# My full size warre style observation hive



## Margo

Hello - I've been lurking for many months and am so grateful to all who share their experiences here. 

I have this warre observation hive, 2 warre hives, 2 foundationless langstroths and a top bar hive. I had two top bars last year that didn't make it through the winter. I think they got cold, so I'm trying the warres and quilts on the langstroths. So far, the outside warres are BY FAR the first up and at in every morning. My husband helped me build the observation hive at warre dimensions - I installed a package in the observation hive April 1 of this year and they seem to be full of zip! The top box is mostly drawn and they've just started a little comb in the middle box. Interestingly, they seem to hate the old seed comb I gave them and chewed it out and dropped it onto the top bars of the middle box - hence, some cross-combing in the back of the top box -- but they seem to have straightened out as much as they can, are chewing away the old comb, building straight in the middle box, so I'm just leaving it be. The old seed comb I gave them in the second box they are also chewing - they have also filled it with nectar and it's a drone-feeding station as far as I can tell. I have often read that bees will never store nectar below the brood nest but this hive is living proof to the contrary. The outside hives got similar comb from the same old hive and seemed to have no issue with it.

Just for kicks, I'm trying out a few alternate design top bars that are narrower and have a wire frame, but the bees do seem to be drawing most happily on the regular top bars. Time will tell. I fed this hive for a couple of weeks and they took syrup with gusto, but, by accident that I won't get into here, I didn't feed the outside hives and when I checked them last week they drew out just as much comb and have plenty of brood in just the same time, so no more feeding for anyone right now! Our redbuds are in full and glorious bloom. 

Here are some views of the observation hive. I built it because I'm crazy about watching the bees and with warre hives you're supposed to leave them alone as much as possible. I wanted to see how the bees behave and move into the various boxes in a normal sized hive, not a flattened out skinny hive (although I can see how those types of observation hives are absolutely awesome to watch, too!). I hope this hive can help me manage my outside hives better. I was worried about the design for this because it isn't really a standard design, and while I'm sure over time that we'll realize that some things should be different, this hive has really been beyond my expectations so far - it's been utterly transfixing (even my kids - 18 months and 3 years old - are obsessed with it!) and while I was expecting to see very little of the queen with a full-sized hive like this, we actually see her every day, checking out the new comb for empty cells to lay her her eggs. We see all the little bee dances and can watch a lot of brood on the sides and front, so I'm thrilled. The hive is made of two main parts - an outer case with wood and acrylic that slides up off the inner hive and inner warre-sized cast acrylic boxes that stack on each other with notches cut for the bars. The bees enter through a tube into the hive floor and have no access to the space between the two walls. There's a small mesh opening at the top for ventilation and feeding. I have a fourth acrylic hive body so that when the bees fill up the bottom box I can remove the top box, clean it out (maybe even get some honey) and nadir with the fresh empty box. The whole thing is bolted down to a (very well affixed) shelf on the wall. I can detach the tube at the hive and I can slide shut the window entrance, too.

Please don't fret about the side wall comb attachments --- that's how warre hives go!


----------



## Margo

And some more images...

Here is the "drone-feeding station"








The queen yesterday afternoon








Two kinds of top bars...


----------



## DarkWolf

Well isn't THAT interesting.. I'd seen one other like it some time ago.. Never see many full plexi hives though. 

*squints* So... Did you shake them in while in the house?


----------



## JClark

Interesting. I used to make these types of things for ants when I was kid. Have you had any problem w/ water.

If you keep them in the house for the winter too I wonder how this will affect them. Will the cold at the end of the tube be enough to keep the bees from flying off to forage? W/out the cold they will never form a winter cluster and may need a LOT of feeding even though they don't have to work as hard to keep warm--they'll be rearing brood. Have you planned to feed a pollen substitute in winter?

If you don't want it to swarm you will need to super. All my warre's never moved into a third box until after they swarmed (though I didn't use bridge comb)--even first year packages. I supered this year and my warre is already six boxes high--three boxes of brood, 1.5 boxes of honey and comb and the top box waiting to be worked. One box I had drawn out last year was placed on the bottom for use this fall as part of the broodnest (so I can remove the old top box).

