A koshovi basket hive is a fixed-comb vessel: unlike a movable-frame hive, the woven shell cannot be opened for inspection and its internal volume never expands, so the comb the colony builds is capped by the basket's own size no matter how the season goes. A clay-or-dung plaster over the wicker adds real insulation, damping how much the harsh outdoor swing reaches the brood nest that bees must otherwise labour to keep near 35 °C.
T_ambient(t) = 8 + 14 · sin(π·t)
T_internal = T_ambient + (35 − T_ambient) · k_shell
comb_fill(t) = clamp(t / 0.72, 0, 1) ← capped by fixed basket volume
population(t) = P_max · comb_fill(t)^0.6
- Time of year — drives the ambient-temperature curve, the comb building toward its hard ceiling, and colony population growth.
- Shell — bare wicker (k≈0.5) barely buffers the brood nest from outdoor swings; a clay-plastered shell (k≈0.82) — the historical weatherproofing technique — keeps it much closer to 35 °C.
- Harvest method — Traditional mirrors the historical practice: because the comb is permanently fixed inside the weave, harvesting meant destroying it and the colony together. Modern welfare-adapted mirrors today's demonstration apiaries, which fit a removable panel so a partial harvest lets the colony survive.
- View — toggles between the intact woven exterior and a cutaway that reveals the hanging comb and bees inside, the way a museum demonstration hive is often built with an observation window.
Real-world relevance: this is why basket and log-gum hives moved almost entirely out of commercial beekeeping once movable-frame hives made comb inspection, disease control and non-destructive harvest possible — and why the few that remain today survive mainly as living-history and museum exhibits.