Custos Apium hives - just for the bees
For millions of years, bees lived and survived in natural cavities in trees or in rock formations. Beekeeping began in pottery vessels, some 9.000 years ago in North Africa and domestication of bees is first shown in Egyptian art from 4.500 years ago. In the 18th century, humans started to 'hive' the bees, in order to have easy access to the honey, and later other bee-products, without having to destroy the entire colony at harvest time. The end result is that beekeepers now keep their bees in simple wooden boxes with movable combs that don't even remotely resemble the bees' natural habitat. This has contributed to the bees demise and problems.
As we strive to keep (our) bees healthy in a natural way, we offer our bees homes that go back to natures principles. Our hive is specifically designed to keep bees in a habitat that closely resembles their wild preferred one. Both in size and interior conditions. The hive is insulated to keep the nest warm, a vital requirement to keep the colony healthy. Read more about how our hive works here or see all options and prices.
Providing swarms a place to go
Strong healthy hives produce a swarm most years to reproduce. This is natural behaviour and should never get obstructed or prevented. If swarms don't get 'hived' after leaving the original nest, or they originated from a wild colony, they will look for a suitable place to go. By placing our hive, empty, in the garden, or on your property, you will have a very big chance of catching bees in this way in this hive, ready to start beekeeping. Read more about using our hive as bait hive here.
Unfortunately, with the loss of natural habitat bees often have difficulty finding suitable sites and end up in chimneys, walls, roof space, compost bins. By offering the bees a home that closely mimics their natural habitat, we can try to prevent this inconvenience.