Top bars are of tropical origin and not really conducive to overwintering--though I guess folks have some success. Where they were developed it never drops below 60 F for the most part.

We have incredible spring flows here. Apples about to open too. Hope it's this good when I retire to the PA farm.


----------



## Margo

Yeah, I'll probably wish it was glass when it comes to cleaning it! But my kids do throw things around. And glass is so heavy...
The four legs are screwed to the shelf through the bottom of the shelf... unscrew them, cap off the tube, and the whole thing goes outside for management. One person can easily carry it now... it'll take two when it's full!

Any thoughts on bees and light? I covered the hive most of the time for the first week, but now I just cover it at night and the bees seem to be fine with the light in the room - I've drawn the curtains to keep things from being too sunny. Queen walks around like nothing's wrong and lays everywhere she can. Bees seem to find the entrance without any trouble at all.


----------



## CaBees

Wow! This is just amazing! Do you have a blog or site that you post about this and show the pictures?


----------



## BernhardHeuvel

Really nice hive!

Just make sure the hive holds the weight of 80 Kilogramms! It has to be strongly secured and attached to the wall.


----------



## Margo

JClark said:


> Have you had any problem w/ water.
> 
> Will the cold at the end of the tube be enough to keep the bees from flying off to forage? W/out the cold they will never form a winter cluster and may need a LOT of feeding even though they don't have to work as hard to keep warm--they'll be rearing brood. Have you planned to feed a pollen substitute in winter?
> 
> If you don't want it to swarm you will need to super. All my warre's never moved into a third box until after they swarmed (though I didn't use bridge comb)--even first year packages. QUOTE]
> 
> Hey, JClark - nice to meet a neighbor!
> Water condensation? There's a little bit of mist around parts of the top box, but it seems to be minimal. If it gets bad I'll drill a few more holes in the top, but right now I think it's ok. if I put my hand over the mesh at the top I can really feel the heat rising from the bees.
> 
> Winter is a very big unknown. The bees went into some kind of cluster (I think) on colder days early this month. Hard to tell since they didn't have much comb to expand out onto. On cold mornings they do all stay cuddled together until the air outside warms up. Then there's a big exodus. I may need to feed. The tube is pretty short, but I don't know what will happen this winter. If they do rear lots of brood then I probably will give some pollen substitute later in the winter. I am surely open to advice on that!
> 
> Six boxes tall! Awesome! I have been planning to super - it just seems crazy not to around here. Still on the fence about doing it to the observation hive, though. Do you think I should super warres now? We do get way more nectar than they can keep up with while the brood is blocking them, but I didn't know I could do it so soon with freshly packaged bees - they all only have the one box plus a little bit in the second right now - I was worrying about chilling the brood if I opened up the space above the nest too soon. I planned to super the outside hives after the cool weather this weekend leaves... maybe I should do it right now?


----------



## Margo

BernhardHeuvel said:


> Really nice hive!
> 
> Just make sure the hive holds the weight of 80 Kilogramms! It has to be strongly secured and attached to the wall.


Thanks... I'm psyched about it. Have enjoyed your posts. The shelf is bolted with giant hardware into studs and concrete. It should hold a mid-sized elephant.


----------



## Lazer128

I'm a newbee but if this works I want one! Will follow the progress of yours.


----------



## JClark

Margo said:


