I'm a very new beekeeper and caught a swarm in May 2020 and keeping them in a horizontal langstroth hive. I'm probably going to build a couple of layens hives this winter and be ready for the spring swarm season. this is great information!!! thanks for sharing!!!

You have a very gentle and caring touch. I have never saw bees so docile. Thank you for sharing.

Beautiful hive! Dr. Leo would be proud of your work and demo. You did an excellent job of demonstrating the ease of use of the Layens/deep hive minimal disturbance, and also how to harvest. I think that if we respect the bees they will provide even more just as you're doing. I am encouraged to do this now. Thanks and I subscribed. PS: Effective use of cameras and side comments.

I am convinced now that this is the type of horizontal hive I need to have. Make so much more sense to me. Thank you

Thank you for the continued updates on the Layens hive. Very informative.

great thanks for all this information. i build a horizontal hive last year and was considering building some deep horizontal/layens during the next winter. now i'm definitly doing that :) this looks awesome.

I think you just convinced me to make a Layens to add to my Langstroth and Warre hives! Thank you for the video!

crush and strain is decent, consider cut comb it's AWESOME. i have several different styles of hives in my apiary. this fall i will begin construction on 6 layens hives and frames. thank you for this EXCELLENT video. greetings from s/e north carolina-zone 7b borderline 8.

Gene: Superb tutorial! I like the fact that you extended regular Langstroth frames to accommodate the deeper Layens concept. This is my third-year utilizing the horizontal hive method. Good-Bye Mr. Langstroth! 😉

Thanks for showing the crush and strain method.

Wow!!! This is a great video. I read the first edition of Keeping Bees with a smile, and I am going through the 2nd edition now. I had some questions, because you can't always get the information from reading. Your presentation helped me, and I sent the link to a friend. Going to the March 2022 class. Thank you!! I will subscribe to your channel, and like your Layens modifications.

when i was over in EUROPE i seen hives like those, and also a few hive houses, the horizontal ones are what gave me the idea to use them as i am now disabled and not able to lift any heay weights any more, as soon as i can get some place to put them these are the way i am going,,, thank you for the tips

Great video I am in the process of building some of the Layens hives. For myself.

im in the process of building my first Layen Hive .I beleive You are so right about enjoying beekeeping more .Less back breaking .Thanks for the Vid good job!

We bought a used extractor for $400-paid for itself the first year in man hours and bee hours saved building new comb. We used it a couple a years then sold it for what we paid for it and bought a $1k extractor. The new one paid for itself same year. We've been using it 7 or 8 years now. Granted we don't have layens, but I built a similar hive that holds two deep lang frames zip tied together. It is called a double deep. To run a business, you have to count your own man hours as labor cost, unless you have a second income. Most people know that it takes the bees a lot of honey to build wax, if you can save your comb and let the bees re use it, you will save yourself and your bees a lot of time.

Great Video I am seriously going to be doing a Layens Hive next year. Can I just see as an experienced bee keeper of many years. When you leave the discarded wax and filters for the bees to clean make sure it is at least 100ft away from your hives or if other bees from other hives are in the area and pick up on that scent they will arrive in their hundreds and if its near your hives they might arive in their tens of thousands and start robbing. Seen it so many times with other beekeepers over the years.

Thank you, this is my project this coming fall to build a bee trap and layens hive. Great info!

So grateful. Great video. I don't have the horizontal hive, but I do have all deep supers

Those are perfect to cut comb squares from! My kiddo's favorite. Thanks for the video...

Great info and lovely happy bees!

you have sold me on making this hive, also appreciate the tip on how to harvest, since im a new bee keeper

That performs work very well thank you very much for your video !!!

fantastic review! thank you sir!

Started this spring with a Layens hive I built and have had several combs fall off the frame. Was trying to do just a starter strip and no wood crosspiece or wires but seems the comb gets too heavy sometimes. Adding wires as shown in Leo Sharashkin's plans to help with that problem. Building a 2nd hive soon and may try the eco floor you mentioned. But like your hive and your attitude toward the bees. First class beekeeping there.

Thank You for your wonderful videos! I just subscribed to your awesome Channel! As treatment-free beekeepers, we love Dr. Leo, his website and the book he endorses, Keeping Bees With a Smile, so much! We also love meeting Beekeepers who are willing to evolve and grow in order to 'Let The Bees Do What Bees Do', treatment-free! I'll be sending folks over to your channel who are looking to improve their Beekeeping methods! = )

Great and informative video, merci!

It would seem the comb would be easy to collapse from the weight. .?

This is one of the best videos I've seen on layens hives! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. Do you use of of those solid frames to make the hivespace smaller for over wintering?

Love the diagram!

