Omlet Beehaus User manual

UK
Guide to Keeping Bees
and Assembly Instructions

Page 2 www.omlet.co.uk
Thank you for buying a Beehaus
This guide is copyright Omlet Limited 2010. It is licensed under the Creative
Commons License: Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0
UK: England & Wales.
This means that you are free to copy, distribute,
display, and perform the work under the
following conditions:
•Attribution.Youmustgivetheoriginalauthor(i.eOmlet)credit.
•Non-Commercial.Youmaynotusethisworkforcommercialpurposes
 (I.eyoucanprovideitfreeofchargebutnotsellit).
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 licencetermsofthiswork.Fulldetailsofthelicensearelocatedhere:
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If you have any comments or suggestion please email us at
[email protected]
© Copyright Omlet 2010. Omlet and Beehaus are registered trademarks.
This guide could not have been made without the help and advice from
many experienced bee keepers. In particular we would like to thank the
following:RobinDartington,JohnChappell,ChrisDeaves,FERA,Maurice
Vaughan, Paul Peacock and Sally Wadsworth.
ContributorsLicense & Copyright
Congratulations on becoming a Beehaus owner! We hope that you will
have many years of pleasure from your Beehaus and that your bees will
soon fill the supers with lots of delicious, fresh honey.
This is a very exciting time but you may still have some questions especially
if you are new to keeping bees. We want to help you every step of the
way so that your experience is straightforward and fun. In this fantastic
guide to keeping honey bees you will learn about the bees, the role of the
beekeeper, how the Beehaus works and much more.
Yourbeeswillfascinateyou,providehoursofenjoymentandwonderas
you watch and learn about their way of life. They will also occasionally
surpriseyou. Forthis reasonthis guidealone cannotcover everysingle
aspect of beekeeping and there are times when the bees, being complex
and free spirited, may act in a way which has not been described here.
Thisispartofthejoyofbeekeeping.Evenpeoplewhohavebeenkeeping
bees for 30 years or more will readily admit that they are still learning.
The important thing is to give it a go and once you have your bees you will
soon find that the basics of recognising eggs, larvae, nectar and pollen as
well as spotting the queen become second nature.
If you haven’t yet been on a course it’s a good idea to go along, even for
justoneortwosessions.Thepracticalexperiencewillcomeinusefuland
you will also get to know other beekeepers in your area who you can call
on for advice and help when needed.
The first part of the guide will explain how to assemble your Beehaus
and what all the different parts are called and how to use them.
The second part of the guide deals with practical beekeeping skills.
There are also really useful films on the Omlet website with beginners
and experts sharing their tips, tricks and advice – well worth watching.
Visit www.omlet.co.uk/tv for more information.
And remember, we are always happy to help, so if you have any questions
noworinthefuturepleasecalluson08454502056.Youcanalsondlots
of information on our website, www.omlet.co.uk or you can email our
bee expert [email protected].
We always like to hear from you - especially if you would like our expert
opiniononyourhoney-justsendajartoOmletHoneyEvaluationServices,
Tuthill Park, Wardington, OX17 1RR - we’ll be happy to taste it!
James, Johannes, Simon and William.
www.omlet.co.uk
[email protected]
0845 450 20 56

www.omlet.co.uk Page 3
Beehaus Instruction Manual
Legs x 2
Brood box x 1
Entrance Adapter x 2
Clearer Boards x 2 Queen Excluder x 4
Dummy Board x 1
Lid x 1
Bungee x 2
Inspection tray x 1
Divider Board x 1
Cover boards x 4
Supers x 4
What you have received:
SuperFramesx10
WaxFoundationx10
BroodFramesx10
WaxFoundationx10