> JClark said:
> 
> 
> 
> Have you had any problem w/ water.
> 
> I have been planning to super - it just seems crazy not to around here. Still on the fence about doing it to the observation hive, though. Do you think I should super warres now? We do get way more nectar than they can keep up with while the brood is blocking them, but I didn't know I could do it so soon with freshly packaged bees - they all only have the one box plus a little bit in the second right now - I was worrying about chilling the brood if I opened up the space above the nest too soon. I planned to super the outside hives after the cool weather this weekend leaves... maybe I should do it right now?
> 
> 
> 
> I supered and nadired as soon as the cherries and pears were breaking. Would have done it earlier if it wasn't so cold. I've read that they really need the space before the flow starts so they know it is there and consider it part of their nest come flow time. They started drawing frames the first week as the pears and cherries peaked and the broodnest cleared up and has just expanded into the third box in the last week or so (I have windows on the brood boxes so I can see sort of what is going on). Supers are frames w/ foundation and I just shined a light down from the top to see if they were working them or not. Once they started I stopped looking. If they get to the top box I plan to insert a box for cut comb honey in between the supers.
> 
> If your warre's are all packages I wouldn't super now but when they get just over half the second box drawn you can add a super w/ foundation or bridge combs (no empty box w/ starter strips). Only do this if it is earlier than the end of June. I don't know why but they seem to just stall out at two boxes and then swarm if the flow is still strong (they will even fill the third box w/ festooning bees but not draw comb--believe those are the ones that swarm). In July the flow really dries up so keep a close eye on them in Aug and Sep. They may eat all their stores and need to be fed to build up winter reserves. I have yet to see a good fall flow here and have had to supplemental feed every year (2 yrs now) even when I leave all the honey on (though I have never supered at the right time until this year--did it mid June last year and they just chewed holes in the foundation). If you get them through winter strong be prepared for some fun next year if you want a lot of honey!
> 
> As for light, I think they can acclimatize though they prefer dark. It is the changes in air currents that annoy them the most when opening the hive up--not so much the reaction to the light. I wonder if they will try to propolize the plastic? My bees have never done this to the windows though I only open them a few minutes a day to take a peek.
Click to expand...


----------



## Margo

JClark said:


> If your warre's are all packages I wouldn't super now but when they get just over half the second box drawn you can add a super w/ foundation or bridge combs (no empty box w/ starter strips). Only do this if it is earlier than the end of June. I don't know why but they seem to just stall out at two boxes and then swarm if the flow is still strong (they will even fill the third box w/ festooning bees but not draw comb--believe those are the ones that swarm). In July the flow really dries up so keep a close eye on them in Aug and Sep.


Very, very helpful tips, thanks. I think I will super the outside warres next week - they are well into the second box now - they're facing south, unlike the observation warre, which I had to face west for kid safety reasons. The observation hive is only just starting it's third comb in the second box. I may just leave the observation hive alone, unsupered, and watch it - I've learned so very much more these past three weeks than I thought possible and watching the swarm process take place might be interesting enough to be worth any loss!



JClark said:


> I wonder if they will try to propolize the plastic? My bees have never done this to the windows though I only open them a few minutes a day to take a peek.


So far they're leaving the plastic alone except the rebates/cutouts where it meets the ends of the wood top bars - they've propolized those cracks pretty thoroughly in the top box already. The hive is really staying pretty clean - they throw any dead bees, wax bits or other trash out right away and they mostly walk up and down the wall facing the window and directly above the hive entrance, so while that wall is fine, but slightly dusty, the other walls have stayed nearly spotless. Time will tell...


----------



## JClark

Since you have multiple hives I'd do the same thing--not super the observation hive. Plus, it would get too heavy to move outside real quick. Be sure to let me know if they start drawing in the third box (not just festooning) w/out swarming. I make statements w/ certainty but really only have hands on experience for two hives over two years. Everything I have read though seems to support my observations.

My theory is that the two box size is the natural size of a hive that can afford to reproduce. Providing space up top gives bees a place to go so they think they are a smaller hive than they are--size estimation is an instantaneous process based on perceived congestion in the brood area, not how big the whole hive actually is.

I think it is fascinating. The "natural" state is to build down (because they have to) while their preference is to actually build up w/ the queen preferring to move up to continue laying. So the bees being forced to work against their preferences in nature is what drives them to reproduce. Anyway, if things keep going the way they are I'm sure you will get a box of honey from your outside hives this year--be sure to harvest in the beginning of July or the bees may move back up and eat it by Aug/Sep (unless the brood nest is all the way in the bottom box completely).

Of course, this year could prove to be completely different!


