Jar O Honey Redesign. Looking for thoughts please.

[gpemberton]

Ok so I have been thinking about doing the Jar O Honey thing that I've seen on here but I changed it up a little bit and was hoping that maybe I could get some thoughts from everyone. Thanks

I tried to upload the images but I kept getting errors so I hope these links work!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5kp...RCQUFpaXc/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5kp...AwN1k3LWM/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5kp...lETTNFQ1E/edit

Thanks

Glen

[Greg Lowe]

Are you wanting comments on the first picture or what?

[gpemberton]

Are you wanting comments on the first picture or what?

Sorry, I guess I did not specify. The first picture is the complete hive The second is what I'm hoping the outcome will be and the third picture is the Deep Box Modified. The ones I saw previously were laid out like a top board. This design allows the bees to fill the jars with comb but still use the other half of the box to expand. Not making them feel so crowded and giving the ability to add on.

I guess I was looking for thoughts on if its a bad idea, been tried, or others experiences with this. This is something I would like to try but looking for information. Thanks

[BeeSmart]

My concern might be comb built between the jars, but since I don't even have a single hive yet, that's just a guess.

[gpemberton]

My concern might be comb built between the jars, but since I don't even have a single hive yet, that's just a guess.

The bees wold not be able to be on the outside of the jars. The jars are exposed outside the hive. Its almost like a five frame nuc with a cover next to it to block the hive. The board on the outside of the holes is for support of the upper boxes. The bee's from inside the hive could go up the nuc side or up into the jars. I hope I;m making sense. Thanks for your thoughts.

[RAK]

I think it will work.

[mmmooretx]

FBM (Fat Bee Man) has a video on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl9iGjP_Lu4

[AstroBee]

I've got zero experience with this, so take my comments as such. My feeling is that your design gives the bees too many options to store nectar. I gotta believe that they will be reluctant to build comb in these jars, so I believe that you'll need to give them much less room - kind of like making comb honey. I suspect that to do this you'd have a real balancing act between swarming and getting them to accept the jars. I hope you charge a premium, because I suspect that this will be costly to your overall yield.

Let us know how it works out.

[BeeSmart]

The bees wold not be able to be on the outside of the jars. The jars are exposed outside the hive. Its almost like a five frame nuc with a cover next to it to block the hive. The board on the outside of the holes is for support of the upper boxes. The bee's from inside the hive could go up the nuc side or up into the jars. I hope I;m making sense. Thanks for your thoughts.

After looking closer at the design and reading your comment, I completely understand what you mean. If it works, this will make for a very interesting experiment for me in the future. Keep us appraised.