# what kind of beehive is this...??? Omlet Beehaus



## Josh Carmack (Dec 19, 2008)

Looks like a really good way for a wealthy person to wast money on something that won't be any easier to use than a Lang. hive. The dimensions mentioned are not standard to any Langstroth equip.

Considering you would only invest about 200 bucks in EVERYTHING you need for one colony. And even less to build everything yourself. If you want the pretty pink, you can have that paint mixed up at the hardware store for bout 20 bucks for decent paint


----------



## Irene S (Feb 7, 2008)

Josh Carmack said:


> If you want the pretty pink, you can have that paint mixed up at the hardware store for bout 20 bucks for decent paint


hee hee... one of my hives IS pink (the namesake of Joanna the Mad of England)


----------



## Josh Carmack (Dec 19, 2008)

My Bro-in-law has a purple one and a pink one. They buy quarts of mismatched paint or whatever they see of good quality at a very good price. the next ones I build them will be blue brown and orange


----------



## beyondthesidewalks (Dec 1, 2007)

My creative daughter picks my colors for my hives. I have pastel pink, green, yellow, purple (lavender), orange and blue hives. The next color will be yellow if she has her way. It's a great way to get the kids involved but I catch a bunch of hell on the pink hives. Makes for easy directions. "Go down to that bee yard and put sugar water on the green hive." It's hard to mess up that way.


----------



## Radar (Sep 4, 2006)

This is certainly not a NATIONAL hive and I have never heard of this one, it may have National frames in it but this is not what is called a national hive. It is a version of a long hive which supers are placed on top. They are not too optimistic about the honey crop( 4 Jars). They come in 5 colours.


----------



## NC-Bee-Dude (Jun 20, 2009)

Radar said:


> They are not too optimistic about the honey crop( 4 Jars). They come in 5 colours.


I was thinking the exact same thing. Four whole jars, and take honey instead of wine to your dinner parties? Wow, if you're a social butterfly and go to lots of dinner parties, you'll be SOL pretty quick!


----------



## plapczynski (Aug 21, 2008)

Omlet also makes "yuppie" chicken coops, people with about 2-4 hens that just want a few eggs. It's good stuff, but too pricey for me.... FYI my 50 chickens just live in the barn... they don't complain about it, but they have never seen the Omlet though....


----------



## Irene S (Feb 7, 2008)

I asked around, and someone (on another board) said it looks like a TBH with frames, which looks about right. 

The fellow found a link with the hive in action... if you want to take a look

from the article

_To appeal to city dwellers’ tastes, a new beehive has been created and was unveiled by Tom Tew, the chief scientist for Natural England. The Beehaus is like a giant coolbox standing at waist height and has an easily removed lid that allows the whole hive to be exposed for inspection and maintenance. It is twice the size of a traditional hive, meaning that there is plenty of space for the colony to grow and therefore less risk of swarming. The plastic structure is easily cleaned and impervious to woodpeckers, which frequently damage wooden hives. Three layers of plastic, separated by air pockets, help the bees to maintain the stable 35C (95F) they need to multiply. 

_


----------



## BruinnieBear (Jun 30, 2009)

At 465 Pounds Sterling ($788.32 USD) it's a bit out of my price range, no matter what colors it comes in. Likely, the ladies using these digs would also require tea at 3:00.

BB


----------



## Irene S (Feb 7, 2008)

BruinnieBear said:


> At 465 Pounds Sterling ($788.32 USD) it's a bit out of my price range, no matter what colors it comes in. Likely, the ladies using these digs would also require tea at 3:00.
> 
> BB



I was talking about this with someone last night. .. sure it's a higher price, but do plastic/styro hive bodies last longer than woodenware? I know Swienty sells styro hives in Europe, do they last longer? 

if they do, in the long run.. the plastic option may be cheaper (without taking into account this different design)

just a thought!

ETA - and whats wrong with tea time?


----------



## Josh Carmack (Dec 19, 2008)

If you buy your total hive equipment from me, you'd spend $71 for 2 hive bodies three supers and an inner cover, tele cover, and bottom board plus shipping. The frames and wax would cost you about 80 bucks shipping and all. Add a free swarm and paint and you have about 160 bucks. That setup will last about ten years when properly cared for and well placed. I don't see any plastic lasting longer than 15 in normal use simply due to polymer degradation from the sun. You could add paint to the thing to slow this but it would still only last about 20 years. That's most likely a generous figure.


----------



## hapinen (Jun 19, 2009)

I especially like the "30 day money back guarantee" 

krista


----------



## BruinnieBear (Jun 30, 2009)

Irene S said:


> ETA - and whats wrong with tea time?


Nothing! As long as the tea is black, and the cakes aren't soggy!

ETA - Edited To Add or Extra-Terrestrial Alien (British)?

BB


----------



## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Irene S said:


> from the article
> 
> _To appeal to city dwellers’ tastes, a new beehive has been created and was unveiled by Tom Tew, the chief scientist for Natural England..
> 
> _


Sounds like Tom Tew, the chief scientist for Natural England, has invented the top bar hive.

Wayne


----------



## oldenglish (Oct 22, 2008)

It's basically a TBH with the National hive frame size. Obviously being marketed to the English yuppies, hence the color and price. I am guessing that the regular beeks in GB are laughing at this.

