Location: Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12, UK
As I mentioned in my last post, in July this year I started a very busy job. To use the Thermosolar Hive effectively one needs a day above 20C to be able to be near these hives to deliver the thermosolar treatment and kill the varroa. Ideally, you would deliver two thermosolar treatments in April/May and then another two in August/September.
I work in an office 5 days a week and then two children and many jobs need my attention at weekends, hence I cannot be sure of being free on a couple of key weekends to deliver the treatment.
I have written about these amazing hives that deliver chemical-free, varroa treatment here:
I am sad to not be using them but I would rather someone else used them effectively and then wrote 2 reviews per year (with photos) for 3 years. This will help readers understand this new hive better.
The hives were painted and put into the allotment in the Summer (2017). They are very high quality. There is a brood box, 3 supers, roof and solar panel.
These hives retail new for £530 ($690) and I will sell for £400 each (or nearest offer), plus the reviews.
Please contact me using Contact Form and please leave a phone number as we may need to discuss.
I have nucs of bees and other items for sale as I scale down my operation: Items for sale
I had two hives in the locations I was to put the Thermosolar Hives. It was simply a question of lifting out the frames and placing in the new hives.
Key points during the transfer:
I had to cut plastic queen excluder so it fit the hive dimensions
My guess of SSE facing for the original hives was 90 degrees incorrect, so I had to point the new hives in this new direction
The brood boxes only take eight 14×12 frames (this is the equivalent to a national brood box) – so a super below is required (I’ll have to ask Thermosolar Hive team if this was the plan?)
I had to plug the holes in the Thermosolar ceiling as bees could get in and out
There was 200 dead and slow moving bees 2 hours later. Not sure if this was the result of fighting (bees confused due to 90 degree hive rotation and trying to enter wrong hive) or due to hunger and confusion (could not find entrance and they ran out of energy trying to find it). Thoughts please.
That said majority of bees in the hive!
Next day, a lot of bees flying about in confused manner around green hive
My blue hive appears queen-less, so planning to combine another colony onto this hive. Hive notes and plans can be found here: My Apiary. Also planning some further combining to create stronger hives for the second nectar flow that will start in a week or two. Grateful for any thoughts on my plans.
I have been talking about the Thermosolar Hive for over a year now (it claims to kill 100% of varroa using a thermosolar, chemical-free treatment). It has now successfully completed a crowd fundraising process and they have very kindly given me two which I am excited to use and write about. I have no connection to the Thermosolar Hive team and will only give a truthful and independent review and feedback on this hive.
First Reaction
From the moment I took away the packaging and opened the hive I can honestly say you could feel the quality and it had some great beekeeping features. It’s weighty, the parts fit together well, there are handles on the side of each box to help lifting, the inside of the brood and super boxes is made of metal to stop pathogens and there are entrances on each super to give the bees direct access.
Here is me giving an overview of the hive before I put the bees in it.
The Key Components
I wish I had closed the garage door before taking these photos! Please ignore the mess and focus on the beauty.
From the bottom up …
The building barrier (below) prevents bees building comb down into the space of the bottom board.
You can also see the white insulation frame in the photo below to help dissipate the heat coming through the window.
The roof is upside down, below, so that you can see more of the detail.
Below is the thermometer that comes with the hive. There are two of these per hive. The cable and sensor are waterproof but not the display unit. This begs another question for Jan and Roman.
Supers and the brood box have additional entrances for the bees. I need to find out more about how to use these effectively. Any advice from readers?
Eliminating Varroa
Their literature that comes with the hive is very confident that it will kill 100% of the varroa. The science is good (varroa die above 40C, bees tolerate the temperature range). But will it work in practice – that is what we need to know.
Thermosolar Hive Guide
They also supply a handy guide on how to the use the hive: Thermosolar Hive Guide (this is a PDF that downloads).
All I need to do now is get some bees in them. I am going to transfer the hive frames from the south facing hives in the allotment. Read My Apiary for more info.
My Questions For Thermosolar Hive Team
Please comment if you have more questions.
Has the peer-reviewed, University paper on the Thermosolar hive been published? Please can you email me a link?
I will be using the anti-swarm method promoted on your website. Your Thermosolar guide refers to literature on this method, please could you email me a link or attachment?
As I am using anti-swarm method I will be placing a super below the brood box. Does the lower temperature sensor go into the bottom of the super box or bottom of the brood box?
None of the supers had Thermosolar windows. Will this be OK when I am doing Thermosolar treatment?
Do they have a recommended solution for waterproofing the thermometer display unit or is it best to just use the thermometer on the day of the Thermosolar treatment?
Does he have any recommended reading on using the extra entrances into the brood box and supers?
Why is there a rear entrance in the floor component that the bees could enter and exit? Is it an to aid a swarm control method?
The outer dimensions of the hive are not the same as the British national dimensions. The Thermosolar hive has smaller external dimensions that the national. My queen excluder will work fine with a bit of overlap on the outside? However, my QE with rhombus bee escape and jumbo feeder does not fit. Do you have products or recommendation for clearing supers and feeding?
Do you have any preference of non-caustic cleaner for the metal part of the roof?
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