----------



## Margo

An update on the hive at 5 weeks: about a week ago, the population really exploded as new bees emerged and they started to draw comb in the second box. At the moment, they've got a chock-full top box and the second box has one full comb and three half-combs. Lots of brood everywhere. A little nectar at the very top of the top box. Per excellent advice, I supered the outside hives a couple of weeks ago and they've begun drawing lots of nectar-filled comb in the top box. It's beautiful. I'm still torn over whether to leave this one be and maybe watch a swarm or take the empty bottom box and put it on top for them. I'm requeening everyone at the end of the month with VSH Carniolan queens and I may do the same with this hive. Still debating.

The wire comb photo shows how the half-wire frames are working out. The comb in back is from a pointed wooden top bar and has no wire, and the two before it have a flat wooden top bar and a wire frame. I'd say the wire is just trouble at this point. The bees fill inside the frame, no problem, then are distinctly slowed/hesitate for several days before overcoming the wire frame block and building on around it. They're building nice and straight regardless. Something to keep in mind if you're wiring your foundationless in other types of hives.

Condensation: The bane of observation hives everywhere, it seems! Condensation in this hive has been slim to zero almost all the time although recently there's been a significant but brief mist over the bottom of the hive and in the entrance tube at the end of the day. I don't know if that's due to the returning bees or the cooling night air, but it's usually entirely gone an hour or so later. Today, for the first time, there's a bit of mist between the walls just above the bottom box. The brood area is always dry and I can see fine, so I'm waiting before drilling more ventilation holes.


----------



## JClark

Looks good. Bet the moisture is because they are starting to get a significant amount of nectar being brought in for honey-making. 

Keep an eye on the carnis--they really can explode in population. I started a minn. hyg. italian and a carni (just the queen) hive from packages three weeks ago. Both got a medium box of comb and an empty deep. The carni queen has the whole medium box and three full deep frames full of capped brood and the italian just the medium. I've read about their rapid spring growth but seeing it is amazing.

Finally got some good rain so let's hope the flow keeps going strong.


----------



## Margo

So... update on this hive.

Condensation became significant and drippy, especially in the bottom box of the hive (?!) so I drilled lots more small holes in the top and a few in the plexi outer walls to release moisture that traveled through the wood bars and got trapped between the walls. Everything cleared up nicely within 48 hours of that.

The hive DID swarm just over a month ago - they had filled the top box and were about 3/4 full on the middle box. I was there as they swarmed and it was really neat to watch - they ran around like crazy in the hive and then poured out. Of course, they picked a nice super-high tree to settle and ignored all my little lures and swarm traps, so I felt pretty hopeless about catching them, BUT literally _as I gazed at them_, I got a swarm call for a different swarm and went and easily bagged that swarm! So, ok.

They built back up quickly and raised new queens - I saw two queens running around at one point, and then none, and then the hive suddenly settled down and a week ago I saw the new queen marching about and laying.

I requeened all my hives with VSH survivor stock Carni queens last week, and left the observation hive for last. I did that one five days ago. I closed the window blast gate and then opened up the tube connection at the hive bottom and stuffed in some socks. Not a bee escaped, and my husband hauled the whole thing outside for me. He says he could have carried it easily even if much heavier. I'm not weak, but it seemed weighty to me. I removed the top box entirely and harvested six of the eight top bars that were fully loaded with capped honey... mostly tulip poplar, I'm guessing(over 12 pounds of bonus honey!), gave them back two of the honey combs and also moved some comb around so they'd have some to work with in the top box and a starter comb in their brand-new bottom box (I have four boxes total, with three in the hive at a time). I removed their queen and put in a box with the new VSH queen.

It took forever to get all the bees back into the hive and the hive cleaned up, but it got done. I put it back at nightfall and reopened the blast gate, but most of the flying bees went to sleep on the window pane that night. They promptly started a dozen queen cells and then, yesterday, started to tear them down. Hooray! I could tell the candy was gone and the new queen was released, but not whether she was accepted. I saw her walking around yesterday. They've drawn lots of comb already and I'm hoping that they'll fill out their stores before dearth. I'd like to leave the hive alone until next spring.

Hope you all had a lovely Spring.


----------



## Kamon A. Reynolds

This is really cool.


