HiveIQ hives

Why beekeepers choose HiveIQ hives: designed by beekeepers for beekeepers. Australian made, these hives are insulated, durable and light weight, ensuring a superior and sustainable beekeeping experience. HiveIQ hives, also known as condensing hives or thermal hives, provide your bees with superior protection and create a more hygienic hive to establish an optimal environment for them to thrive and flourish in all types of micro climates.

Better Insulation: 6 x greater insulation than traditional timber hives for a stable temperature throughoutthe year, keeps the colony warm in winter and cool in summer to improve survival.
Improved Queen Excluder:Integrated metal queen excluder within the hive body walls, allowing the honey super to securely fit onto the brood box and create a seal between the two boxes.
Durable: Resistant to dry rot and termites, its 360-degree protective edge allows the hive tool to be inserted anywhere around the hive body without causing damage and prevents pests from entering between.
Ventilated Floor: The aluminum perforated floor enhances ventilation, allowing the colony to regulate air quality, manage airflow, and control humidity within the hive for healthy bees.
Integrated Agritech:This software provides beekeepers with the tools to track and oversee all aspects of their beekeeping practice, putting essential hive management data at their fingertips.
Pollen Collector: Seamlessly integrates with our pollen collection system that fits neatly into the HiveIQ base and is easily accessible without disturbing the hive.

Optimized for the professional beekeeper. Ergonomic and lightweight, these beehives are constructed with high density expanded polystyrene (EPS) for high fusion strength, high quality, and precision finish, these beehives are designed for usability and long life.

Embracing condensing hives is a game-changer for beekeepers:
In the world of beekeeping, there has always been a threat that beekeepers noticed – excessive condensation. Especially in cold climates, condensation forming in the wrong places can have dire consequences for bee colonies. Based on the scientific principles of natural thermodynamics, the condensing hive design is here to revolutionize beekeeping, providing a host of benefits that not only protect our bees but also make our beekeeping endeavors more efficient and sustainable.

Key features of a condensing hive:

A continuous high R-value insulation covering the sides, bottom and top
Superior heat retention by elimination of top ventilation, gaps or holes between the hive bodies
They allow for a natural convection cycle where ventilation and the elimination of excess moisture occurs at the bottom entrance or floor.
The bees have access to needed water droplets from harmless condensation that forms away from the top of the cluster and in areas below the cluster.
The bees control the hive environment naturally without the need for beekeeper intervention.

The Condensing Hive Advantage

Protecting our precious pollinators:
Condensation occurring above the colony poses a significant danger to bees, particularly in cold climates. With the condensing hive design, warm, humid air rises from the cluster and contacts the hive ceiling. However, because the temperature of the hive ceiling is above the dew point, instead of condensing and dripping back onto the bees, the humid air spreads out and condenses on cooler surfaces away from the cluster and around the outside walls. This feature ensures that condensation occurs below the colony or outside the hive, preserving the health and vitality of our bee colonies.

Winter survival boost:
One significant advantage is a condensing hive’s ability to reduce or even prevent the risk of starvation. Bees require fewer food stores to generate the heat energy necessary to keep warm. This means that even in the coldest climates, an adequately provisioned colony can thrive while using fewer food resources.

Immune system support:
Research indicates that a naturally balanced hive environment aids bees in combating pathogens. Natural condensing colonies allow bees the opportunity to maintain an ideal hive environment that supports a bee’s immune system.

Preserving hive infrastructure:
Excessive moisture in the hive results in mold growth on the hive walls, frames and comb as shown below, which creates a high overhead for the colony to clean and repair damaged comb before they can use it. In contrast, the majority of warm, humid air condenses low down or outside the hive.