Great work 👍 thanks

This is the first time i heard about Layens hives. I like the long hive, but it won't work here where I live. I would need a long hive over 8' long to have enough room. The commercial guys here have yards with almost 30 colonies with 2 brood boxes and 7 honey supers that they harvest three times between May and September. I like the Layens, so I might create a Layens that would work under high production situations. Great video.

Very good quality videos. Thank you.

Gene. We have been tending bees for the last 5-6 years utilizing the standard Langstroth hives. Like a lot of Beekeepers we lose bees that did not overwinter. I am starting to build the Layens hive (20 frame) for this coming season to see how the bees do and how we manage it. Question for you.....How do you utilize your honey extractor with these larger/longer frames? We have a Maxant 3-6-9 extractor that I think will work but the cell configuration would not be optimal based on how the frames will need to sit.

Enjoyed the video, recommended it to a friend. 🐝🙂

Thank you for sharing your bee keeping experience with the Layens long hive, sharing your knowledge on how this benefits the colony and helps produce healthy bee's and of course delicious honey is so valuable to new and experienced bee keeper's alike. So many times you here of colonies not making it through the winter, I truly believe it's the way vertical hives do not have the protection of insulation like the way a hive like the long Layens provides. I'm a UK bee keeper in a moderate climate and I'm converting to long hives, not something that has traditionally been used in the Uk but wide spread across europe. Keep sharing your knowledge and experience, i will encourage my fellow bee keepers to watch and learn. Thank you again. Brilliant.

Great video, but a quick question. Do you still treat for Varroa and what about Small Hive Beetle? Any problems with either of those?

What’s the overall dimensions of your hive? I’m newbie and want to start out the very best for them

Great review, thanks!

Thank you for this...inspired me.

Hey Gene, Love this video--I've watched it now three time. I see darker bees in there. What species and where did you buy them, or the queen? Thanks my friend.

I gave several long langstroths a try, but I think commiting to the layens is the best option. Shame broken down frames arent really produced yet as that would save alot of building time, but maybe they will be once the style catches on.

Excellent video

Do you melt the wax and put it back on the frames for the Bees to work with? Also you can sometimes get local bees from a local bee rescue or removal expert.

If you want an insulated hive try the DIY ZEST hive made from aerated concrete blocks

How long does bees take to occupying does space of flames with honey

New bee keeper the more i read and research the layens hive method is the only thing that makes sense to me.. i have one wild swarm i caught, and Ins nucleus i purchase. I just built three layens horizontal hives. The insulated ones. Im struggling on how to convert the hive now. Trying to decide so i cut the frames seems so disruptive or use dr Leo’s new 2x4 method. BUT will the bees have time to convert the brood to the new frames by winter at this time of the year.

What are your lowest winter temperatures?

Would you consider making a link to the videos you mentioned and do you build your own frames? Thanks hello from the Kentucky mountains

Hi, I have 4 layens that I built. One of them has severe cross comb. Any idea why that happens? Also, the second hive you showed didn't have the same type of frame as the first. For the hove that you put in straw etc, how much distance between floor and frame bottom? We purchased a crusher for the comb. Worked great from Walmart 175. Thanks

Wow... ty!!! Great video!

Hey I found your video as I'm trying to convince my parents to set a beehive in their gardern, but as they're getting up there in age I was considering easy to use hives. They seem excited to try but they wonder how to get the honey, the way you did seems straightforward enough. However my mother was wondering about recovering wax etc. Will the wax be recoverable afterwards or should it be considered lost? In the sense that the bees collect it back / unusable due to the straining?

living in the Caribbean I'm thinking about trying the layens hive or a modified version of it. Do you think it is better to work with if you have an aggressive hive.

Please make a video on where these hives can thrive, I'm up in Manitoba Canada and information is difficult to find.

Will this hive work in North Florida? Hot and Humid, a couple of freezes each winter. Thanks enjoyed the video.

What do you do with the old bees wax? I'm trying to go foundationless but many say that it takes bees too much energy to build wax all the time and you get much less honey. What are your thoughts?

I didn't know you coudl do a double-deep Layens!

New subscriber here! Awesome channel!

Can you eat the honey while its in the comb? Is the wax edible? Is there any prep to be done to make and eat honey comb squares? Seems like something the kids would enjoy! Great videos, thanks for sharing.

In the second hive that you inspected, was that a layens hive? Where can I get the plans for those frames? They have room for bee movement above the frame. It looks like a design cross between a langstroth and layens frame. Do you recommend those or the Dr. Leo plan where the bees can't get above the top bar. I just caught my first swarm last week and about to move into my 14 frame layens, Dr. Leo design. First swarm, first experience with bees.

Is there a honey extractor for these frames? Awesome and educational video for myself, thank you!!

Hi, do you have venting holes in the top area of the hive? Is it recommended to have top venting?

