METHOD FOR YEAR-ROUND KEEPING OF BEE COLONIES IN MODERATELY-COOL LATITUDES, AND DOUBLE-BODY HIVE Russian patent published in 1995 - IPC

FIELD: apiculture. SUBSTANCE: bee colony is kept in winter in a single-body hive whose body serves as the upper body of the double-body hive where the same bee colony has spent the spring and summer seasons. While assembling a winter hive, this body is placed on a hollow magazine extension positioned on the detachable bottom of the hive while a safety feeding frame is placed on the comb frames flatwise with a guaranteed clearance. The method also provides for springtime expansion of the brood nest by means of a second body. This expansion is undertaken only once using foundation frames. The method is realized by the use of a sectional double-body hive containing not over 10 brood nest frames at least 300 mm high each. The inside volume of the under-roof space should be larger than the standard one. EFFECT: growing a strong highly-productive bee colony, reducing the amount of labor and time required for maintenance of bee garden. 2 cl, 2 dwg