THE ZEST HIVE BRINGS BEEKEEPING INTO THE 21st. CENTURY.

Designed for Honeybee Health and Beekeeper Wealth.

The merits of the ZEST hive include, but are not limited to:-
1. The parts, if not recycled or found, are readily available from builder’s merchants.
2. The capital cost for a ZEST hive of fixed comb area is less than a third of thin walled wood
hives.
3. The insulation value of a ZEST hive is not less than 30 times better than conventional thin
walled hives.
4. The load lift of a ZEST frame easily meets H&S requirements. Conventional hive boxes do not.
5. Top bee entry through 12mm easily defended drilled holes in the wood frame on the walls. This
top entry causes the hive cavity to act as a bucket of humid air which is not conducive to varroa
survival.
6. The highly insulated, dry, but humid ZEST external envelope suppresses common bee diseases
such as Nosema and Acarine, but also of varroa by reducing the bee pupation period. Varroa is
rarely seen and if seen is likely to have drifted in from other nearby non ZEST hives. It is not
immune to CBPV.
7. The patented ZEST (forever) T-bar frame has 3 voids, needs no wax and has self-spacing tabs
at top and bottom.
8. Hive tools are not needed, nor are smokers, as only one frame is moved at a time, rather than a
whole box. This sympathetic ZEST inspection regime does not raise the bees to fear or anger.
9. Can contain up to 4 colonies of bees, bit one can fill it.
10. Frames always hang precisely vertical under gravity being point loaded at ends
11. Low propensity to swarm needing only 3 inspection visits per year, but add frames on demand.
A. Spring clean inspection.
B. Late July inspection. Insert excluder/s to contain the queen on her 6 winter allocated ZEST
frames.
C. September/October inspection. Take honey and close down for winter. Crush in mesh bag and
drain down honey. It is a clean process and much better for partner relationships! No stainless
steel or spinning is needed. Keep the remaining dross over winter as a daily spring stimulant feed.

W.F.Summers. Retired Architect. Beekeeper since 1974.