🔵Apimaye Introduction! (The Swiss army knife of Hives) 

This is the new Hive we are trying out. The Apimaye hive: amzn.to/2uOncKJ and check out the Apimay website here apimaye-usa.com/collections/apimaye-for-wooden-hives/products/bottom-board-for-wooden-beehives?sca_ref=108083.7Dl7FRkLNo Our favorite hivetool, books, and all kinds of other beekeeping tools & equipment we use from Amazon can be found here: www.amazon.com/shop/tennessees-bees

One thing I find amazing is the fact that the weather and pests can't get in easily between the boxes. Thus reducing the bees sealing the leaks which in turn make the splitting Sooooo much easier. Cleaning for AFB is also easier using a strong bleach as compared to soaking wood or irradiating. No more wax dipping boxes, saves money all round.

Looks great new but will be interesting to see how the bees are going to gum up everything. Great vid and looking forward to future ones on this subject.

In Australia we have been using the Pacific polystyrene hives for years and I have been trying to get your Northern bee keepers to try them, our temps are high and we have noticed an increased honey return from the insulated hives, of up to 25%. Baring this in mind a lot of commercial bee keepers have completely converted to using them, as they pay for themselves in the first year of use. The bees just use up less energy keeping the hives cool or in your case warm, causing less demand on resources. Keep smiling it helps a heap lol

A friend of mine has these hives his bees are only for pollination of orchards. For various reasons I have started looking after these hives. I will be managing them for honey aswell which is my reward. While they have many advantages some of the drawbacks I have found are The bees fill in the ventilation holes in the screens and vents and they are not easy to clean. When placing a supper on you tend to crush a lot of bees do to the rebate . You can rotate the box and clear the bees on the lower section of rebate The ones I'm working with you cant fit two brood boxes together if you wish to. They have many positives and look forward to your videos

I love trying different things. Thanks for sharing info on these.

I started off 2 packages, 2 feet apart, one in Apimaye and one in a new wood hive. The bees bearded daily in the apimaye hive and whether its the queen or just bad luck, there were a lot more varroa mites in the Apimaye,. as of today, they overwinter the same. I drilled a hole into the plastic for pro vape 110 and was just careful when treating. It is harder to seal this hive up to prevent the vapors from escaping. The apimaye hive is heavier to lift then the wooden ones, but goes together easier. I do like it, but not enough to purchase another one. Also, did not use the pollen trap yet or need to use the dividers. Would have been nice for me if they made it 8 frame. No issues with condensation and no more or less small hive beetles then the wood hive. They do not over propolise any part of the hive. Definite disadvantage if they were to get american foulbrood, will just pray that never happens. I live in South east Nebraska

I have a plastic bottom board, and did my first treatment with OA vaporizer, and guess what? the plastic melts, I am still trying to figure out how to avoid it, probably be a copper tube I put in or something similar...

Great video thanks, i put handles on most of my wooden brood boxes for my hives works really good to carry them around,🐝🐝

Awesome looking hive body. Nice options

Thanks for trying out different things!! I'll be following your videos to see how things pan out.

I am second year beekeeper in Manchester UK, I use two of the ergonomic Apimaye hives. Bee overwintered nicely. Actually the best colony and largest in number- frames of brood in April!! out of ten single box. They could be the perfect hives if not for their heavy weight. I did not find any other con, all the rest is pro and its like tens of them. Very Happy with it.

Very interesting. It will be interesting to see how well the plastic holds up to daily wear and tear. Especially in the cold weather.

Interesting. Swiss Army knife is a good comparison. Thanks for the video 👍👍🐝🐝

Looked into the Apimaye last year. Very expensive but I did buy the bottom board for $50 and put regular wood deeps on top. Great product if you can afford them.

Very nice 👍. Richard Noel has a video of his girlfriend in Hawaii working this hive. Very versatile. I want one too. Great video. Thanks

I haven’t seen you review Better Comb, but I wanted to say that in my Apimaye frames, I installed Better Comb in all the frames, and only had to trim a one and a half cell thick strip from one long and one short side, and then press the vertical comb stays into the wax after sandwiching in the sheet .. the bees love it. Your videos are great. Keep it up.