----------



## DarkWolf

What, no new pictures? *disappointed*


----------



## Margo

So here we are a few weeks later. Bees have drawn comb like crazy and now have seven fully drawn combs in each of the top two boxes. The new queen is laying in the top box. They stopped drawing comb about a week ago and are bringing in loads and loads of pollen this week.


----------



## Margo

The boxes tipped toward the front as we replaced the hive on the shelf and the top bars slid in their rebates a bit. This left the space at the front wall just a shade too narrow for the bees to go through. So they've propolized it. I love the pattern. They've left little spaces for some kind of communication or air flow through their wall.








They are also putting little blobs of propolis all over the hive walls, so I've started to cover the hive when we aren't watching it. But they are also making little propolis pillars on the floor of the hive, so I'm not sure what their plan is. I keep thinking that the hive has swarmed, but they're all just out in the afternoons. And the drone population is way way lower than a couple weeks ago.


----------



## JClark

Looks good. The warre I supered this year still swarmed after drawing out two supers of comb and filling it with honey. Both supers are capped and they are now drawing and filling a cut comb super I put on after the swarms--took about four weeks after the swarms before they started working it but are working fast now.

This time last year we were already in a dearth. With all this rain we may even have a good fall flow this year. Was going to harvest now but they are still bringing stuff in. Won't be long before the asters and golden rod starts to bloom.


----------



## Zach K.

This is very cool! Thank you for sharing the experience with us. I wish my wife would let me try an observation hive like this one, she hates the idea of having bees in the house.


----------



## Margo

JClark said:


> This time last year we were already in a dearth. With all this rain we may even have a good fall flow this year. Was going to harvest now but they are still bringing stuff in. Won't be long before the asters and golden rod starts to bloom.


I see lots of goldenrod coming into bloom now. The hive has eaten all their nectar and even uncapped a bit of honey last week, but they seem to be keeping pace. Lots of yellow-brownish pollen (clover?) and even some bright orange (goldenrod?) coming in today.


----------



## Margo

Zach K. said:


> This is very cool! Thank you for sharing the experience with us. I wish my wife would let me try an observation hive like this one, she hates the idea of having bees in the house.


One of the big reasons I wanted to do this was so that my family would "get" what I was going on about when I'd come back all amazed and starry-eyed about the latest cool thing the bees had done. And they really have enjoyed watching the bees without all the hot and bother of going out to the beeyard. We've had visitors who just hang out in the bee room and forget to join the party, they're so entranced by the hive... I hope you can convince your wife to try it out one day!


----------



## Margo

So, I see some people posting about the great drone kick-out. Ours was a couple of days ago. Here is the entrance tube two days ago, jammed full of reluctant drones...









A close up (worker bees are barely getting through the top part of the tube):










And one of the few remaining in the hive, getting bitten and tugged and chased about. I see only a couple drones in and around the hive today. Lots of dead drones outside. Bees have eaten all the stored nectar and had just started into capped honey stores when the drones got the boot. They are still bringing in a lot of pollen and raising brood. I don't think that we're in a complete dearth due to our unusually cool and rainy summer, but there's a lack of abundant flow this past week:


----------



## Harley Craig

Do you have plans for this hive or can you tell us where you got your acrylic ?


----------



## valerieanne

Oh. My. Think I know what we'll be building this winter.


----------



## Margo

Harley Craig said:


> Do you have plans for this hive or can you tell us where you got your acrylic ?


I do not have any plans, sorry... we kind of of figured it out as we went along. I used warre dimensions for the inside of the boxes and worked out from there. It will depend a lot on the thickness of the plastic that you work with. The exit at the bottom is the dust collector attachment from an old router that's been melted a bit to get the shape we want (just to give you an idea of our operation!).

I ordered .25" thick clear cast acrylic from a company called Professional Plastics. I had them cut pieces to size and then my husband helped me cut the rebates out on the table saw. Cast acrylic is wicked expensive, just to warn you, but we didn't have lots if experience working with acrylic and the cast type is supposed to be easier to work with and last longer, etc.

The base and lid are plywood framed with walnut. The lid has a screen built in so that I can feed if necessary (also ventilates).

