In July 2007, Mister Christian Nicot from Nicoplast establishment introduced me to his colonies behaviour in his Dadant 1 shallow-frame honey chambers.

Disposition:

– A honey chamber with the queen bee and the frames,
– A queen excluder,
– Pileup of honey chambers.

Since 2010, we have started using those divisible hives for our colonies. Subsequently, in 2012 and 2013, we have strongly developed colonies on divisible frames and have reduced our number of brood chamber frames.

Advantages:

– The light weight,
– The colonies’ dynamics,
– High production of honey,
– A single type of frame,
– Increase the effectiveness of the anti-varroa treatments on a horizontal cluster disposition.

Risks:

– The reserves’ control
– Sensitivity to the cold related to the cluster disposition.

Notice:

In the first honey chamber above the queen excluder, the bees generally leave 1 hole for the queen’s laying.

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production