I have 15 Apimaye hives. I've lost only one hive during the winter out of the 15, two years in a row. I think they are the best hive going.

Just ordered one to try it out I live in New Brunswick Canada

Way to go DUDE!! That was the third hive I ever got. I’m a geek and wanted to experiment!! Have fun! I look forward to the videos on this especially!! Hi Laurel!!

Nice hives , takes polysterence hives to the next level

When i researched this, alot of more experienced bee farmers than me said there's way too many places for hive beetles to hide

Would be willing to bet you could fit 2 5 fram rater than 4... They are so nicely spaced otherwise

I really like my new ergo 2...the feeder things are clear. ...I’m adding plastic screens near the feeder entrance to give a ladder for liquid feeding which should work great.

Hi Kamon I just sold a couple of nucs to a customer that had purchased these. I liked them so much I ordered one for myself. I like you am excited to give it a try. Probably can’t afford a bunch of them but will probably slowly try to buy a few.

Thank you for the video. Hubs and I are going to order one! I subscribed to your channel and hope to learn more from you. This will be our first try at beekeeping.

Best Hives I ever had. Have 10 of these, queen will start laying earlier due to being able to maintain a warmer, enviroment. I notice honey consumption in the winter is cut in half, due to be able to maintain a warmer enviroment. Easier to feed sugar water, note I have found that several bees drown when trying to get to the sugar water, solved this taking piece of wood used to fasten down the foundation on wooden frames. Cut lengths wide enough to fit snug against the walls, on the syrup side. Cut down drowning dramatically. Did away with there plastic frames, lots of places in the plastic frames for hive beetles to hide and did . Used wooden frames, no problems. Bottom tray is great, gives me all kinds of information on what is going on with the hive. Helps with hive beetles, the bees will force them in the ventilations slots and most will fall in, can't get out, also the larva will fall into the trey and can easily be smashed. I check the trays out once to twice a week. Smash them all. Have caught the grey moths in the tray, they are chased in by the the bees, got be quick to kill these pest, they got wings. High number of wax cappings or foundation crumbs could be a indicater that the hive should be checked. Bottom trey is a great tool and acts as a prison for undesirable pest. Pricey, yes, but will last for years, rot proof, no problem with ultra violet rays. They will pay for themselves by help in brood rearing, more honey, since the bees seem not to consume as much in winter, easy to move around, varmint resistant. will not come apart if a large animal knocks them over or the wind causes problems. Just love mine and very pleased with them!

Mine is coming this Wed, so psyched!

Looks like a burr comb factory when you use the divider! A lot of extra space in there. Can you get 5 frames in? Looks like it would be great for overwintering nucs like Micheal Palmer. I like making a 4 frame nuc and then as they build up, add a second box on top and let them fill that with honey to overwinter with. We have a long winter (5 months or more without flying) here in Newfoundland so might be worth a try. Curious how the top on the boxes will hold out over time with inspections, prying frames out, etc. Great to the point videos btw. Thanks

If you live in a climate that you need to purchase two season equipment: bottom board and all the winter accessories, then in the summer, all the other items it comes to about the same. Of course we are going with the wood frames we already have. Cost is pretty close.

Thanks !!

I'm a "newbee" and just got one of these hives to try along with a wood langstrom type. I was really overwhelmed when I git this hive outa the box with all the parts. The booklet that came with it wasn't very helpful. Thanx for this video series, it us awesome and a great help.

There is definitely a lot of versatility in this system. It will definitely be interesting to see how this performs over the course of this next season. Thanks for sharing.

At $400 a hive it is a pretty spendy option. The benefits to hive health and longevity would have to be huge to justify the investment. I am also concerned about component availability and being limited to a single supplier. Having said that, there some interesting ideas.Foe example, what would it take to add locking handles to a conventional hive?And if insulation turns out to be broadly beneficial you can go to something like Joe Mays’ DIY insulated hive boxes.

A nuc customer of mine bought two of these and brought them over last year for me to install the nucs into. Thought it was very well designed. Looking forward to this series.

Awesome, I’ve been interested in this type also. Plus I’ve never seen one in person either 🍻🍻

We have 12 of these hives and we are in east central Mn, we have had them for 3 years and love them!!! No need to insulate in the winter and we don't get much bearding in the hot summer months. No warping, no cracking, just one tough hive. Very versatile!!!! 2 of our hives are the 7 frame "Nuc" hives that we use as resource hives,,, these have division boards as well so they can be used as 2 - 3 frame nuts for starting new colonies!! Well worth the investment.