I ordered the exit tube from McMaster Carr. Get a little extra tubing because the tube is pretty stained from all the pollen: I'm planning to replace it with new (or try to clean it) once the bees go into cluster this winter.


----------



## JClark

Margo said:


> I see lots of goldenrod coming into bloom now. The hive has eaten all their nectar and even uncapped a bit of honey last week, but they seem to be keeping pace. Lots of yellow-brownish pollen (clover?) and even some bright orange (goldenrod?) coming in today.


Yeah, I took the top honey boxes off my warre last week when the foraging really slowed down (left one box for them to use during the dearth). Left it on my langs as the outside frames were not capped--will probably pull the capped frames this week-end when I fire up my new maxant extractor.

No golden rod here yet but if you are seeing buds then I'm not far off. From my notes last year the golden rod was blooming around 20 Aug. This is the first summer since I moved here that I haven't needed to water the garden so if we are ever going to have a strong fall flow then this year will be the year.

We'll have to stay in touch. I am probably moving to Thailand next fall for three years and will need a responsible party to watch over the bees--if you'd be interested (currently the warre, one deep lang, one medium lang, and a medium nuc). You can e-mail me offline at [email protected] Hopefully they all survive the winter--it's feeling like it might be a cold one.


----------



## BillSF9c

I notice that Home Depot has 8x10 glass or Lexan. Lexan is tough. If you used 2x2 corners, slipping a 10" piece into a groove and siliconing it in place might offer an idea how to do this, cheaper. Glass ~ $1, Lexan ~$3. That's $12 per box. Some wood cost savings. Or just make the rear wall, a larger window... maybe dbl-glazed. (...which I did, dbl-glazing.) 8" tall is about right, as well. No cuts to do. (I cut mine w a table saw, having gone to a shorter box, by the time I got to doing windows.) <Bill*SF*9c - San Francisco area>


----------



## Margo

An update on how this hive has done over the winter. As background, it sent out a small swarm in early September - I caught the swarm, with queen, and re-hived it outside. Then I left town for 10 days. I don't know if the observation hive has a viable queen in it - there were still some drones around when it swarmed, and I saw no laying worker behavior when I returned. They may have a brood nest in the center - I can't tell in this kind of hive. I thought about trying to requeen them, but then I thought, "Eh, let's see what happens." Population is currently less than there was in the fall, but not miserably small, either - they're loosely filling two boxes. I keep thinking I see young-looking bees, but I'm just not sure. Could all the bees now in the hive have lived since early September? Keeping in mind that September had a big flow on and they were pretty active until November?

Other than the unknown queen situation, the hive has been pretty uneventful. I reduced the entrance to the hive for the winter. I have left it uncovered. The observation hive bees are definitely more active than the outside hives and go out on sunny 40 degree days - the outside hives generally get out and about on sunny afternoons when it hits the upper 40's (except for my white langstroth - they need the temps to get into the mid-50's). The observation hive has not tightly clustered except for very cold days. 
Despite the swarm, I have not needed to feed or do anything, really - I can still see some capped honey from the sides. It gives me some reassurance that the outside hives still have stores.
The bottom has stayed pretty clean - not as polished clean as in the summer; there are some dead mites and wax bits, but they clean the dead bees out pretty quickly. There just haven't been that many dead bees.
There has been no condensation at all since temps dropped in the fall. The bees did propolise the top vent down to 2" circular hole: here's a picture:









Some day soon I want to clean the entrance tube, which is pretty pollen-stained, but other than that, I'm planning to wait until there's honey to collect before messing with this hive again. Unless they're queenless!

As a side note, I do think there are cheaper ways to make this hive - some wood walls instead of all acrylic might be one way. I'm not sure if that would complicate construction. And I'm not sure if the bees would chew silicone - they chewed out and removed all the rubber bands in the hive and also chewed out and removed the mesh face to a queen cage I put in there last summer.


