Subject: INDOOR HIVE

From: [email-masked] (not tellin)
Date: Wed, 06 Mar 1996 07:15:18 GMT

Ihave often thought it would be interesting to built a indoor hive in
the form of a bookcase. this would be a wonderful sourse of
entertainment and a great conversatton piece. this is not am original
idea, I have seen a indoor hive before.

Does anyone know if this would be too difficult a project for my first
hive????????????

And does anyone know how far they will travel through a pvc pipe,and
what diameter is best?

Don'y worry if I ever do this the display will be of substantial
construction and with thick glass.

Any information will be appreciated.

[email-masked]	miami,fla.

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From: "Theodore V. Fischer" <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Mar 1996 16:05:24 GMT

[email-masked] (not tellin) wrote:
>the form of a bookcase.

I have had *limited* success with an observation hive that I maintained for several years
at an orchard store, where I also have a beeyard.  I learned much from experience, most
of it bad experience. Whereas the bees will go through quite a length of tubing to get 
to the outside, when it gets hot in summer it is very hard to ventilate properly unless the
tubing is close to the outside air.  I used about 3 feet one year, and had all the bees die out
after a promising start.  And they died at just about the time that numerous customers were
coming to the orchard store!  This was not fun to explain.  I would suggest keeping the
tubing length just as short as possible - open directly behind your observation hive if you
can.  I used 1 1/2 inch diameter tubing, which is just about right.

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From: [email-masked] (Michael Broffman)
Date: 8 Mar 96 23:02:21 -0800

To Not tellin;
	There's an indoor hive in the Coyote Museum in South San Francisco, 
California.  
	I once saw an indoor hive at the PT&T Central Office in Salinas, 
California. It was sitting on the wire chief's desk. The two inch 
clear plastic tube came in two feet. Sounds like a great idea- you 
might need to provide some back or side lighting if the whole hive 
will be inside the bookcase. Let us know how it turns out,
			
			us drones etal

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From: [email-masked] (Michael Broffman)
Date: 8 Mar 96 22:40:37 -0800

To Not tellin;
	There's an indoor hive in the Coyote Museum in South San Francisco 
near the Airport.  
	 I once saw an indoor hive in the PT&T Step by Step Central Office 
in Salinas. It was on the desk of the wire chief. The two inch clear 
plastic tube came through the window for two feet. Sounds like a 
great idea. You might need some way of lighting them from behind or 
the side if the whole hive is going to be in the bookshelf. Let us 
know how it turns out
			
			us drones, etal

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From: [email-masked] (BusyKnight)
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 19:03:44 GMT

[email-masked] (not tellin) wrote:
>entertainment and a great conversatton piece

I have an "indoor" observation hive (of sorts).  And I've also got
a couple recommendations.  I custom built a 15-frame (brood size)
semi-permanent wood and glass observation hive.  The ladies
occupy it on a permanent basis.  It is three frames wide and five
boxes (supers) tall.  I paid absolutely strict attention to bee space
in order to eliminate burr comb.  As a result, the bees have done
a very good job of not messing the hive up and the glass remains
clear of burr comb and the bees are easy to see.

If you put this inside your house, you need to be aware that taking
it apart to clean will create a mess on the floor due to the various
trash that will end up there.   I would recommend that you build
a smaller one that can just be removed intact to the outside.  If
you're stuck on this bookcase idea, you'll need to put down a flooring
that will be easy to clean.  Also opening the thing WILL let bees 
loose in the house!   :-)    And the final thought is the smell of
nectar collected.  I was all ready to put this thing inside my house
when I was reminded of the terrible smell of broomweed nectar flow.
If you have any 'smelly' nectar producing plants, you might want to
reconsider!  Thank goodness our Texas broomweed happens in the
late Fall and by then I've already extracted and can just let the bees
enjoy themselves on THAT flow.

BusyKnight
Dallas, TX