Is ONE QUEEN able to lay enough eggs to maintain 20 frames ?? I do like horizontal better than stacking

Thankyou brother

I came up with a similar long-frame design. I have a (8-frame) 2-brood box deep Langstroth hive, which means I must remove the heavy top brood box to inspect the bottom box. What I notice is that the brood is towards the hive center in all three dimensions. To get a more natural hive and ease inspection effort, I would like to use an 18 inch deep frame for each two frames directly in line with each other. To assure thermal insulation and dimensional symmetry , the ideal hive (using 18 inch deep Langstroth type frames) would have at least 11 frames wide. My problem is that I can not find anyone who will make me the sixteen 18-inch vertical pieces, for me to use making the 8 frames that would need. A simple low cost and simple design using all standard (of the shelf) components, except for the vertical frame pieces, would be use two stacked 10-frame width Langthroth brook boxes with ten 18-inch frames.

ooh! Peat moss at the bottom is a great idea!

I noticed a cross bar on your frames. Is that something you added, as I have seen the frames without one?

I am going to retire in a few months and want to get one hive. Not so much for the honey as to have bees to pollinate plants around my property. Also I think they are important to protect. What time of day were they so mellow? Also, If you do not harvest the honey will that cause problems?

I have a question for you that I may have asked before. Do you find that honeybees prefer longer frames to work on? Like those in your Layens hive? I have langstroth hives and I had an idea of glueing one of my deep and shallow boxes together and doing the same for the frames to create a longer frame. What do you think of this idea?

Do you get stung often? And how do you care for the stings when or if you do?

Bees sure seem to be calm.

Did you treat this hive for varroa? I’m curious if the hive made it and you followed all practices in the keeping bees with a smile 2nd Ed. (Currently reading it).

thinking of building one of these, but don't want to do all that work and no bees show up, how would I attract bees once the hive is built???.....

Just curious as to why you have the frames with the Langstroth tops and the extra boards rather than the frame tops that touch at the top

I really like your hives. Do you build and sell them?

Do you have an ABOUT or Q&A video??? What location are you in?

Enjoy beekeeping, i'm trying to locate 1 of your video's where you used 2 deep langstroth frames side by side secured to a piece of wood for your top bar. can you guide me to that video?

Thank u!

Question: where do you purchase a layens extractor under $700?

If you are looking for more info off grid with doug and stacy have the horizontal hive guy on their channel explaining everything he does.

Nothing wrong with Crash & Strain - especially considering you need to rotate out older combs anyway. I normally selectively C&S old brood frames or drone-only frames or just any sub-standard frames. I would not C&S perfect frames and rather keep in them in rotation longer. OR - simply insert Lang frames and harvest them conventionally. As in here: www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?361233-Modified-Layens-Hive&p=1821087#post1821087

you are missing out on chewing the caps and honey. best thing ever. And aged comb.

I am brand new to beekeeping and I am just needing to understand something. Everybody is saying horizontal hives resemble natural habitat for bees, same as hollow trees. Ok, I don’t know any trees that grow horizontally. So can somebody please explain this part to me, because I’m definitely confused with this horizontal this. Thank You!

Why not just place a large clear tote over the honey. It will keep the bees out and even act as a greenhouse and heat up the honey to speed up the process. Not to mention its reusable, no mess to clean up, easier to work with and on your pocket.

That’s a lot of honey from two frames! Is that how much you get for the year out of that one hive?

nice my friend

I want to build a couple Layens hives and looking for the frames. Have not been able to find any to purchase. Where can I get them?

Try the Hungarian nagy boconádi, it's amazing, better frame proportions.

where did you buy that strainer ? Thanks

What did you insulate the hive with?

Wait with 'natural beekeeping' you just let them swarm?

Kyrgyzstan. These are classic long Dadant hives - NOT Lazutin. Btw, the Lazutin is quite new design (re-design, to be exact). The long Dadants, to compare, have been around just about forever - very popular in Eastern Euro countries Mr. Manum is holding a Gallup frame, I am pretty darn sure - 11 1/4" by 11 1/4" - which brings up a long Gallup hive. Discussed here: www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?351801-The-Gallup-Long-Hive

Thanks for sharing,,🐝ssfe

9:50 the queen is top right ; how beatiful she is

Let em finish filling in the frame with comb.

I've watched this video now around 15 times. I can't stop watching it. You pulling these long amazing frames out keeps me excited about getting started. And that GoPro video--wow!!!!!!! I reluncant to get one because i always see bees attacking it. Why do bees so often attack cameras? Is it because of the motors? Because it's Black? Anyway, I really enjoy this vido.

Queen actually @ 9:55 - 10:01

queen again @ 10:32

queen on frame at 10:05 minutes

Your frames are hybrid. Not true Layens. Top bars have bee space and bees have access to top of the frames. Can you explain?

Your frames look like langstroth frames but layens sized.