Log Hive
Lexikon
The log hive is one of the oldest artificial bee dwellings and consists of a hollowed-out tree trunk, into the side of which a hive entrance is cut and into whose interior wooden bars are fitted crosswise, from which the bees hang their combs.
The log hive is one of the oldest artificial bee dwellings and consists of a hollowed-out tree trunk, into the side of which a hive entrance is cut and into whose interior wooden bars are fitted crosswise, from which the bees hang their combs. Historically it marks the transition from Zeidlerei (harvesting honey from wild tree hollows) to planned beekeeping, because the log, with the colony living inside it, could be transported and set up at a desired location.
The thick wooden walls of the log hive store heat well and provide a comparatively balanced interior climate, similar to a natural tree hollow. Unlike modern box hives, however, individual combs can hardly be inspected or removed without destroying the whole comb structure. A method of management with movable frames, as is standard today, was not possible in the log hive.
For beekeeping today, the log hive mainly has museum and symbolic value. In the course of the debate about nature-close beekeeping and the protection of wild-living honey bees, however, reconstructed log hives and hollowed-out tree trunks are experiencing something of a small revival, for example in workshops or as habitat for unmanaged colonies.