Anyone using Layens hives?

Getting ready to build some new hives and I'm going to try Layens hives this year.  I don't have ready access to wool, so I'm going to insulate with vermiculite.  Just wondering if anyone has experience with these hives, how they over-wintered, mite issues, etc.

I haven’t yet, but am also planning to try them next.  I can’t deal with stacking boxes anymore.

My wife wants one of dr Leo’s sauna hives. We’ll see…

Keep us updated.

Hi!

I know this post is a bit old, but I'm quite new to the forum.

I also started testing a Layens hive this year after 16 year of conventional beekeeping with Dadant hives. I built it during last winter and put bees into it in april. As a consequence I have no specific experience in the winter period, which maybe is one of the most important concerns and I'm also very curious about what will happen.

By now, I noticed that the familiy tends to become much larger that my standard Dadant hives. I treated it against varroa in july as I usually do since I'm quite cautious about any claim of an higher resitance to it and I want to test this aspect much more before risking my bees.

My hive can contain 24 deep frames, but this first year the family is limited to 11 frames. I noticed that bees are very happy to wander and gather also into the empty hive volume though, even if the occupied part is not so full of bees to justify a further expansion of the nest.

I'm also very curious about your experience so far, so please let me know!

I'll happy to share my experience on any other specific aspect, so feel free to ask

Have a nice day!