peak-hives.co.uk

Two National Nucleus Hives

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:07:47 +0000

Quick shot of the order finished today. Two Nucleus Hives in Cedar with Varroa Floors and our new Splayed Leg Hive Stands. At Peak Hives we put as much work and attention to detail in making our Nucleus Hives as we do into making our full sized National Hives. In fact the time it takes making one is not far off about the same as making a full sized hive as they have essentially all the same components but scaled down. Stand, Varroa Floor, Brood Chamber, Crown Board and Roof.

Two Nucs

All the best. Nick.

National Brood Chambers

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:13:24 +0000

This stack of National Hive Brood Boxes in Red Deal has just been completed and is now ready for putting on a pallet for delivery to our beekeeper customer in Herts. After sizing it up for delivery it was decided that a single pallet would be better as it would have taken 8 individual packages to be sent by the normal courier route.

National Brood Chambers

We did have a relatively quiet period in November when I managed to get more or less up to date with the order queue but with the new season that’s now history and we’re as busy as heck and I’m currently working 7 days a week in the workshop trying to get on top of the workload. Thankfully Peak Hives tends to attract customers that understand that when ordering from a cottage industry there may be a wait between clicking ‘buy now’ and delivery. We really do appreciate our clients patience. Our customer satisfaction rate suggests they think it’s worth it.

The Honey Man – Tideswell Theatre

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:02:22 +0000

Coming to Tideswell on 10th May – The Honey Man, by New Perspectives Theatre Company, about a bee keeper.

A four star review in The Guardian today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/22/the-honey-man-review?INTCMP=SRCH

Splayed Legs Hive Stand

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:25:08 +0000

I’ve been asked a number of times for these so I set aside some workshop time to make up the required jigs and ensure that they could be manufactured to a consistent high standard. That done I have now added them as a product in the left hand column and they are also an option on our National Hives. Apart from looking good, the splayed legs add stability and the longer landing board should be appreciated by both bees and beekeeper alike.

Splayed Legs Hive Stand

Baker’s Dozen

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:22:32 +0000

Of National Nucleus Hives in Western Red Cedar. These 13 were ordered to rejuvenate a Channel Island Beekeeping Association’s equipment inventory. Modesty aside I think they look a treat and hope that the clients will be as pleased with them as I am. Our 6 Hoffman Frame plus Dummy Board (which comes supplied with the nuc) configuration is proving a popular product and the fact that Peak Hives supplies them with the option of a Varroa Floor adds further benefit. Anyway, enough banging our drum here’s a piccy of them prior to shipping by pallet…

Jersey Nucleus Hives

Cleaner Cuts

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:42:33 +0000

Since starting National Hive production at Peak Hives I’ve used my trusty Sedgwick morticing machine to cut the slots for the rails to sit into brood boxes and supers. Cedar is an extremely light wood with air between the fibres therfore affording extra insulation to bees housed in a cedar hive, BUT that lightness means that on occasion the morticer can sometimes cut/crush it’s way through the timber rather than just cutting. The image below illustrates the problem…

National Hive Rail Slots

Time for a Dado head! They’re not normally available here in the UK because of our Health and Safety laws but I’ve been searching ebay for a while and found one. After making up a custom jig and some more fettling it’s doing a grand job. Nice clean precise cuts every time and it’s also slightly quicker.

Dado Head

Custom Varroa Floors

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:09:17 +0000

Our client wishes to place his apiary with the back of his hives against a limestone wall. After having picked up his original order for a National Hive in Cedar with a standard Varroa Floor he realised that the slide out Correx tray meant that his hives would have to be 1/2 metre away from the wall. After a quick consultation with us we’ve come up with these bespoke Open Mesh Floors. On one the tray slides out to the left and on the other it slides out to the right allowing two hives to be inspected from a central position. We always try to meet any special requirements if we can. If the customers happy, we’re happy.

Custom Varroa Floors

Hoffman Frames

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:30:05 +0000

Finally got round to making all the jigs and workarounds to make the production of Hoffman Frames viable. They’re now added to the frames section in the left hand column. We’re offering our frames in flat packs of 10 or 50 and the Hoffmans are available in standard National Hive Brood Box size and 14×12. All our frame packs come supplied with frame nails.

Hoffman Frames

As is the case with all our National Hive products every stage from raw material to completed frame is done in our workshop in Tideswell.

Christmas orders 2011

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:48:02 +0000

We’ve had a number of enquiries as to when is the last date for ordering Peak Hives National Hive products to ensure timely delivery for giving as Christmas presents this year. Up at the top of the page from now until around Christmas time there’ll be a ‘last order date’ which will be continually monitored and updated to ensure delivery in time.

Hope that helps.

6 Frame Nucleus Hive!

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:56:00 +0000

Here at Peak Hives we take product development seriously. When we get National Hive suggestions from customers they are always considered carefully and incorporated into our product line if they’d be a useful addition to the beekeeping experience. Hence the new Peak Hives Nucleus Hive.

6 Frame Nucleus Hive

The most noticeable improvement is our new Nucleus Hives have room for 6 frames instead of the previous 5. But also we’ve built in room to add a dummy board (which comes included) alongside the 6 frames to make inspection easier.

As can be seen from the photos there’s the optional 7 litre Ashforth Feeder sized to sit perfectly on top of the brood area. The other feeding option is provided by the feed hole in the crown board which allows the use of a contact feeder should you prefer. Also optional is the Nucleus Hive stand with landing board again sized to sit perfectly under the hive.

6 Frame Nucleus Hive

We’re the only National Hive makers to incorporate a Varroa Floor with our Nucleus Hives and with the new 6 frame Nucleus Hives and that will continue. Whether a hive is for a nuc or a large colony it’s always useful to be able to inspect for Varroa infestation. As can be seen in the photo we use yellow correx trays in our Open Mesh Floors to aid visual identification of the mite. The standard floor will also continue as an option should you prefer. Both floors come with an entrance block.

Nucleus Hive Varroa Floor

And of course we’re offering the new product in standard National Hive brood size and 14×12. All in Western Red Cedar or the more economical Red Deal.