The excellent thermal performance of the Paradise Honey beehive system provides a healthy environment for honeybees all year round. The Paradise Honey beehive Complete Hive Bee Box Smallersystem keeps the colony dry and warm thoughout cold and damp winters and it enabled them to be productive and healthy throughout Australia’s extremely hot summers. The Paradise Honey Beehive system achieves this because it provides more than six times the insulation value of a standard wooden beehive giving the honeybees an environment more akin to living in a large hollow tree with a large thermal protective mass. It is also worth noting that the EPS100 product is an extremely safe environment for honeybees because it is 100% inert and does not off-gas any toxic chemicals. At no time in its life cycle does it contain any Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). It is also absent of any nutritional value, so no fungi or micro-organisms, such as mould, can grow with EPS.

Here is just a few of the benefits of the Paradise Honey beehive system.

1. Improved overwintering
The excellent thermal performance of the Paradise Honey beehive provides a healthy environment for honeybees to survive cold and damp winters. Traditional wooden beehives are susceptible to condensation buildup and therefore exposes honeybee colonies to diseases like Nosema. In contrast, the design of the Paradise Honey beehive provides a dry and warm environment increasing the survival rate and overall health of honeybee colonies.

2. Faster Spring Buildup
The additional warmth provided by the Paradise Honey beehive encourages a faster build up of new brood leading to a larger more productive workforce earlier in the season. The consistent temperature across the brood frames means that the queen will lay right out to the edge (wall) frames of the brood chamber.

3. Increased Honey Production
Australian Honeybee honey production records since 2012 shows that the Paradise Honey beehives consistently outperformed traditional wooden beehives. The overall advantage consistently exceeds 35% more honey from the Paradise Honey beehives.

4. Varroa Optimised Design
While Australia is currently Varroa Mite free, there is a strong possibility it will eventually arrive. The Paradise Honey beehive is a Varroa Mite optimised design with the Varroa mesh and plate standard in the hive bottom. This makes the beehive less optimal for the Varroa Mite to survive and mites that drop to the bottom will fall through the mesh and out of the beehive where they perish. Operating the Paradise Honey beehives in Australia gives peace of mind that the hive system will make Varroa Mite management simpler should they arrive.

5. Reduced Weight
The significant reduction in the weight of the Paradise Honey beehives makes them easier to handle and transport. This has a significant advantage for commercial beekeepers transporting large quantities of beehives as it reduces fuel consumption and has potential to enable beekeepers to use smaller and more economical vehicles.

6. Integrated Feeding System
The Paradise Honey hive top feeding systems is integrated seamlessly into the beehive. This provides a convenient 10 litre feeder that is easy to install and remove when feeding is required.

7. Reduced Swarming
The Paradise Honey beehive system includes an optional, integrated queen trap system that when installed, traps the queen in the bottom box (brood chamber). The queen trap system can be installed at time of early spring buildup and removed after the swarming period has passed. Any attempt by the colony to swarm will be unsuccessful because the queen is unable to join the swarm. The swarming honeybees quickly return to the beehive when they discover that the queen has not joined the swarm.

The cost of swarming is significant for beekeepers because of the loss of the honeybee workforce and the recovery time required for the beehive to produce a new queen and replenish its brood. Avoiding swarming for any beekeeping operation means more honey is produced leading to a more profitable business.

8. Reduced assembly effort
The Paradise Honey beebox is easy to assemble and prepare for deployment into the beekeeping operation. Assembly is as simple as applying exterior grade PVC glue to the joints and pressing the component together. The Paradise Honey hive tops require no assembly and the hive bottoms required minimal assembly.

9. Ergonomic Design
The ergonomic design of the Paradise Honey beehives provides a number of benefits. The molded handgrips on the ends and sides of the bee boxes are comfortable and easier to grip. The stepped profile on the top and bottom edges of the beebox interlocks the boxes together. This eliminates the penetration of water between the boxes during wet weather conditions.

10. Enviromental Credentials
The EPS100 beehive by Paradise Honey come with excellent environmental credentials. The benefits to the honeybees wellbeing is indisputable in that they provide the colony with an environment that is more akin to living in a large hollow tree which offers a large thermal mass to protect them against the outside elements and the damp. A wooden beebox with their thin walls offer the honeybees very little thermal protection.

During the production of expanded polystyrene, neither chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs) nor hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are used. Therefore, the installed insulation does not experience off-gassing that may effect air quality. EPS is the lightest of all construction materials in common use – thus helping minimising the environmental impacts and costs associated with the movement of heavier wooden and plastic beehives particulally commercial beekeepers who shift their bees several time per year. EPS beehives will have a considerably longer life than traditional wooden hives which suffer from dry rot and white ant infestation. EPS is recyclable at many stages of its life cycle including during production, all manufacturing waste can be fully reprocessed by milling or granulating into pellets and adding to the production mix without any detriment to the quality of the finished EPS product.

For more information, we recommend  “Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and the Environment” and “EPS Technical Briefing”.

Australian Honeybee has been operating the Paradise Honey Beebox series beehives in Australia since 2012 and the results have been exceptional. From the very first season, the Paradise Honey beehives have proved their value, producing 35% more honey on average than our 10 frame Langstroth wooden hives. The reduced weight has enabled us to operate with a smaller more economical vehicle for transport of the beehives. The exceptional thermal performance and optimal ventilation of the Paradise Honey beehives is making a positive impact on the health of our honeybees.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs