# horizontal langstroth hives...building plans



## KPeacock (Jan 29, 2013)

well, i havent seen anythuing like that, but i havent seen everything yet. I have seen something similar called a "long lang" basically it is a deep that, instead of being 8 or 10 frames, is something on the order of 20-30 frames. Instead of having to stack boxes on top of each otehr, one simple moves a follower board and adds another frame or two when you want to expand a bit. One can add a deep, medium, or shallow honey super on top for easy harvesting of honey too. 

Basically, it is like a top bar hive, but uses lang frames instead of top bars. this is great for those that alrady have extractors and don;t want to "waste" the wax in crush and strain.

Thats the closest thing i know of, but i suppose you could but a couple of lang boxes next to each otehr if you have an access hole between them. i don;t think the bees would want to move between the boxes very much though.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Perhaps the "long box" is what I saw but it definitely had several separate lid sections...that could simply be part of the design so one didn't have to open up a large long lid. If one were to put a row of honey supers on top is it above the entire thing or would you simply take off a lid section and put a super on that?


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## KPeacock (Jan 29, 2013)

the ones i have seen had the honey supers stacked on top at one end. From waht i have seen, it looks like they have multiple small top covers, which would certainly make it easier to inspect as you wouldn't have to move anything heavy. you wouldn;t need to utilize the honey super atop the long lang. You could just pull frames whenever you see fit. 

Out of curiousity, i was planning to build a TBH this winter, but now I'm debating about making a long lang as well. I like the idea of gear interchangability. What i don;t like is adding an entire 10-frame deep on a hive that is only filling a single deep. It seems like a recipe for pest problems. I'd rather expand their quarters as they build up. I don;t know why i think this would be better, but it seems to make sense to me. This is just my first year though.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Here is a related thread, with some photos:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...r-backyard-hobbyist&highlight=horizontal+hive

Member C_erezha _has horizontal Lang hives with vertical supering capabilities. Here is one of his threads, with some photos:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...p=956326&highlight=horizontal+hive#post956326


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

My first year as well. With honey supers I made the mistake of just peaking in to see how many frames had ben drawn...8 drawn on both sides--> add another super. But it seems of those were only full filled 1/2 way down. Lesson...check the entire frame not just the top inch or so


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

WBVC... I experimented with the concept you talk about, a few years ago. I did it by building a new bottom board that would accommodate two Lang deeps sitting side by side, with the bottom open under the two Langs.. The bees could move from one box to the other by going under the bottom bars and under the two side peices of the Langs that were placed together. . During Summer months this was no problem, and the queen did move into the 2d box and lay. I did not allow it to go through the Winter in the horizontal configuration because I thought the cluster might not move under and then into the adjacent box, and could starve with the other box full of honey.

I experimented with the system primarily for making splits. I could isolate the queen in one box with a queen excluder,(standing on edge) then when I wanted to take a couple of splits from the horizontal setup, I already knew where the queen was, so all I had to do was open the top of the lang that the queen was not in, take out the number of frames that I wanted, very quickly. As soon as I removed those frames, I added drawn brood comb, then opened the other Lang, found the queen, and put her in this box with a frame of unsealed brood. Since she could not go back to the other Lang, this box became the brood chamber. I could then, at any time I wanted to, open the other side and remove bees to make another split to sell nucs. I always knew where the queen was, did not have to lift boxes, and always had bees and brood available for a quick split without looking for the queen.

For selling nucs, ease of splitting, isolating where the queen is, it is a good system. I had three of these. But, for overwintering, I would always go back to vertical. I only used this a couple of years and found that I didn't mind lifting the boxes and I can normally find the queen quickly anyway. Moving them off the double bottom board and reconfiguring to vertical each Fall was a hassle. 

If you are making honey, you could easily put shallows on these two deeps placed horizontal. The drawback is, you will need to build a new bottom board that is 34 1/2 inches wide. Use migratory tops on each Lang, That way you can open only one Lang at a time. Overall, I would not recommend it for honey production. If I really wanted horizontal, rather than vertical, I would find someone to build a 30 to 40 frame horizontal, much like a Top Bar Hive. But, I don't think I would like that.

I currently have three, square hives that I have built and do use. I have posted pictures of them on here somewhere. I work them by removing frames, rather than lifting the honey super off. One advantage of these is, I have not had any problem with queens going up into the honey super. This system holds 13 frames in the honey super, and the queen has 13 frames in the deep box. Of these, the queen will normally use about 9 frames.

No doubt what you are talking about will work. You don't have to lift boxes, but................. is it worth it?????? I really think not.

cchoganjr


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

I have no idea if it is worth it or not. At this point in time my intended income is honey not bees..I will some experience before considering potential income from bee sales I do know I can't work vertical Langs with several medium honey supers without assistance. I even have trouble removing a full 2nd brood deep for checking the lower one

I have asked how folks overwinter the long hives and hopefully will get some replies from folks in my climate zone. I presume they shorten up the hive space and perhaps put a honey super and some dry feed above that ..then wrap or whatever one likes to do.

