Greg Hankins wrote:

> If anyone else has encountered concrete hives or has info to share, I'd be
> interested.

During WWII asbestos cement hives were made in South Africa. They worked well,
but were extremely easy to break. They are now in great demand by beekeepers as
postal boxes!

In Paarl near Cape Town, in South Africa, Michael Kriel has patented a concrete
hive. He has a base that incorporates a stand (much like a low stool that the
bodies sit on), and a single size body ("shallow" super) as a standard deep is
too heavy to move.. He packs bodies on top of one another for a brood chamber
with deep frames, and then adds shallow supers with shallow frames for supers
(again deeps are too heavy). A very efficient design.

The base has a link-set incorporated in the material to allow the hive to be
locked.

The main motivation for the design is to counter vandalism, which is now rife.
This design is fine if you do not provide pollination services!

Robert Post