I have probably six feet of 1 1/4 inch pvc pipe from the window to the observation hive. it has not been a problem.
The tube runs behind the snowmen
Well, sure it isn't a problem, those imaginary bees very rarely have imaginary obstructions!!! Or is that picture from LAST winter? :-D
I just use 1 or 1.25 inch( I don't remember which) clear tubing that I found at the hardware store. The bigger the better. But wait till you have the hive before getting it. I have only a short run, so can't comment on length.
I put in 2 frames of eggs/brood with the bees attached. They raised their own queen. Sadly, one frame of capped brood was too thick like you mentioned, and they ended up culling most of them because the young bees could hardly hatch, they were stressed out, and fighting off a SHB infestation. But they conquered, and it was fascinating to watch.
So I took out that bad frame and replaced it with an empty frame. They only managed to draw out one frame, and have been a very small hive, but they have been interesting nonetheless.
Don't buy a package for it!! You can try putting a swarm in there (only if you use a queen excluder!!) or even buy a queen and make up your own package (shake bees in there). But you should be able to put in some frames of brood or eggs with bees and let them raise their own.
Rick