Page 4 www.omlet.co.uk
If your Beehaus arrived by courier, please remember to retain all the packaging it arrived in. In the case that you wish to return your
Beehaus or any part of the Beehaus, please call us within 30 days of the delivery. It must be sent back in the original packaging
and have no more than normal wear and tear to receive the full product refund.
What to do with your packaging
If you have ordered a Beehaus starter kit you will also have received the following items.
What you have received continued...
Optional starter kit
Beekeeping Guide
and Record Book
Honey jars x 4
Lid stickers x 4
Tack nails for frames 8 Bolts
Bee suit x1 Hive tool x1 Liquid smoker x 1 Gloves x 1 pair
Other things you might need
Around 30 minutes to assemble your
Beehaus & 10 minutes per frame.
Tack hammer and Phillips
Screwdriver
Frame Assembly Instructions
You will need to assemble your frames.
Instructions to do this can be found on Page 10.

www.omlet.co.uk Page 5
Assembly of your Beehaus
Step 1 - Attaching the legs
Bolt the legs into place using the bolts provided.
Repeat on both sides then turn the Beehaus upright.
Turn the empty Beehaus brood box upside down so the mesh faces
upward. Then line up the legs with the bolt holes.
Step 2 - Inserting the inspection tray
Slide the inspection tray on the ledge underneath the Beehaus. You
normally just leave this in for a week to monitor mite drop.
Step 4 - Inserting the brood frames
The assembled brood frames fit in the Beehaus like this.
Step 5 - Inserting the dummy board
The dummy board fits at the end of the brood frames. You use it
when you have more or less than a full set of frames.
Step 6 - Adding the cover boards
The cover boards sit on top of the brood box.
Step 7 - Adding the lid
Secure the lid by pulling the bungee cord down onto the knob.
Repeat at the opposite end.
Step 3 - Inserting the divider board
The divider fits in the middle of the Beehaus. The tabs fit over the
central rib on the side of the Beehaus.

Page 6 www.omlet.co.uk
Assembling the Supers
Your Beehaus supers come in component form. Although you might not need the supers immediately, it is a good idea to
assemble them so that they are to hand when you do need them.
To assemble a Super, you will need 2 ends, 2 sides, 2 long bolt rods and 4 bolt ends per super. Assemble on a flat surface such as a
kitchen work top.
vaTht
Screw the bolt end on to the bolt
rod. Repeat on other end.
Secure the other side panel and
tighten fixings.
Assembling supers
The parts for 1 super. Line up a side panel and insert
bolt rod. Repeat on other end.
Fitting queen excluders
Place the queen excluders on top of the frames. Its normal for 2 queen excluders
to overlap.
Adding Queen Excluders
Your Beehaus has 4 queen excluders which stop the queen walking up and laying eggs in the supers, which are for honey storage
only. You should add queen excluders if you have supers on your Beehaus.
Adding a super to your Beehaus
Over the course of the beekeeping season you will need to adapt your Beehaus to suit your colonies requirements. You must
provide space for your bees to store honey by adding supers to your Beehaus.
Step 1 - Adding the supers
Insert the small super frames into the supers. Each super can hold a
total of 5 Manley spaced frames or 6 Hoffman spaced frames.
Place the supers directly on top of the queen excluder.

www.omlet.co.uk Page 7
Step 2 - Putting cover boards onto supers
If you are not using the second set of supers simply place them on
top of the cover boards.
Add the cover board on top of the supers.
Step 3 - Adjusting the bungee cord
After adding a layer of supers you will need to loosen the lid bungee.
Pass one of the toggles through the hole in the centre of the lid.
Pull the bungee cord tight, then repeat at the other end. Now place
the lid gently on top of the supers and pull the cord over the knob.
Note: Adjusting the bungee cord for a second layer of supers
Pull the bungee cord tight, then repeat at the other end. Now place
the lid gently on top of the supers and pull the cord over the knob.
With a second layer of supers you can extend the bungee by feeding
the second toggle through the hole in the centre of the lid.
Using the clearer boards
Preparing the clearer boards
You should have a bee escape and clearer board base.
Align the bee escape up with the clearer board.
Slot the bee escape over the screw heads.
Then click the bee escape into place by pushing it forwards.
The clearer boards are designed to ‘clear’ bees from the supers to make it easier to collect the honey from them.
By removing the ‘diamond’ shaped bee escape, they can also be used to feed your bees in the spring and winter.