----------



## Cloverdale

Margo said:


> An update on how this hive has done over the winter. As background, it sent out a small swarm in early September - I caught the swarm, with queen, and re-hived it outside. Then I left town for 10 days. I don't know if the observation hive has a viable queen in it - there were still some drones around when it swarmed, and I saw no laying worker behavior when I returned. They may have a brood nest in the center - I can't tell in this kind of hive. I thought about trying to requeen them, but then I thought, "Eh, let's see what happens." Population is currently less than there was in the fall, but not miserably small, either - they're loosely filling two boxes. I keep thinking I see young-looking bees, but I'm just not sure. Could all the bees now in the hive have lived since early September? Keeping in mind that September had a big flow on and they were pretty active until November?
> 
> Other than the unknown queen situation, the hive has been pretty uneventful. I reduced the entrance to the hive for the winter. I have left it uncovered. The observation hive bees are definitely more active than the outside hives and go out on sunny 40 degree days - the outside hives generally get out and about on sunny afternoons when it hits the upper 40's (except for my white langstroth - they need the temps to get into the mid-50's). The observation hive has not tightly clustered except for very cold days.
> Despite the swarm, I have not needed to feed or do anything, really - I can still see some capped honey from the sides. It gives me some reassurance that the outside hives still have stores.
> The bottom has stayed pretty clean - not as polished clean as in the summer; there are some dead mites and wax bits, but they clean the dead bees out pretty quickly. There just haven't been that many dead bees.
> There has been no condensation at all since temps dropped in the fall. The bees did propolise the top vent down to 2" circular hole: here's a picture:
> 
> View attachment 9267
> 
> 
> Some day soon I want to clean the entrance tube, which is pretty pollen-stained, but other than that, I'm planning to wait until there's honey to collect before messing with this hive again. Unless they're queenless!
> 
> As a side note, I do think there are cheaper ways to make this hive - some wood walls instead of all acrylic might be one way. I'm not sure if that would complicate construction. And I'm not sure if the bees would chew silicone - they chewed out and removed all the rubber bands in the hive and also chewed out and removed the mesh face to a queen cage I put in there last summer.


Hi Margo, great ob hive! Keep posting your progress….it is so interesting, I would love to have one myself, but need to have a few more years under my belt….I just bought an Ulster Ob Hive from Brushy Mtn. and can't wait to use it for the kids….thanks for posting all this info and keeping us updated.


----------



## WBVC

Curious as to it has been with this hive over the winter. Have you treated it all?


----------



## Margo

WBVC said:


> Curious as to it has been with this hive over the winter. Have you treated it all?


I've done zero treatment. No chemical treatments, no natural alternative treatments, no strategic herb plantings, nothing special in the smoker... nothing. Last summer I requeened all my hives, including this one, with VPQueens granddaughters... they're supposed to be VSH. Time will tell, but so far all my hives are alive. In the past, I've tried doing no treatments with regular Georgia-Italian packages and none survived the first winter. But I messed with them a lot, too. This bunch I've left more alone. I can see little mite bodies on the floor of this hive sometimes... in the summer, they clean the hive floor perfectly, but the bees seem to leave things a tad messier in the winter.

Observation hive bees are flying today. They do still have honey. Outside hives are quiet. I saw a little bit of a pale yellow pollen on their legs during a brief warm spell at the end of February, but it got snowy and cold again. But things are supposed to warm up!


----------



## Margo

Cloverdale said:


> Hi Margo, great ob hive! Keep posting your progress….it is so interesting, I would love to have one myself, but need to have a few more years under my belt….I just bought an Ulster Ob Hive from Brushy Mtn. and can't wait to use it for the kids….thanks for posting all this info and keeping us updated.


Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful experience with yours... my kids really do enjoy it.


----------



## Margo

Lots of activity in this hive (and outside hives) yesterday and probably today... and here's a picture of the hive this morning. You're looking at the two upper boxes from the rear side of the hive. The third, lower box is pretty much empty. I thought the bees had all left because they've been loosely filling both these boxes most of the time, but I think they're all just tightly gathered in the upper box. Bees sure can compress! I hope it's because there's some brood in there. Temps yesterday were in the upper 50's and there was a bit of pollen coming in.


----------



## Margo

Some more pictures of the hive now... the hive has suddenly taken on a faint warm honey-hive scent. We had temperatures in the upper 60's for a couple days.

