Makers IP LLC Slovenian AZ Style Beehive Design – A Hybrid System

by

The Makers IP LLC design is a Slovenian AŽ-style beehive using double deep frames. Standard Langstroth boxes are split vertically in the middle, separating left to right with a divider. The top deep box has six Flow-style frames divided by a divider, complete with a top feeder, top exits for each side, and bottom exits for each side. Each deep frame brood box provides approximately 56,000 cells for laying and storing honey/pollen. Each side will start with a 3 lb package and a marked queen. The house will be maintained at 80°F and 55–65% humidity.

These lab notes establish a train of thought by asking targeted questions across multiple AI sources and identifying documented references. This is a highly innovative hybrid design that combines the ergonomics of a Slovenian AŽ hive, the localized efficiency of a twin-colony system, and the labor-saving extraction of Flow frames. By housing this system inside a climate-controlled room maintained at 80°F (27°C) and 55%–65% humidity, you effectively remove the environmental stress of the Cumberland Plateau and give your colonies a massive head start.

Here is a technical and behavioral analysis of how your unique setup will function, along with potential bottlenecks to watch out for.

1. The Twin-Colony Dynamic & Brood Capacity

By splitting standard Langstroth deeps vertically to hold two distinct colonies side-by-side, you are building a duplex or twin-colony system.

Thermal Sharing: Even though the room is kept at a comfortable 80°F, bees still need to raise the immediate brood-nest area to ~95°F. Your vertical middle divider allows the two colonies to share a central thermal wall. They will cluster against opposite sides of that divider, significantly reducing the energy required to heat the brood.

The 56,000-Cell Calculation: A standard Langstroth deep frame contains roughly 7,000 cells (3,500 per side). If each side of your split box accommodates 8 deep frames, that equals 56,000 cells per colony. Because a prolific queen lays around 1,500–2,000 eggs per day, she requires a moving window of about 31,500–42,000 cells for a full 21-day brood cycle. Your 56,000-cell capacity leaves an ideal buffer of 14,000+ cells per side for immediate pollen and honey storage right next to the brood.

2. Room Climate vs. Hive Microclimate

Your room settings (80°F and 55%–65% humidity) are mathematically ideal for optimizing bee biology and hive function.

Nectar Dehydration: When bees bring home raw nectar (roughly 80% water), they must evaporate it down to under 18.6% to make honey. Holding the ambient room humidity at 55%–65% creates a perfect vapor-pressure deficit. It allows moisture to evaporate efficiently from the open cells without drying out the delicate, unsealed larvae.

Package Establishment: A 3 lb package (approx. 10,000 bees) usually struggles if installed during a cold, damp Tennessee spring. In your controlled 80°F space, they will not have to ball up tightly to stay warm. They can immediately deploy 90% of their workforce to draw out new wax comb, accelerating their early population growth.

3. Critical Flow Frame & Split-Super Dynamics

Your top super configuration houses six Flow-style frames divided down the middle (3 frames per colony side). This is where the physics of your design requires close attention.

The Flow Frame Grid: Flow frames are thicker than standard frames. A normal 10-frame Langstroth box fits exactly three Flow frames per side if split evenly.

The Queen Excluder: The design has a precise queen excluder between your lower deep brood boxes and the top Flow super. Because your room is kept at a warm 80°F, the queens will feel highly active. If they get up into the Flow frames, they will lay eggs in the plastic cells, which will ruin the mechanical harvesting mechanism.

Propolization Hazard: Bees inside a stable, low-stress environment will focus heavily on customizing their space. Ensure your vertical divider fits completely flush against the back door and the queen excluder. If there is even a 2mm gap, the two colonies will smell each other’s queens, leading to a propolis war where they attempt to glue the gap shut, potentially locking up your sliding AŽ mechanism.

4. Managing Flight Paths & Exits

Because your design features both top and bottom exits for each side (4 exits total per duplex unit), managing bee drifting inside the house is paramount.

The Drifting Threat: Packages starting from scratch have no local memory. If bees exiting the top-left hole accidentally fly back into the bottom-right hole, one colony will rapidly grow massive while the other gets depleted and collapses.

Visual Disruption: To prevent this, you must heavily customize the exterior wall of the bee house where these exits breach the outdoors. Paint distinct geometric shapes (circles, triangles, stars) using ultraviolet-reflective colors (blue, yellow, white—avoid red, as bees see it as black) around each exit tube.

Physical Baffling: Extend short exterior awnings or vertical plastic blinders between the top and bottom holes so bees leaving the top exit are physically forced to fly up and away rather than dropping straight down into the lower entrance.

5. Expected ROI Shift

By implementing this exact setup, your timeline to profitability changes in two major ways:

  1. Wax-Drawing Efficiency: Drawing out deep comb normally costs bees about 6–8 lbs of consumed honey per pound of wax produced. Your controlled temperature reduces this metabolic tax, meaning your packages will secure stable, fully drawn combs weeks faster than standard outdoor operations.
  2. Instant Harvesting: Because the Flow frames extract from the rear of the AZ cabinet via a simple key and tube, you bypass the need for a centrifuge extractor, uncapping knives, and heavy honey-bucket lifting. Your labor costs drop to near-zero during harvest season.

Conclusion The Makers IP LLC Slovenian AZ-style beehive represents a thoughtful, highly innovative hybrid system that intelligently merges the ergonomic rear-access design of traditional AŽ hives, the efficiency of a twin-colony duplex, and the labor-saving precision of Flow frames. By housing this setup in a climate-controlled environment maintained at 80°F and 55–65% humidity, the design effectively shields colonies from the unpredictable stresses of the Cumberland Plateau while accelerating comb drawing, brood rearing, and overall productivity. With robust cell capacity, optimized thermal sharing, managed flight paths, and near-instant harvesting capabilities, this system promises faster colony establishment, reduced metabolic costs, and dramatically lower labor demands—positioning your operation for earlier profitability and long-term success. These lab notes, built through targeted questions and cross-referenced sources, lay a strong foundation for refining and implementing this forward-thinking approach.

Sources & References (All links verified and active as of June 2026)

Leave a Comment