Dadant Blatt Poly Beehive LYSON Orange with bee pattern

01 · THE INSULATION

What the colony stops spending on heating

Holding the nest at temperature costs the colony food and bees at work. A box that keeps heat better than wood cuts that spending on cold days and slows the overheating in summer, when the problem runs the other way. It shows most in spring build-up and in small colonies, which are the ones that take a cold night worst. High-density polystyrene is also not chewed by the bees and does not break down outdoors.

02 · THE SET

Two half supers instead of one full one

You get a tall vented roof, a Dadant Blatt body, two half supers, an OPTIMA screened floor in engineering plastic and a clear crown board with a built-in thermometer and three ventilation plugs. The half supers change the handling: a full half super comes off on its own, while a whole super of honey means asking for help or splitting the job. And the clear crown board lets you see what is going on up top without opening from above.

03 · THE ASSEMBLY

It ships flat, and travels better that way

The set arrives unassembled, with the parts nested: it takes less room in transit and turns up without rub marks. Assembly is straightforward, no special tools. Allow yourself a session at the bench before taking it to the field, and check that the joints between body and half supers sit flush: in polystyrene, a badly seated edge is where the light gets in and the robbing starts.

04 · THE SIZE

Dadant Blatt frames of 47 cm, and only those

It is designed exclusively for Dadant Blatt frames, with a 47 cm top bar. Dadant US, at 48 cm, will not fit: the Blatt pattern is the usual one in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland, while in Spain, Germany or Poland the US rules. And the frames do not come with the set, so order them in this size.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is the same hive as the version with the yellow print: only the decoration changes, so choose on taste and not on performance.