Did you have poor outcomes trying to over winter in the long itself?


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

Any idea is worth it, if, it is what you need to do to continue. 

I cut the pieces for a long hive, it would have held 27 frames, but, I never assembled it. One problem I hear with horizontal hives is, the bees may be in the center of the hive at the beginning of Fall or Winter, then move toward one end, staying on honey. When they run out of honey, they may think they have consumed all the stored honey and never move back to the other end where there is lots of stored honey. They stay clustered in that end and starve. To prevent this, you could place the bees and brood toward one end of the horizontal as Fall begins and have all the honey toward the other end. That way they would not have to return to one end. They would move all Winter in one direction.

I hear long horizontal hives have some advantages, obvioulsly not lifting heavy boxes, but also some say the bees are more gentle. 

Good Luck. Do whatever you need to do to continue to enjoy your bees. It doesn't matter if it is what everyone else does, or how it has always been done. As they say at Burger King, Have it your way.

cchoganjr


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## MattDavey (Dec 16, 2011)

Here's my long hive when I first built it (x2). I really like it, but the next long hive I make will be longer (x3) as I still had to go two supers high on this one.

Also more details here: http://daveybees.wikidot.com/longhive


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

Matt Davey... Very nice. I still have the pieces for the 27 frame hive. I may put them together next Spring, build a bottom board, and just see how it performs. 

Do you extract deep frames of honey from your bottom chamber. That would be a disadvantage for me. My extractor will not accept deep frames. ( 9 frame radial). Of course I could put a false bottom and put some shallow frames in the bottom.

Have you experienced any difficulty with overwintering. I am not familiar with Winters in Victoria so don't know what you would be up against.

cchoganjr


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I run about a dozen of these hives. I have never had any issues with overwintering - but I also add an empty super on top with candy inside. I have had serious issues with heat when they are located in the desert though. These hives are my nuc makers. I am gradually moving them back up into the mountains.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeshorizontalhives.htm

I usually have a couple of them with bees in them. Putting boxes side by side doesn't work well as there is not enough communication. Putting an excluder in vertically doesn't work well for the same reason. Having all one box works well.


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## Sticky Bear (Mar 15, 2012)

Here is a couple of my horizontals, 2 this years and 4-6 more if they make it through winter well.












I will be adding over existing top one 2" close styrfoam 1/4" all around bigger with a piece of corrugated tin cut a few inches longer on ends to allow for a nice drip line from the snow fall. I'm using 4 eye bolts and 2 bungees to keep tin in place.


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I made one that holds 60 deep frames, installed a swarm on both ends. The colonies don't fight and wow can they put up some honey. Another beekeeper I know used to do this vertically, I figured it would be easier horizontally. There is no division board between colonies but there is a 'buffer zone' between them which is interesting.

All I did was take the length of a lang box and then multiply 70*the width of a frame for the final box length + wiggle space. Voila!


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks to everyone who is contributing to this thread. If my bees survive the winter I think I will try a long hive


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## MattDavey (Dec 16, 2011)

This hive drew out nearly 50 deep frames of comb last season (2 queens.)

I use all deep frames, but have only extracted honey from the supers, leaving the frames in the long hive for winter stores. I move the brood nest right up against the end for winter.

This year winter has been quite mild with bees able to forage every few days. We don't get snow, but have frosts with several nights below freezing. Usually gets weeks of cool and rainy days, but this year has been more raining at night and clear days, so getting just warm enough for the bees to forage in the middle of the day. This year I've also overwintered a 4 frame Nuc with a second box on top.

Plums are now flowering, so I put a super on last week and the hive looks very similar to what they did before winter. Except they had moved the brood nest away from the end by one frame. The end frame was capped honey. So I have "Opened the Sides". Moving two frames, one from each edge of the brood nest up into the super.

I use both top and bottom entrances on each end year round. The bottom entrances are small, 6mm (1/4") in the winter and 19mm (3/4") in the summer. The top entrances are half the width of the supers.

I've seen virtually no bearding in temperatures over 40°C (104°F). That was with a plywood pallet on top.

Here is how the bottom entrances open:


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## blamb61 (Apr 24, 2014)

Made a couple this year. Holds 33 deep frames. Used 3 8ft 1x12 for sides and ends and 1 4x8 3/4 plywood for tops and bottoms. 2 8ft 2x4 for legs. Installed a package and they are working it. Demensions are: 4ft x 19 7/8 in. Didnt cut 1x12 to deep height and just left that dimension the height of the 1x12.


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