What is the ZEST hive?
Introduction
It is said that the most important creature on the planet is the honeybee.
Man best serves the honeybee by designing a better habitation than a cave or a hole in a tree.
The cave is often too large, but the consistent temperature is right. A cavity in a tree is often too small, and the temperature varies.
A man made hive such as the ZEST is the first to fully meet honeybee needs, being adjustable in size, warm and dry, yet humid, allowing good health.
Honeybee colonies work best at about 2 mile intervals rather than all together. The ZEST hive is not suitable for migration, but it can be done
The ZEST hive is a new honeybee hive which, by its design, is conducive to good health of honeybees and the wealth of beekeepers. Unlike other hive designs it provides an internal environment that is warm, humid, dry and stable. It has an external envelope that has the right balance between thermal insulation and thermal weight. This assists the bees in their primary duty of thermo-regulating the brood nest.
It improves upon the natural bee habitation of a cave or a hole in a tree. The internal void size can be adjusted to meet the needs of the bees over the season where the colony space can be made small in winter and large in summer. Together with its top, trickle ventilation and bee entry it is better than any natural place. The bees are subsequently healthier, better tempered, slow to swarm, productive and can be almost completely “letalone” managed.
The ZEST hive by its design has proven to be functionally free of varroa, nosema and acarine.
The frames used internally can be DIY in stapled wood or a plastic lattice formed from T-bars from which the bees make their own honeycomb. They last indefinitely. The honey is simply cut out and drained down in a bag and the frame returned to the hive. No machinery is needed and yearly frame maintenance is zero. We provide these patent protected design in our shop that will save you financially in your beekeeping journey.
ZEST does More With Less
Price comparison for a square meter of comb area for a ZEST and a WBC hive.
The ZEST DIY hive components (excluding VAT & p+p).
3# boxes of 12# ZEST patented plastic T-bar frames £150
1# box of 4 queen excluders £50
1# 600x600x38 paving slab £12
6# Heavy duty 440x215x100 concrete blocks £10.80
1# 3600x40x20 softwood batten to make
2# 1300 and 2# 438 containment battens £3.36
27# 440x215x100 aerated concrete blocks £60.26
3# 1200x450x75 foil faced insulation boards £23.16
1# 2700x600 corrugated metal roof sheet £18.
£328 total cost of a standard ZEST hive with a total comb face area of 36# 400x350 = 5.04 sq.m.
Being £64.68 per square metre of comb.
The WBC hive components (excluding VAT & p+p).
£400 total cost for a standard WBC hive with 1 brood box of frames and 2 honey boxes of frames gives a total comb face area of 1.575sq.m.
Being £254 per square metre of comb.
This price comparison of 4 times better value for the ZEST hive takes no account of other ZEST savings such as on honey spinners (ZEST is cut and hang), maintenance and repair, even hive tools and smokers. The ZEST hive is an almost forever hive and can be entirely “letalone” being just for pollination up to 2 miles away.
It is not intended to be a commercial hive, but a bee friendly one which naturally suppresses diseases and common maladies by its design and is evenly spread throughout the country.
The plastic frame carrier frame that sat on the hive walls has been discontinued.
It formed a cold bridge effect and was very expensive to both make and send.
Bee entries are now free and more easily defended from intruders as follows.
1. Drill 18 diameter x 100 long bee entry holes at high level in the side walls. Close with wine corks when not in use.
2. Drill 12 diameter x 40 long bee entry holes through the 40x20 wood battens that contain the bee frame ends. Close with wood battens on walls when not in use.
Bill Summers. Retired Architect. Beekeeper since 1974
STEP by STEP
We have made it simple, follow each of the activities below to support your knowledge of ZEST hive. You can also purchase just the frames as they are more economical than the regular alternatives. By choosing a ZEST hive not only are you supporting bee health but you are also making a saving of £ on the alternative beekeeping options.