Observation hives are easily constructed when top bars are used. There are no frames to limit the size, no bee space to be concerned about except on the faces of the combs.
This observation hive was made by Terry and Jeannie Ross. Terry is president of the Cherokee Beekeeper's Club in Canton, GA.; Jeannie is the secretary. The hive is made from an 17 inch section of a hollow tree with the hive entrance at the rear bottom .
Terry tells us how he did it...
"After cutting the log to length (this one is about 17 inches), using a chainsaw I sliced the front of the log reserving this piece to use for the outer top. When picking out the log, look for one with a flat side (for the backside); one so you can make all seven bars the same length (or you could make the bars different lengths). Mine are all the same size with strips of wood nailed to the top of the log to make the opening square. I basically made a frame out of old barnwood creating a rectangle for the bars to sit down in. This seals the top so the bees can not escape. This hive has seven bars that are eight inches long. Because of the roundness of the log there is comb on one end of the hive without a bar. This is a small comb and has only been used for food storage so far and could be prevented by putting a small piece of plywood on the side to fill this space. I drilled a 1" hole near the bottom on the back so that a piece of 3/4" pvc pipe can be used by the bees to enter and exit the hive. Also I drilled a small hole on the back so I can insert a small tube that is attached to a soft drink bottle used as a feeder. And finally I attached the glass using a small barnwood frame. The comb in the picture melted down in early summer. It was outside and the afternoon sun worked around to the west causing it to get too hot and melt. I keep it inside now so this will not be a problem any more. The new comb is only nine inches long and the attachment to the glass is much smaller (two places about 1/2" each)."
The hive is different and imaginative... it shows an end view of the combs. It's also instructive to see the small amount of comb attachment toward the top. I have found that this is about as much attachment as you will find in either the straight-sided "Tanzanian tbh's" or the sloping-sided "Kenya tbh's"
Terry and Jeannie's observation hive was part of an exhibit at the Fall 1997 Cherokee County Fair where it attracted much attention. Nicely done, Terry and Jeannie!
Frank Bates has constructed some beautiful observation hives. This is
a catenary hive made from Perspex (Lucite?). He has excellent photographs
on his website,
several photographs of this as well as a more conventional observation hive
he has installed at the Auckland Zoo.
Single bar observation hives are easy to make and can be tailored to fit as desired. With a single bar and both sides open to view, the queen should always be easy to locate, especially if she is marked. Observers always want to see the queen.
This is a 3/4 top view of an observation hive I made using opaque cloth material for curtains to cover the sides. The light brown bar is the top bar with the comb. A small brown piece of wood covers the notch that I cut on one side of my top bars. The entrance to the hive is through the piece of one inch plastic pipe that entends toward the lower right of the photo.
This side view shows the curtain pulled up and over the hive. A feeder bottle is on the left end of the hive, the entrance tube to the right in the photo.
A full comb of bees can be used to stock the hive, with the comb trimmed as necessary to fit. It's also nice to start with a small strip of comb and watch the bees draw out the comb over a period of time.
This view is of a ventilation block that is on the feeder end. There is a block at the top as well. . The block holds a square of window screen in place which can potentially allow ventilation, but the screen has been covered with propolis in this case.The copper tube from the feeder bottle is angling in at perhaps a 45 degree angle just above the ventilation hole
The curtain is nailed between a square piece of wood and a thin strip as can be seen on the left side.
This view of the entrance end shows the top of the hive with the curtains in place. Note how the square pieces of wood, and the thin strips that hold the curtain, are placed in reverse at the top and bottom of the hive. A ventilation block is at the top of the end that has the entrance.
The red object, inserted into the entrance tube near the hive end, is a piece of tin that slides into a slot in the tube. It acts as a gate to close the hive. The gate works about as well as putting duct tape over the end of the tube or perhaps stuffing a wad of grass or cotton into the tube. :)
I cut a piece of tin and used it as a "hold down" for the entrance tube. It is fixed in place with two screws.
This photo is a close up of the entrance tube with the gate removed so that the bees could enter or leave. The hold down strap is better seen also in this view.
The feeder bottle is an old gin bottle that I found on the side of the road. Other bottles can be used, but the flat whiskey bottles fit nicely against the hive end. The upper ventilation block is visible through the bottle. A screw on either side of the block allows the bottle to be tied to the hive body. At the level of the bottle cap, there is another block of wood that serves to support the feeder bottle.
Note that the tube from the feeder bottle enters at an angle much less than 90 degrees. This is necessary for the bottle to feed properly. Air bubbles must be able to come up through the tube as the bees feed.
Dimensions for the hives????
That's the beauty of a top bar observation hive. The dimensions are not critical except with respect to providing adequate bee space between the comb and the glass.
In this top view of an end piece, the ventilation hole is visible as well as the grooves into which the glass fits. For one bar, the space between the glass pieces is about 50mm (about 2 inches). For each additional bar, add 35mm. The brown paint visible on the top of the end piece is where the top bar centers between the glass sides. This leaves beespace to each side of the comb, beespace of about 12mm if the comb is about 25mm thick.
If the comb that is being put into the hive isn't exactly straight, trim it and don't worry. If beespace if too close, the bees will work things out.
Suggestions for setting up observation hives...
Terry and Jeannie had problems with their hive melting down from being outside in the sun.
I placed my hive in the window of a greenhouse which had no cooling in the summer. Along about August, it too melted down.
Lesson learned? Next time I'll put my hive in a window that gets no sun. There is a north window in my bedroom...think I'll try it there.
Wherever you put your observation hive, be sure to place it at a convenient height and in a comfortable location for viewing. After all, that's what it's all about.
An additional thought...
There has been a good bit of posting on BEE-L about maintaining bees for BVT (bee venom therapy). It would seem to me that an observation hive would be ideal for such use. Keep it in the house at a convenient location. With a notch in the top bar such as I use, a jar or a "dustbuster" could be used to collect bees as needed for BVT or perhaps lower the population during spring buildup to head off the possiblity of swarming.