Q8 Mating hive

01 · MANAGEMENT

The comb is drawn in the big hive, not in here

The eight Tri-fold frames are fitted with foundation and hung open alongside the brood nest of a strong colony until the comb is drawn and holds sealed brood. They then come out covered in bees, unclick and fold into three: each block fills one chamber, with a ripe queen cell added. The maker reckons on one week to mating in fair weather and eggs by week three.

02 · VERSATILITY

Eight queens in summer, two colonies through the winter

The partitions are removable 3 mm divider boards, three a side, so the eight chambers group into 8, 6, 4 or 2 spaces without changing the box. In season you work all eight; for overwintering you pull dividers and merge, since the larger volume and the 15 mm EPS hold the cluster better. It also serves as a queen bank.

03 · WHAT'S IN THE BOX

One roof over all eight chambers

This is a complete unit, not a bare box: vented floor and vented roof, body with dividers, eight Tri-fold frames, eight dual feeders of 400 ml, seven coloured side entrances with flip-up landing boards plus two floor entrances, seven mini excluders and two pairs of latches. The roof is single and covers all eight; what is individual is each chamber's feeder.

04 · COMPATIBILITY

Langstroth only, and the small frame stays in this system

Opened out, the Tri-fold is a full-depth Langstroth frame: the hive where the comb is drawn has to be Langstroth, it will not go into a National, a Commercial or a Dadant. Folded, each small frame is a third of that frame and fits the Q8 alone: not Apidea, not Mini Plus, not Kieler, and their frames do not fit here either.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

You get the box and the frames; you do not get foundation, bees, queen cells or the donor hive where the comb is drawn. Allow for the handling it asks for too: the maker advises moving the Q8 some 4 km once populated so the flying bees do not return home, and standing several units about 3 m apart with visual landmarks. Mating still depends on the weather and on mature drones being about.