Please keep us posted on their performance. My husband and I are planning on putting 24 hives on our land and have been trying to research what would be the best ones to use. So far mixing parts depending quality and price from Dadant and Mannlake seems to be our direction. However, I have been eyeballing these Apimaye hives. Their prices aren’t bad in comparison to regular hives, and all parts included. My only concern is durability in hot south and central Florida. Let us know what your verdict it. Thanks a million for this.

if you use a single brood, can you use the upper box as a super or should you buy a smaller box?

Hi from TurkeyTurkey

I am a new beekeeper and wanted one, but do not have the lump sum yet to put out for it. Will be very excited to watch your progress with this hive. Also, since TN is warmer than further north and I live further south I am interested in the heat insulation properties as well. This is off subject Kamon, but I have opportunity for used brood boxes, nucs and used frames with comb and used old frames. These are of course at greatly reduced cost. However, concerned about disease and pests. Do you have a recommendation on what to do and use in sterilizing used equipment? Or is it not worth the chance of introducing problems? I currently have one smallish colony. Thank you!

Great video I was glad to see the dividing boards what I am wondering is can I stack regular boxes on top of it I know there are apimaye mediums but it might save me some money if I can use it in conjunction with my wooden boxes.

Interested to know how you would do OAV with the hive if you only have a wand.

I think the hive will become a favorite of yours. I run quite a few of them in OK and they do great in our heat. I move hives around alot and the system makes that simple to do. I always hear the price is to much also. I think most people don't really know what they have tied up into each hive ie.. QE, pollen traps, feeders, SHB trap, mouse guards, straps, painting, building etc. I am also exclusively thermal treatment and these hives make it easy to preform that. Interested in your series over them and what you think of them in TN.

Looking forward to seeing it in action, that way we know whether or not to buy one.

Hello, is necessary to unscrew the bottom before start with beekeeping season just to easy clean bottom after wintering? I did not, and now, I need to remove all colony from the hive just to clean bottom. What the solution there? Thank you.

It's what I use

Plastic can become brittle in cold weather it will be interesting to test in the north, to see what cracks first.

If you eat pollen directly you take 10% profit amino acid vitamin. But if you put pollen yogurt mix it. And wait 12 hours 4 degree in refrigerator than eat your body weins hearts lungs always healthy especially for smokers lung disease... Circassian people's habit.. long life

With it being plastic can a oxalytic vape be used

Cool hive but pricey!

Just found this playlist, and am really excited to see how the apimaye hive works for you as you are about a month or two ahead of us. First time beekeepers in a coastal Alaska town, and we just installed two colonies of Old World Carniolans into two of these hives in the back yard. Temps were around mid 40s and light rain when we installed (not a lot of warm sunny windows to shoot for), but a couple days later we checked on the queens and the hives were putting out lots of heat and already had some comb started. One of the hives is confined to half the box for now, the other doesn't have the divider in it. I have a few questions, first did you use the spacers? Some of our local mentoring beekeepers said try to place the frames as close together as possible to stay warm, but without the divider board they wiggle. Our second question was have you had any issues with moisture? It's incredibly rainy and windy here, so we've been hemming and hawing over the ventilation, whether to open it up to allow air flow or keep it minimal to avoid the mist or sideways rain. Anyway, super excited to see more videos featuring these hives, thanks and we look forward to the next one.

Sweet, thanks for trying one out for us Kamon. I'll be following along closely on this one. I changed over to all (or almost all) plastic hives about five years ago but it was because it was cheaper than wood. I went with a company in CA's boxes and used plastic bottoms and inners and covers from other companies. Bees didn't care a bit that the hives were plastic and I have gotten along very well with them. They last better, no fudging paint or coatings to deal with and the longevity of good UV resistant plastic and I have far fewer mouse issues. These hives look better than what I use but they are absurdly expensive...but...you make a good point about considering all the features, what's included and their versatility. Pollen traps alone are NOT cheap, nor are hive top feeders now throw in chaser boards, rodent guards, good ventilation...and they'll outlast five normal hives...at least. Considering it all those things are cheap, if a person can afford to lay out the cash to start with. I'm going to order a couple of them and give them a look see this year as well. They are sure well thought out to fit our style of bee keeping.

