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Perone Hive Plans Anyone?

26K views 38 replies 20 participants last post by  GregB 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Im considering to build a Perone Hive but cant find any plans on the net. I have problems finding out how to build the roof. Does it have ventilation or quilt or not, etc...?

Thank you
 
#2 ·
From what I see they are able to be built or "assembled" on top of a regular lang hive or warre.
If you were going to build one from scratch I would consider making the topbars from your TBH fit the new hive to facilitate transfers between the two.
The few I saw did not mention a quilt but a regular looking top cover.
 
#3 ·
There will be no transfers between hives in my Apiary. All "transfers" will be done by catching prime swarms and placing them into an empty hive.
No more splits for me, no Queen cell destroying, no more comb manipulating, other than taking some honey at the end of the season, propolis, honey comb wax and some pollen (if the year is good).
The brood box is opened only if the colony dies for clean up otherwise only a stubborn inspector can make me open it for inspection.

But i will keep the same size top bars to match the nuke box for the prime swarms to be sold. And in case they arent sold i can simply start a new hive

So the Perone you'v seen have solid roof without any ventilation at all?
 
#9 ·
@ Che, are you planing to build 1 just for a trial in Sweden. If you are, keep in touch with me, for your weather is similar to mine. And I am always interested in a better way to keep bees. I have known and kepted up with Oscar since 2008. I see now He is also placing some in the mountains of Chile. I may build one this winter to try next spring with a package.
Best Regards:
Charlie
 
#14 · (Edited)
In the video, it looks like that the box made cheaply. Since,it never moved, it should not be very strong. It is basically a "cubicle" with the slotted lid. Slots imitated the frames. They put on top the smaller (shorter) boxes for honey, equivalent to Lang's supers. Once "super" is full, it is removed as a whole and extracted using crush-and-strain. Initially, Perone used 3 Lang's mediums attached together (cube) as a nest chamber with foundationless frames on the top. The Perone's second generation model is just a huge box without movable frames. Very interesting design. Sergey
http://beehivejournal.blogspot.com/2010/02/oscar-perone-hive.html
 
#15 ·
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#16 ·
Oscar
Many thanks for your efforts. I think, your idea is great! It is interesting - I actually, re-designed my Lang hive in the direction similar to yours. I was not bold enough to put 3 mediums together for the nest, but, it is basically a one unit. I also do not use classical frames - I have top bars instead. Top bars created sort of "lid" very similar to your slotted lid. I made my cahnges before I learned about your hive. I was pleased to know that this approach works very well in your hands. Hopefully, it would work for me also. Good luck with your mission! I love Spain: Gaudi, Barcelona, Dali, Goya... Sergey
 
#19 ·
> I though I had tried every different type of hive, but suddenly I feel the need to switch to Perone hives.

Bees are happy in any cavity that is within certain size variance (and it's a lot of variance) and opening variance. I've found healthy productive colonies in the dry gas tanks of old cars, soffits, old abandoned water heaters, floor joists, 2 x 4 walls etc. I wouldn't change hives for the bees. They won't care. I would only change them for your convenience.
 
#20 ·
I'm just beginning and my daughter had bought me a starter kit with a Langstroth without knowing that I had the plans for a Perone and have someone giving me a top bar. I took a class at the University of AZ and two of the beekeeprs are setting up in my yard. We'll be able to run an experiment for the next couple of years to see what the differences are. I'm very happy to be part of the group and spending a whole lot of time on YouTube watching all I can find. Thanks for the input Michael! I visit your web page ALL the time.
 
#21 ·
>We'll be able to run an experiment for the next couple of years to see what the differences are.

Just keep in mind, when you set up two or three hives and treat them identically, they do differently. The differences from one colony to the next will make a bigger difference than from one piece of equipment to the next...
 
#22 ·
When my Warre was threatening to swarm, I knew I didn't want any more hives so I asked around to see if anyone wanted it. Being a prime swarm, I wanted to make sure the person appreciated it. Vernon said he wanted a swarm and he had built a Perone. That's great...here's a new beekeeper who has built his own hive "for the bees, not the beekeeper." We gave him our bucket of bees and he gave us his detailed pictures of his newly built Perone. They can be seen here...
http://solarbeez.com/2013/05/23/vernons-perone-hive/
For a person who only recently learned how to take photos, transfer them to the computer, and email them, I'm appreciating what he has done as much as he's appreciating the swarm I gave him.
 
#27 ·
Am I missing something, but it appears that this is similar to a skep, where the comb is permanently attached to cross bracing sticks. You just have the honey/comb boxes added to the top.

It appears that the brood nest is not "inspect able", if so anyone in the US be careful with this hive style. Most of the states require that you can remove the brood comb for inspection.

I'd check the local regs before you build and have to remove this style hive... It is a neat idea though..
 
#30 ·
It appears that the brood nest is not "inspect able" ..
Perone hive is not designed for inspections - it's designed to leave it alone and come from time to time to collect honey-supers. Practically no maintenance required :)

In his early design, Perone used standard Lang's boxes attached to each other to create a "nest volume". He drifted away from Lang once he eliminated frames - than dimensions are not important. In my design, I am using a hybrid approach inspired by Rose, Warre and Perone. I am using Lang's dimension boxes and top bars (instead frames). Top Bars are easy to move. Since, I am not so experienced beekeeper, I prefer do not interfere much in the nest. So, nest is on their own most of the time (I do necessary inspections). I am just managing honey part (chekerboarding mainly). My personal impression is that bees love large combs in the nest. In Russia and Ukraine large frames are very popular. In fact, so called "Ukrainian beehive" has gigantic frames (horizontal design, like a chest with lid). It seems to me that large continuous nest area is beneficial to bees and they are doing well in such beehives (not necessary convenient to the beekeeper). Mine bees were never treated with anything but love :) for 4 years for now.
 
#28 ·
I watched one of the videos where after a few months they could no longer open the brood chamber due to comb breakage. I am closing down the giant hives I built in 2007. Didn't work for me and mine had frames. The frame hive is a brilliant invention. You can work all combs and process them in a neat and clean manner. Size does matter......
 
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