Observation Hive - Summary

On Saturday it had been four days since the bees had been able to fly other than the few heroic bees who were able to navigate the tubing in the basement. The hive was getting pretty frantic with bees who needed to relieve themselves (they don't do that in the hive if at all possible) so I gave up on my basement plan and temporarily moved the hive outside so they would have a few hours of flight before the farmer's market on Sunday. I kept the hive near where the entrance was previously so the bees would be able to find their way home if they had previously learned the other location. The ladder with the burlap is to shade the hive from the direct sunlight to prevent overheating.

The farmer's market went great. The bees were the stars of the whole market and I got to spend five hours talking about honeybees. I also pointed people to the local beekeeping courses as well as the excellent scholarship for youth ages 12-17. I got the bees there in an interesting way, I basically wedged the hive up against some seats and kept it stationary by packing cardboard boxes in behind it. It worked well except for the one turn on the way back home when the hive slid off of the door rest and down a little too abruptly.

When I got back home I drilled a hole in our bedroom wall (carefully of course) and put the hive in its new place with the wife's permission. The brown dust is sawdust from the drilling, not the bees. The bees immediately flew out (and relieved themselves) as it had been many days since they had been outside of the hive. Within an hour they were feeling much better and I was also much happier.

By Monday the bees were collecting pollen, something I've seen many times before but I've never been able to appreciate it fully until seeing it up close. One of these bees is not like the other, one of these bees is not the same... That bright yellow is pollen! Go bees go!

To help others out there who are thinking of doing this here's what I did wrong:

1) Keep it straight. If you use clear tubing to connect the hive to the outdoors make sure the bees always go towards the light to get outside and away from the light to go home. Any bends or turns will prevent the bees from finding their way out. Even if you don't use clear tubing a straight path will be better.

2) Don't be tricky with your bee hole. If you, for example, drill out a few inches and then down a few inches to connect the bees to the outdoors with a 90° turn they will have trouble navigating the turn. They won't be able to see the sunlight from the tunnel and will have difficulty knowing which way to go.

3) Size does matter. You can go as small as 3/4" inner diameter for the tube but when the workers have to haul out a dead drone they'll get the tube clogged pretty easily. At least 1" inner diameter is what I'd recommend.

4) Don't fight an uphill battle. You can have your bees climb up or down on their way between the hive and the outdoors but if at all possible keep the slope less than 30° or so and avoid having the bees go uphill on the way out. They have to carry their trash out that way and frequently their trash weighs more than the bee carrying it! A level path is best but uphill when heading out is to be avoided.

5) Bees Buzz. If you're going to do something crazy like put a beehive in your bedroom be prepared for some loud buzzing at odd times, perhaps when you are trying to sleep. These sounds will reduce in volume and frequency as the bees adjust to their new home but it is unlikely they will ever remain completely quiet.