I have 3 apimays and in all of them they survived 2 winter's with more food stores then the traditional !I love them !

I love these , don't normally like gadgets but these are well thought out

When is the Facebook group going to open back up?

How will an oxalic acid sublimation work on the plastic?

So you can turn it into nucs and grow it without moving them into another box. That alone would save so much time for splits

I so wanted Apimaye but the cost was too much for 2 hives... Im leaning towards Paradise about 240 bucks for 3 deep hive bodies a bottom board inner and outer cover and hive top feeder... includes the frames...

hi sir my country is Bangladesh is box ka price kitna hai please bolna ❤

Looking forward to your thoughts on this next year

Interesting, but unless you have a need for all the Whistles & Bells, it is a waste of money. And that's a lot of Plastic!

I am completing my first year with some Apimaye hives and I love them. They’re 7 frame nucs are amazing too. I’ve got a feeling you are going to end you with a bunch of these in the future. I am. I’m also using their bottom boards that are made for wood boxes.

I found the top feeder is a major problem, Moore than expected bred drowned, any suggestion ??

LONGER VERSION LIKE A HORIZONTAL TYPE OR MINI ESKY VERSION THEY WILL OWN THE BEE WORLD WORTH BILLIONS.. IF MOLDED BLOCKS ON TOP OF HIVE FOR TRANSPORT WOULD BE BETTER ALSO...

where are the other apimaye videos?

Can you add a wooden super to top of this or do you have to buy their super?

Thanks for this video, you answered a lot of my questions about these hive, hope you make some more using the divider boards, and loading the frames with wax and plastic foundations, what fits best?

Has anyone tried painting the outside of these plastic hives? I'd like to change colors and add UV protection to the plastic.

Can you use those frames foundationless?

Kid in a candy shop !!

Welcome to the apimaye family ! Enjoy!

BPA free plastic?

Will you have nucs for sale by the end of march?

My grandaughter considering bees for ffa. Are there any type grants help kids w costs like this?

Just bought an Apimaye hive set with out frames. Can I use regular frames in this hive?

🇨🇦 Kaymon I’m sold. Wintered 40 singles this year. Had a cpl weaker hives that I didn’t marry via paper method. The ability to turn into a dbl nuc would of been perfect not to mention making nucs. Question when you have second box on the dbl nucs is there room either between boxes or on top for pollen patties. Thanks look fwd to more videos on said system.

have you played with a flo hive yet?

That’s a really expensive Swiss Army knife.

At $380 each?! It ain’t for anyone who has more then 20 or so hives.... that’s an insane amount to invest. They are cool but not for that much would I be switching over... maybe a few here and there... sure

Plastic? No.

388 bucks on Amazon holy smokes.

That's so handy, I'm surprised that it doesn't come with Flow frames, lol.

JESUS CHRIST HERE 👑,,, I'M GOING TO MAKE MINE OUT OF WOOD, ,JUST LIKE THAT,,,, WOOD RULES,,,,, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!,,,,,,,,,,,,, AND,,,,,,, PRAISE GOD AMEN AMEN AND AMEN .🐝

You will go all apimaye after first season worth every penny

Nooooooo thanks

Thet is a beautiful hive. Not for me....I got 20 plastic bothoms. Much chiper. We colect around 100kg off polen evre year. Gota frizer just for thet. Your big hives shud doo it in one mont. Pliz Google Tehno-plast Gligorijevic . Best, chipest plastic bhotom bords. You must have samthing similar in US

If I ever get down your way I will trade you one of my extra unused polystyrene hives for some of your honey so you can do an experiment/study of that type of hive too.

And if you get AFB are you going to burn that hive? It'll be interesting to see how all those tight fitting sliding plastic parts work after everything is all propolized. Sorry to be a downer, bit this just seems like more of the bee supplier industry making stuff we don't need (i.e. man made comb, flow hive, etc..). Just more trash for the landfill.

A expensive toy. Just cheaper to glue or screw a insulation board on the outside of an wooden box.