Some early nectar in the upper box:









The hive floor in March... this is the messiest it has been all year:


----------



## BeekeepingIsGood

Amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this. I read it from the beginning and was excited to follow the progress and find out what happened in the winter.


----------



## Margo

Thanks. There's surely a queen in there as they're still going strong, gaining population and just to make me extra happy I just saw some capped worker brood.


----------



## Margo

I see the bees festooning for the first time this year. Also, I changed the entrance tube. Details and photos below for those who are interested in construction.

Bees just starting to festoon in the lowest box:










On a cold morning last week while the bees were in cluster we unscrewed the entrance tube from the window board and pulled it off the hive:









I put a tissue and a sock over the hive entrance:


----------



## Margo

The pollen-stained tube is pretty hard to clean - tried all types of cleaners before giving up and just making a new tube:









Old tube was held to entrance reducer-block with a few screws:









Here's a view of the entrance with the reducer slide in it: it gets screwed with this side out into the window block with the holes lined up (the window block is essentially a block of wood filling the bottom of the window with a hole drilled into it). It was getting a bit of mildew, even though it doesn't really get exposed to the exterior, so I melted and rubbed some beeswax into it:


----------



## Margo

Here's a picture of the exposed window block. If I go into the hive in the summer, I don't leave this open - foraging bees will try to come home through it. Leave the entrance tube on and just slide the entrance reducer shut. Pull the entrance tube off the hive end and slide socks over the hive opening.









We then installed the new tube into the entrance block, carving off any protruding plastic so that the entrance reducer can easily slide back and forth.









Reassembled the whole thing - bees were starting to come out of cluster so taking the sock off the hive opening and quickly reattaching the tube (it just slides on tightly) was a bit exciting. And now we can see the bees again!


----------



## Margo

This hive is now just over a year old.
We're really into spring here now with maples in full bloom and daily temps in the 60's.
Hive is very full in two boxes, plenty of capped brood visible from the sides in the upper box, just doing a bit of festooning in the lowest. No new comb getting built.
They have been capping some of the maple nectar they've been bringing in. 
The floor of the hive is now whistle-clean.

The hive seemed kind of swarmy last week, with some frantic running around and lots of bees clustering outside on the window for a few days, but they've since stopped. 
We had a big surge in hive humidity (water dripping everywhere one night) and I had to help the bees out a bit with the propolis ring they had built on the top vent. They had chewed it loose, but couldn't remove it through the wire mesh. I peeled it back and also poked a nail through the propolis filling the vent holes I had drilled all over the top of the hive. Humidity is now back to just a light haze some the evenings. 

The swarmy behavior stopped just about when when I peeled back that propolis.


----------



## BernhardHeuvel

I just want to share this walk-in observation hive for more inspiration.










http://www.abejasdelvalle.com/galeria.htm


----------



## Margo

BernhardHeuvel said:


> I just want to share this walk-in observation hive for more inspiration.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.abejasdelvalle.com/galeria.htm



Lovely!


----------



## Margo

I have had the delight of listening to queens piping for about 5 days now.
The hive did swarm a couple of weeks ago - a huge swarm that I watched leave in a grand boil and was sorry not to catch. They settled way up in the highest tree and checked out but declined all my enticing little bait hives before lifting off again the next day. Here's the hive just before the swarm, seething with bees:








They're still full of capped queen cells and I saw a queen walking around a few days ago, so I'm guessing another swarm is about to occur. I saw the queen marching around on the capped queen cells, clearly interested, but didn't see her stinging at them or anything aggressive-looking. The piping makes it pretty easy to find the queen; I can hear several different queens piping, each with her own sound and rhythm. 
Here's one of the queen cells. I can see five capped queen cells right now:








Some of the bees are clustered on the window, and have been there since yesterday morning. I don't see a queen in there, nor do I see any comb. Not sure what's going on there.

Window cluster:


----------



## Michael Bush

>I just want to share this walk-in observation hive for more inspiration.

Amazing!


----------



## Harley Craig

Anymore updates on this hive ?


----------

