Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: fuzzybeekeeper on November 11, 2005, 01:05:31 pm
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Hi, All,
I'm the guy from Texas who took the nest out of the tree at the elementary school just before Rita hit. I am now going to go back into that elementary school to show 250 third and fourth graders the bees and my equipment and give them each a honey straw to taste. My goal is to "enlighten" them while they still remember not being able to play on the playground.
I built what I am calling a "display" hive because it is not intended to be a permenant observation hive. I have room for 4 medium frames. They will be vertical and only one frame in width so you can see all surfaces. I am using two small fans from a computer to provide ventilation.
I plan on putting the bees including the queen in this display case the evening before and returning them to their hive within 24 hours. The days here are 80 degrees so I'm not afraid of it being too cold.
Does anyone see a problem with this plan? I will use 4 frames out of an existing hive but will not use all the frames in the hive. Will the bees in the display case settle down enough overnight to give a reasonable view of what they do? Will the bees left in the box be ok without their queen for 24 hours? Do I need to change the time I remove the bees to the morning of the demonstration?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, if you know of a website or sites where I can get educational material (coloring books, posters) that I can print, I would like to know about them.
Thanks.
Fuzzybeekeeper
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>Does anyone see a problem with this plan?
As long as you don't put them in the sun and they have adequate ventilation they should do fine.
> I will use 4 frames out of an existing hive but will not use all the frames in the hive. Will the bees in the display case settle down enough overnight to give a reasonable view of what they do? Will the bees left in the box be ok without their queen for 24 hours?
Yes they will.
> Do I need to change the time I remove the bees to the morning of the demonstration?
The night before will let them settle down more but either one will probably work fine.
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I am now going to go back into that elementary school to show 250 third and fourth graders the bees and my equipment and give them each a honey straw to taste. My goal is to "enlighten" them while they still remember not being able to play on the playground.
Good luck with the kids fuzzybeekeeper. I'm sure you and your bees
will be a huge hit in the classroom. I still remember seeing an OB hive
in Tennessee while vacationing with my parents (1962), it made a
lasting impression :D
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The only thing I could see wrong with the plan could be the fans, bees can fit through very small spaces and they can also get hurt trying to get out while the fans are on. Another problem is too much ventalation, to cool. The average hive is kept at 90 degrees or higher depending. Most observation hives have vent holes with very fine messh on them and that is good enough. Hope this could help, good luck :D
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You don't need the fans. The bees will ventilate as long as there are openings to do so.
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They are venting machines, lol :D
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I am using two small fans from a computer to provide ventilation.
I'm glad you mentioned this. I was curious about this during the middle of summer.
I thought that by attaching the fan wires to some solar cells, it would work fairly well. Pumping the heat out during the day and then the fan would automatically shut off at night when the light was gone. Mr. Horn is correct about the bees getting in the fans so my plan was to cover the it in mess (window screen stuff). That would eliminate the casulties.
I never did do this, one because I thought it would be a pain in the butt when I needed to get into the hive or move supers around. The other, for the same reason that Mr. Horn & Mr. Bush said about earlier in this thread, the bees fan ventilate themselves. Still, I'm sure a single computer fan wouldn't make that much effect any how. Depends on the size I guess.
Ok, I've went on long enough about this. Take 'er easy.
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The bees ventilation system has a much more accurate thermostat. :)
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michael is right, what we may think is helping them could in fact be freezing the brood, let them do the work.
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I've been wondering about a similar "portable" hive to take to schools. Would it be ok to make it only 2 deep frames high (2 frames total) and to leave the queen behind in the hive? Just taking one frame of brood and one frame of honey and replacing them within a few hours?
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I have one made for one deep frame from Brushy Mt. It's quite handy. I wish it was tall enough for two mediums. :) I have reworked it and added some feeder holes on the top so I can put water and syrup on and redid the frame rests so I can do one Dadant Deep frame, or one deep frame or one medium and an extra shallow.
It's nice to be able to just grab a frame of brood (with the queen if you like) and go to a presentation.
Tew has a plan for a similar one frame one that I haven't had time to build but it's quite simple. If you buy "Obervation Hives" by Thomas Webster and Dewey Caron there is a picture of James Tew's version. It's simply a one by eight for a base, two two by fours for the ends and a one by three for the top and plexiglass for the sides. There are a couple of holes in the two by fours for ventilation. Personally I'd add a little to the width fo the two bys because 1 1/2" is crowding it for comb that is already built. Seems like it usually sticks out too far somewhere. Put the plexi on with some of those "mirror shoes" that are made to hold a mirror on the wall.
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I would just say, don't drop it!! LOL.
Craig