Eco Bee Box Created the Utah Hive – 2013

This video shows the new box being used for Queen Rearing, but comb honey is maybe another great possibility.

This box was initially created to produce comb honey and is intended to be a low effort for the beekeeper.

Here is the reasoning:

To prepare the honey for bottles, you need to rent or buy an extractor, uncapping tool, buckets, strainers, filters, and bottles.  In the end, the consumer doesn’t know if you modified the honey and essentially you get little for your messy, high effort – honey.

Comb honey is in demand by the consumer and essentially is untouched and unaltered by the beekeeper.

Comb honey sells for more.

Comb honey up until now requires a variety of equipment and still takes lots of time and some comb equipment is made with plastic and the bees hate it.

Here is a suggestion!

A Utah Hive is two boxes that fit side-by-side on a Langstroth hive.  They can be placed in between two deep supers with a queen excluder and the bees will build from the top and bottom.  (Similar to Micheal Palmer’s system).

The frames are foundation-less and require no effort.  Add a little thin surplus to each frame to help the bees a bit.

The frames are inserted the short distance in the box, creating a variation for the bees and a comb that is about 6″x6″.  This is an ideal size for honeycomb.  One level has 26 frames and the bees from a strong hive can fill it in about one to two weeks.

This system allows the beekeeper to open and get frames of honey without disturbing the entire hive.  Honey can be taken from specific periods of the season as the beekeeper desires.

A frame taken from the Utah Hive can be easily cut out by taking a knife along the inside of the frame.  To extract we suggest dropping the comb into a sandwich baggy. Get as much air out as you can.  After it is sealed, squish the honey until all the comb is open.  Let stand on the counter overnight.  All the wax floats to the top, honey settles to the bottom.  Pop a tiny hole in the bottom of the baggy and squish out like icing.  Done!

No extracting equipment needed!  All-natural.  Nothing foreign added. Bottling omitted.  The baggies are cheap.  No mess.

For small backyard beekeepers, this is the way to go.