Plastic hive numbers

01 · WHERE THEY GO

On the front, and clear of anything that moves

Put them on a part of the front that still reads with the super on, keeping clear of entrances, vents and the joints between boxes: a number nailed across a joint splits the day you part the boxes. And since they stay fixed to that box, decide what you are following: number the body if you follow the colony and the stand if you follow the site. Mixing the two is what ruins a notebook.

02 · HOW MANY

A set of 15 pieces: count before you nail

The set holds 15 numbers, so it pays to lay out the numbering you need on the bench first: for long runs, or to repeat digits, you have to combine several sets. And one decision you thank yourself for two years later: numbering in tens — 10, 20, 30 — leaves room to slot in new hives without renumbering the whole apiary.

03 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is working numbering, not legal identification: it does not replace the compulsory hive marking your national rules require, with their own conditions of visibility, legibility and permanence. If you plan to use these pieces as part of that marking, check it first with your authority.