Like my local store owner says "I wont try to sell them what they dont need, but I dont try stopping them either"


----------



## Stevedore (Jan 22, 2009)

Here's a sneak peek at Omlet's new migratory version:


----------



## Irene S (Feb 7, 2008)

Stevedore said:


> Here's a sneak peek at Omlet's new migratory version:


okay.. THAT was funny..!!! :applause:


----------



## DavesBees (Jun 2, 2009)

Stevedore said:


> Here's a sneak peek at Omlet's new migratory version:


Steve,
Did you take your bees to Jamboree in the Hills!
Dave


----------



## Aram (May 9, 2006)

Radar said:


> It is a version of a long hive which supers are placed on top. ...


I believe that is correct. I don't know the definition for a long hive but I know that's NOT a top bar hive. Top bar hives are usually wooden boxes of varying dimensions and shapes, most often home made, but, most importantly they do not have frames. They have ... you guessed it: top bars. :doh:


----------



## Stevedore (Jan 22, 2009)

It's a plastic version of Robin Dartington's hive that takes 14x12 British National frames. In fact, Dartington was part of the design team and it appears that his own web site (where he sold plans for the "Dartington" hive) is now closed.


----------



## Paraplegic Racehorse (Jan 25, 2007)

Hmm. Appears to be just a re-hash of the Dartington Long Deep Hive (BeeSource forum link. Manufacturer's website is down?) but in poly. The price is horrendous, until you consider that fully built hives in UK cost about twice what they do in the US. After that consideration, plus the fact you get a coverall-style suit, smoker and hive tool, the price is merely bad. Although it would be "reasonable-but-still-high" if the supplied suit were a BJ Sherriff.

It's also curious that the boxes (supers included) have volume for about 20 brood + 20 super frames but they only supply 10 brood and 10 super frames. How ... inconvenient. Also, why five-frame supers? It would be less costly to supply ten-frame supers and drop two of the queen excluders. You could still run it as a double-hive (there's a separator board for doing just this).

Silly, silly. Still, someone will buy them. Probably not enough to keep them in production for very long, though.


----------



## BillSF9c (May 18, 2007)

What does one say... Modern? Plastic? <g> Interesting... There is at least some study done before one commits money to the plastic molds, and initial small production runs, which are *not* inexpensive. The down side is that initial work is done either in concept-only form, (i.e., paper, imaginary,)
or was done by slightly crude fabrication, by flat plastic sheets, fiberglass, or wood/etc. Once molds are made, and money committed, there can be little redesign if flaws are found. One *must* sell them. The upside is that bees are often happy in plastic garbage cans, so the design probably is at least, adequate.

It was interesting to hear a video from the inventor say that it had the capacity (in size) to survive, where as ordinarily it takes two hives to do so.
As to cost, one needs to recoups some monies after engineering costs occur so initial product is often higher, than later production runs. 

For simplicity and lower costs, as well as a lower footprint, consider a Warré.
There's a list for them. http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/warrebeekeeping
They are a top bar hive, but stacked, as a Lang is. Medications are dissuaded,
as are inspections. While they have a common format, you can adapt their concept. Size, (interior) is usually 30Lx30Wx21H cm using 2cm thick wood. many use 4cm thick wood. I have made USoA measurement adaptations, & am presently beginning a US based site to detail them.

BillSF9c


----------



## Rohe Bee Ranch (Feb 12, 2008)

Stevedore said:


> Here's a sneak peek at Omlet's new migratory version:


:lpf:

Of course if I were to buy one of these Omlet Beehaus some ******* around here would steal it and take it to a NASCAR race or out fishing on his bass boat thinking it was an ice chest for beer.


----------



## 11x (May 14, 2009)

wow woudent that be great. a double duty beehive/beer cooler. man some one better call the patten office before i do.opcorn:


----------



## LeeB (Mar 2, 2011)

People are drawn to beekeeping for different reasons. If a beehaus will attract and appeal to someone, make them interested in bees and help them learn about bees, then more power to the beehaus. Some people have the money to spend on this type of hive, and that's not a bad thing. Some people buy fancy dogs, some get a dog from the pound, but they both love their dogs. 
I happened to just return from the U.K. and I can tell you, bees are hot over there! They are discussed in newspapers, magazines, local borourghs have bee hives on the council building roof, and even the Bank of England has a bee hive on the roof! It's exciting to see the interest shown in this incredibly satisfying pursuit.


----------



## Rohe Bee Ranch (Feb 12, 2008)

That is really cool! It's nice to hear that bees are so popular over there and are so publically visable in a positive light.


----------



## Peter (Mar 28, 2009)

The purple ones are nice, but for a country where some of the councils dictate what colour/s you can paint your house one wonders what they would say about them.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/8680875/Beekeeping-Diary-The-scent-of-bees.html
As stated the price appears attrocious but when you see nucs advertised there for GBP200 I suppose it's just par for the course.


----------



## Talking With Bees (Jul 7, 2012)

This thread is hilarious and a lot of comments are spot on. I don't have one, but I like it. I've written a review if people are interested.


----------



## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Irene, here is a video from the developers of the Omlet Beehaus with excellent tips on its use from an old beekeeper by the name of Robin Dartington.....Bill 
http://youtu.be/0Xs_OVl25lw


----------

