ERGONOMIEL
Ergonomic device for the beehive
Its advantage :
- Quick and easy visits of the hive
- Lifting of the supers suppressed
- Better hygiene of the supers
- Adapted to existing material
HISTORY
As a passionate beekeeper I spend a lot of my time in the apiary. In April 2015, a herniated disc strongly affected me, causing limitation in my professional and apiculturist’s life. I
then realised how much lifting the supers could be a heavy and problematic workload in beekeeping.
Suffering from recurrent back pain, I started using a 4-feets stand to lay the supers down while visiting the bodyhive. The idea emerged of developping a ergonomic stand in which the body hive could be integrated and removed easily. Using a wooden log as a guide and the vertical movement of the structure prevent the body to get sealed by the propolis.
With a grant from the Belgian Agency for Entreprise and Innovation, the development of the device could be continued and a application has been filed at the European Patent Office for the « Ergonomiel ».
During the prototype process, I noticed that the welding of the different parts of the stand requires a lot of workload and volume.
I then chose to use a flat-pack technic for the delivery of the two existing version of the Ergonomiel.
The ergonomiel has been several times modified according to the feedbacks from beekepers testing the device for one season, before ending with its actual look.
At first called the « Chaise à miel » (Honey’s chair), the ergonomic aspect of the device took the lead and the name changed into « Ergonomiel ».
SUSTAINABLE
The parts made of Inox or galvanised don’t need special maintenance. More important, they do not suffer the effects of wear over time.
EASE
The time needed to access the brood chamber is significantly reduced during the visits.
SECURITY
The stable and strong structure of the stand prevents any risk of incident to the beekeeper.
LIGHTWEIGHT
The materials and the design of the stand offer the light weight of 24kg which is appreciated for the transport and manipulations.
USE
The device is flat-packed delivered and can be assemble in 30 minutes. The hive body and the supers can directly be installed on the stand. It can be opened thanks to the handle. By moving it, the tray, the roll and the body hive go down making it moving toward us. The deep super is now accessible. If needed we can also close the access to the supers by inserting a panel to avoid theft during the visit at the end of high season.
The tray is adjustable (from 30 up to 70 cm).
The stand can be installed on all type of soils, even on soft or erractic grounds. There are two adaptable stabilizers which prevent the stand to tilt down while opening it.
The device lead to a better hygiene of the supers. They are not laid any where down. The bees suffer less then before and are less disturbed during the visits.
The use of a “bee escape” gets easier. The supers are accessible directly from bellow
The ergonomiels can be installed side by side in the apiary. All the operations can be proceeded from the back side of the beehives
While using the ergonomiel the queen-rearing is also possible in a big hive without orphaning.
