10F Layens beehive with super and frames

01 · A LAYENS THAT TAKES A SUPER

Start horizontal and grow upward when you need to

The Layens has taken hold in Spain for how simple it is: horizontal management, no heavy boxes to lift, easy to move and a smaller outlay. Its classic trade-off is that everything happens in one box, so the honey comes off mixed in with the brood nest. This version carries a factory rebate and its matched super: you work horizontally for as long as that suits, and when you want a cleaner harvest you fit the super and separate the honey. On an ordinary Layens that is not provided for.

02 · HOW IT ARRIVES

With the super and the frames fitted; only wax and bees are missing

You get the 10-frame body with the rebate, the matched super and all the frames fitted, brood box and super alike — nothing to buy separately or assemble. The entrance is a twin adjustable metal one, for ventilating in summer and shutting mice out in winter. To put it to work you need only Layens foundation and the bees, whether a nucleus or a swarm.

03 · THE TIMBER AND THE FIELD

Galvanised corners and a vented metal roof

It is built in 22 mm pine, with galvanised sheet at the corners and a vented metal roof, which is what stands up to sun and rain season after season. The metal catch holds the roof down when you move it — welcome on a hive that, being light and manageable, ends up travelling. It weighs about 30 kg empty and assembled.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Before deciding, the thing to be clear about: this is Layens format, and its frames and foundation are not interchangeable with Dadant or Langstroth. For queen rearing, frequent splits or large volumes of monofloral honey, a vertical hive gives you more room to work. The Layens plays a different game: simplicity, transport and comfortable handling, above all in a warm climate.