A sample text widget

Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.

British National Beehives


Based in a small workshop in Tideswell in the Peak District we make Highest Quality British National Beehives out of 1st grade American Western Red Cedar or High Quality Red Deal according to the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Modified National Hive Plans. Everything we sell we make here in the Peak District. We also stock other items of Beekeeping Supplies including Frames, Foundation Wax and Hive Tools. The driving forces behind peak-hives.co.uk are sustainability and quality workmanship. Sustainability because, well it matters quite a bit we think and quality workmanship because customer satisfaction is paramount.



Cedar Scarcity.

Unfortunately building materials are extremely scarce at the moment and pricing is highly volatile. This goes for Western Red Cedar too. I have decided that until the market settles down I will not be making up any Cedar hives or hive parts. We'll be back in operation once the supply issues have been resolved. Many thanks.

webcam...

Want to see your National Hive being made? Here's what's going on in the workshop right now. The image is updated every 10 minutes during working hours. Click to see full size...

webcam



blog...

The rest of the centre column is an ongoing blog of what's new at peak-hives.co.uk and other items of interest...veg garden...renewables etc, but please don't let reading about the allotment distract you from placing your order...:-)




Ready Assembled Frames

Ready Assembled Frames
Ready Assembled Frames

Daughter Alexandra isn’t mad about bees but she is about horses and wants to fund her equine hobby. So she’s now the official Peak Hives assembled frames maker. We’re now offering assembled DN4, DN1, SN4 and SN1 frames with foundation wax. Standard frames with wired worker foundation. You can find them in the left hand column on the website. Here’s to bees and horses!

We’ve been so busy during the Covid lockdown and want to thank all our patient customers awaiting their National Hive products from Peak Hives. Stay safe!

Plastic Ends

We now stock plastic frame ends to fit on to SN1 or DN1 frames.  Many beekeepers use self spacing Hoffman Style DN4 or 14×12 Frames in their National Hives but there is an argument that the shoulders of the Hoffman frames can pose a risk to the queen when removing the frames as she could be squished between the frame shoulders.  So we have decided to stock plastic frame ends to help those using DN1 or SN1 frames.  Many experienced beekeepers don’t bother with the spacers and just space by eye.

The Plastic Frame Ends can be found in the left hand column near the bottom.

We’ve started the new year with a flood of orders for our National Hive products so it looks like a busy year ahead.  Happy New year to all our customers past and future and happy beekeeping for 2015.

Hoffman Frames

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

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.

 

Frames and Dummy Boards

Just added Frames and Dummy Boards to the Peak Hives product list.  They can now be purchased from the left hand column along with all other Peak Hives National Hive products.

These two products have been requested umpteen times.  Dummy Boards present no problem it’s just that I’m so busy with existing orders it takes some time for me to fit into the work schedule making up anything new.

Dummy Boards

Dummy Boards

Frames are another matter.  Each frame consists of 6 seperately machined elements and yet they command such a low selling price.  I’ve been working on this problem for a while and whilst it’s been sorted some time ago for supplying my own apiary I have been wary of offering them as a PH product up until now.  Various jigs have been designed and made and then remade and then again reworked but I’m now finally confident that they can be viably produced in batches meaning I’m not having to work for two penneth an hour.

DN1 Frame Pack

DN1 Frame Pack

So far we’re offering the bread and butter DN1 and SN1 frames in packs of 10 in the flat.  Hoffman brood frames will come before the new 2012 season.

Alea Iacta Est.

Thin kerf blade for making National Hive frames.

Arrived today.  One pricey blade!  A quick break from making up orders and stock to perform a test with the new blade.  Cuts like a dream.  Finishes as if it’s been through a planer.  The cut width is a tiny 1.7mm!!  This will certainly do the trick of getting the maximum number of National Hive frames out of the timber used.  I’ll be making up a batch of frames next week probably starting with DN4 Hoffman’s to be supplied with our brood boxes or sold as flat packs.

Thin Kerf Blade used for making National Hive Frames

Thin Kerf Blade used for making National Hive Frames

National Hive Roof and Frames…

We’ve just purchased some tooling to improve upon our National Hive Roof design.  Now roofs will be constructed using 1/2″ lock joints.  Frames wise I decided that it was worth investing in a thin kerf saw blade for our table saw.  Each cut will only waste 1.7mm instead of the usual 3.2mm.  When machining up lots and lots of little parts (ie. frame bits) it will be much more economical if each rip through the timber only consumes 1.7mm….that’s the theory anyway and it’s backed up by me getting the plastic out to pay for an expensive saw blade…

We hope your bees will be happy in our hives and would welcome feedback in the new season…photos or comments please and we’ll set up a gallery area on the site.

All the best

Nick

peak hives will be making national hive frames

here’s the first of perhaps many thousand…a quick bit of jig making and we’re producing Hoffman DN4 frames.  More tests to do but the initial test was today and if we can make the Hoffman self spacing frame then the others shouldn’t be a problem.  if you’ve a request for a frame type then please mail me.

DN4 Hoffman Frame for National Hive

DN4 Hoffman Frame for National Hive

National Hive Frames coming soon…

As we want to make everything for the National Hive here in the Peak District we’ve decided to start making frames…it’ll be tedious work (11 frames per brood…9, 10 or 11 frames per super etc etc ad infinitum) but hey, work is work!  We’ll be starting off with Hoffman DN4 standard National Brood Frames,  then SN1 super frames and as many of the other types that seem to be in demand.  More soon…

All the best.

Nick