Robin Dartington made his first Long Deep hives around 1975, to reduce the problems when keeping bees on the roof of a five-storey house. Very simply, the Long Deep hive is a Deep National with a back extension, so avoiding the need for an extra hive when making an artificial swarm. New Beekeeping has now been developed into a comprehensive system for keeping bees for recreation, in safety and with maximum enjoyment. The system minimises labour – and more than halves the heaviest lifting involved in using a conventional National hive!
Bees can be kept in a wide range of gardens – but operating the hive must be safe both for the beekeeper and neighbours. There must be a reliable management approach to avoid the issue of swarms. Hives should also look good and add to the attractiveness of the garden. Junk such as odd stands, piles of old supers and even rarely used nucleus hives should be avoided. A Dartington Long Deep hive includes all the space and features that are needed to manage a colony throughout the whole of the season, without additional boxes.
Construction Information provides full details for making the Dartington Long Deep Hive for your own use. The design is copyrighted to protect its integrity. Written permission must be obtained from the author before any of the information is used for the purposes of trade.
