Wooden Beehive Composters as their name implies resemble  a beehive and look more attractive  in a small garden than a New Zealand or plastic bin. Due to the design and construction of the Beehive bin they  tend to be a little more expensive than the simpler designs  but offer good value for what is designed to be a garden feature rather than something to hide behind a trellis.  This makes them ideal for the smaller garden or patio as they provide an attractive that  can be positioned adjacent to flower beds or borders without aesthetically compromising the  appearance of the garden.

While most have a conventional wooden lid, it is possible to purchase bins with shingle or  slate roofs.

Most designs have a hinged lid that keeps out rain and helps insulate the decomposing organic waste. A bottom panel is normally  removable to allow for easy collection of the finished compost

 It is often said that Beehive bins are  on the small side and that the and are unlikely to heat up sufficiently to kill potential pathogens but then they are designed for small modern gardens and  cold composting over a period of months rather than  hot composting requiring regular turning to produce compost in a matter of weeks.  In fact, the capacity of beehive bins range from 211 litres to  438 litres comparing favourably with the entry model plastic bins available through council subsidised schemes (normally 220 and 330 litres).

Prices vary considerably and it is worth searching for and comparing models for  the best buy. It is helpful when making comparisons to check with the supplier as to the nominal capacity if only external sizes are given.

We have a 211 litre  Rowlinson Beehive bin on our compost demonstration site (kindly donated by GardenSite  https://www.gardensite.co.uk/garden-structures/composters/    "Composters from GardenSite")

Internak link to our  Compost site oage Compost Demo Site