In this video, Laurence Edwards, joined by Paul Beardmore, gives a hands‑on first look at the new Paradise Smart Polyhive system. The review walks through the hive’s visual design (green, yellow, grey colour scheme, insulated poly box, side window) and its core components: the standard 10‑frame Langstroth polyhive base, the stackable SmartSupers, the SmartFrames, and the central honey collector. Unlike the Flow Hive, the Paradise system uses a single key‑operated mechanism that opens all SmartFrames simultaneously, draining honey into one central trough and tank, eliminating the need to extract each frame individually. The presenters compare the mechanical approach (pegs supporting SmartFrames, tight fit in the box, no stainless fasteners) to the Flow Hive’s design, highlighting perceived advantages such as speed, simplicity, and reduced handling. Laurence expresses enthusiasm, stating he will purchase a unit and run it for a full season, and ends with a typical YouTube call‑to‑action.
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And we're going to take a look at the brand new smart Paradise Polyhive system. Let's get straight into it and see what they developed with this new smart beehive. So how exciting is this? We've got Paul Beardmore doing the unveiling. I went round, I did the video on the Modern Beekeeping store looking at all the different bits, and Paul said to me, do you want to have a look at the smart beehive that we've got here? So I thought this deserves a video all on its own. So there we go, that is the first look at the Paradise smart beehive system. So first thing to say, I love that colour scheme. Green, yellow, and grey, exactly the same as Black Mountain Honey. But that box there, that is exactly the same. There's nothing smart about the bottom. It utilises existing technology, which is the 10-frame Langstroth polyhive system. Nothing to see here other than a very well-established polyhive. Let's chuck the supers on now and see where that technology comes in. Love that there's a window in the side as well, and love that that looks like a really secure window as well. And even better than that, it's fully insulated with a piece of poly inside.
This bit is if you wanted to use additional SmartSupers, so you can stack multiple SmartSupers on a hive. This board contains little pegs. What they do is they support the SmartFrame. Unlike a Flow Hive frame that's wired to hold it together, the actual box serves as part of the supports for the frame. So at the back here, we've got the Collector for the honey that comes out the Smart Frames. So unlike a Flow Hive where you're emptying each frame, the frames all empty in one central collection trough and run into one central container at the back.
Right, so unlike the Flow Hive, you can't individually extract the frames, but you've got this piece here that collects all of the honey into a single tube. One of my pet hates with the Flow Hive, although I can see how some people would like it, is the fact that you need to individually extract the frames. This one here, you can turn the key, put the tank at the bottom, let it all go down into that tank. Real time saver for me. Right, so at first glance, these look very similar to the Flow Hive frames, but what you'll notice is they don't have the stainless fasteners on them. Now, the stainless fasteners on the Flow Hive keep it all together. Paradise do that in a very different way, which is give you a very tight fit in the box. Shouldn't ever be a need to actually take these frames out. Which means that once they're in the box and you've got that tight seal, all you need to do is turn that key and all of the honey will come out of that dispensing unit. Right, so what Paul's doing there is he's putting the key in and he's going to turn that frame around. That will unlock the plastic mechanisms and then the honey will start to drain down into that central reservoir and collect into a single container. Really nice, neat design. Can't wait to have a go on this. So there we go, that's the first look at the new SmartPoly Paradise system. I'm definitely gonna get one, I'm taking it home, and I'm gonna run it for a full season. If you wanna see more videos like this, hit the subscribe button, make sure you give the video a thumbs up.