Page 8 www.omlet.co.uk
Using the clearer boards
Lift the supers that you want to clear and place the clearer board on
the hive. Make sure the bee escape is on the bottom.
Put the supers on top of the clearer boards. Note: When you re-
attach the lid it will be on a slight angle which is okay.
Wasp guard
Slide the adapter in so that the word ‘wasp’ is shown.
Once it is pushed in, it will hold in place.
Completely closing the entrance
Slide the adapter in so that the word ‘closed’ is shown.
Two sprung clips hold the adapter in place.
Using the entrance adapter
You can use the entrance adapter to completely close the entrance to the Beehaus. For example, if you are transporting your bees.
If you turn the entrance adapter around it becomes an entrance restrictor, which makes it easier for the bees to defend the hive
against wasps. You can also use it like this over winter to protect against mice or to reduce the entrance when initially hiving a
swarm of bees.
Step 2 - Inserting the mini queen excluder
With the blanking plate removed you can fit the queen excluder
Step 1 - Removing the blanking plate
The blanking plate can be removed by pulling up.
Divider board - See page 42 in the Bee Guide for details

www.omlet.co.uk Page 9
Using your hive tool
The hive tool is the Swiss Army knife of the bee world. You can use it to open your hive, remove frames, clean off propolis or even
remove a bee sting. The two most common uses for a hive tool are opening the hive, which the bees seal from the inside with
propolis and freeing a frame for inspection. The Beehaus has a specially designed space between all of the parts that the hive tool
fits into.
Using the curved end to lift a
frame can damage the frame.
Separate the frames by levering
apart with the tool.
Step 5 - Removing a frameHow to open your Beehaus
Slide the flat end of the tool between the cover board and the brood
box. Slowly push down on the tool to lever the cover board up.
How to mix the liquid smoke
Using your liquid smoker
Bees react to the smell of smoke by filling up on honey in preparation for evacuating the hive. A useful side effect is that because
they are so full they become quite docile and calm. You normally give a couple of short sprays at the entrance and through the
mesh floor a couple of minutes before opening the Beehaus to give them a chance to eat some honey.
The liquid smoke arrives in concentrate form and needs to be diluted. The dilution ratio is 1 part smoke 20 parts water. For
example you can mix 30ml of concentrate with 600ml of water.
Pour 30ml of concentrated liquid smoke into the spraying bottle. Fill up to the 600ml mark with cold tap water.
How to setup a feeder
Remove the bee escape from the clearer board. Put the clearer
board on top of the brood box in place of a cover board.
Put an empty super on top of the clearer board.
Place the feeder inside the empty super.
A colony of bees needs 20-30Kg of stored honey to see them through the winter. Some years, the weather might be bad and
they won’t have collected enough stores. Alternatively, you might have taken more honey and have to make up the difference
by feeding them. You can do this by giving your bees the missing amount either in sugar syrup or fondant. The clearer board
can be used to provide an opening for the bees to access the food.
Feeding your bees

Page 10 www.omlet.co.uk
What you have received:
What you need:
Note:
Top bar x 1
Top bar removable part x 1
Wax foundation x 1
Sides x2
(Long ones for Brood
short ones for Supers)
Bottom bars x2
• Tack hammer
• Tack nails x 200
Its better to store wax
foundation flat in a plastic bag
in a cool place. Only assemble
frames when you need them.
Step 1: Remove part of the top bar
Remove the loose bar by levering away, it will snap cleanly off.
Keep to one side, it’s used at the end to secure the wax.
Push the side bars into place, making sure that the groove is
facing inwards.
Step 2: Attach sides to top bar
Tack a nail into each end of a bottom bar. Place this bar in the
slots in the side bars.
Gently hammer the nail all the way so that it attaches the
bottom bar to the side bars.
Step 3: Preparing wax foundation
Lay a sheet of wax foundation on the table. You’ll notice one
end has three wire tabs. Bend these up at 90 degrees.
Starting from the bottom with the bent wires at the top, slide
the sheet of wax foundation until it’s all the way in.
Guide to Assembling Your Frames