Rewilding the honey bee
Rewilding has become one of the most important strands of natural beekeeping over the last few years as we start to understand the importance of survivor (local) bee genetics. Whilst at the same time counteracting the loss of natural bee habitat as older hollow trees are felled at alarming rates.
As an alternative to our Custos and loghives, which are designed as minimal intervention beehives, we are also making a zero intervention, 100% rewilding hive.
This hive is a double skinned and insulated false loghive. The tall vertical cylinder interior of 37 litres offers the perfect bee cavity. The rewilding hive has 2 entrances for the bees and the interior of the hive is accessible prior to bees taking up residence via a top door above which sits cork board insulation and a heavy roof.
In 2019 we were asked by OPIE/Veilleurs Abbeille to monitor our local hives that had naturally attracted swarms as they, like us, considered these colonies as feral bees. For the hives to be applicable to the monitoring program zero intervention was necessary. Feedback from our clients confirmed that the vast majority of our hives were not being used for honey harvesting so we developed a simpler false cavity bee hive that can be easily placed high in a tree where the bees will find it and take up residence.
This year 2021 we will have over 100 hives out across France and the vast majority are naturally populated and not harvested.