This hive is kind of a big deal…in Europe. The old country’s lengthy experience has proven this to be the ultimate hive and there is no reason to reinvent the wheel in the United States. Georges de Layens emphasized that sustainable beekeeping encompasses two principles: using local bees and keeping them in appropriate hives that are easy to keep for both bees and the keeper. Easy keeping allows the bees to work in peace and the beekeeper to monitor with little interference. It’s a win win for both parties involved. De Layesns spent two decades developing and perfecting this simple yet effective hive - the Layens Horizontal Hive. This method allows you to manage your colonies reliably with two or three hive visits per year.
The Layens hive is a horizontal hive holding 20 large frames (13” long by 16” deep) on one level. (The number of frames can be smaller or greater depending on your local honeyflows.) It is loaded with frames during the spring inspection and then opened in the fall for honey harvest. If you think this is not feasible, consider this: Jean Hurpin, a prominent French beekeeper and author, founder of France’s largest beekeeping magazine L’Abeille de France, modified the Layens hive to enable management with one hive visit per year. He writes: “Layens hives are wonderfully suited for remote outyards. In the yards that I visit only once per year, I always find the bees in excellent shape with the hives full of honey, harvesting which becomes my sole task.
This hive is kind of a big deal…in Europe. The old country’s lengthy experience has proven this to be the ultimate hive and there is no reason to reinvent the wheel in the United States. Georges de Layens emphasized that sustainable beekeeping encompasses two principles: using local bees and keeping them in appropriate hives that are easy to keep for both bees and the keeper. Easy keeping allows the bees to work in peace and the beekeeper to monitor with little interference. It’s a win win for both parties involved. De Layesns spent two decades developing and perfecting this simple yet effective hive - the Layens Horizontal Hive. This method allows you to manage your colonies reliably with two or three hive visits per year.
The Layens hive is a horizontal hive holding 20 large frames (13” long by 16” deep) on one level. (The number of frames can be smaller or greater depending on your local honeyflows.) It is loaded with frames during the spring inspection and then opened in the fall for honey harvest. If you think this is not feasible, consider this: Jean Hurpin, a prominent French beekeeper and author, founder of France’s largest beekeeping magazine L’Abeille de France, modified the Layens hive to enable management with one hive visit per year. He writes: “Layens hives are wonderfully suited for remote outyards. In the yards that I visit only once per year, I always find the bees in excellent shape with the hives full of honey, harvesting which becomes my sole task.