During the whole spring-summer season, the brood and bees were always healthy and active. It seems that the reason for this phenomenon is that humidity causes intestinal diseases and fungal infections only at sufficiently low temperatures! It is these conditions that are the natural environment for their distribution - coolness and damp. In our hive, in fact, daily sterilization of the internal volume occurs due to sunlight and hot air. And moisture only contributes to the heat transfer.

 

 

As you probably noticed yourself, the tree in the steam room of the bath does not suffer from fungus, despite the high humidity, but in a cool shower it is quite possible. This once again confirms and explains the reasons why our SUNNY hive, and the bees living in it, have an increased resistance to fungal, intestinal and other infectious diseases.

They may also have increased resistance to varroatosis! But how and why we will tell in the next issue.

And now we can only say one thing... Don't be afraid to try something new and don't be afraid to buy our new SOLAR hives! They will definitely not harm your bees. At the same time, when used correctly, they can bring you significant benefits!