# Never had an Observation hive B4



## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Hi , I want to have an O.H this year and I don't know how it is possible to do so unless I don't take the Queen , or if I am requeening a hive and take an old queen.
I realize if the queen is taken there will be Q cells in a very short time , so in order for me to do it without issues ,is this the only way ?

Thanks
Ben


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Hi , I want to have an O.H this year and I don't know how it is possible to do so unless I don't take the Queen , or if I am requeening a hive and take an old queen.

I'd take the old queen... the big hive will rear a better queen than the observation hive. Do it two weeks before the flow and it will increase your harvest... do it other times it will probably decrease it.

>I realize if the queen is taken there will be Q cells in a very short time , so in order for me to do it without issues ,is this the only way ?

Do what without what issue? Are you thinking of doing the observation hive temporarily?


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## Troutsqueezer (May 17, 2005)

How big is the O.H.? You could buy a nuc and stick the frames in there. Take any leftover frames and combine them with existing hives.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Yes I want to do the hive temporarily . I was thinking of taking it to farmers markets and places of interest like an exhibition or something.

I might just use a weak hive and make a split from it with the old queen and put in a new queen in the other.

Is there a good spot to read about having an O.H. ? step by step ?

Thanks


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

I have more of a "display hive" as I call it that I take to weekend exhibits a couple of times a year. Usually I just steal a frame or 2 of bees/honey so I can talk about the pollination that the bees provide. Most people are used to asking "where's the queen". I find it sad that the queen is all they care about when it's the workers who are doing the heavy lifting, so to speak. One time I accidentally took the frame of bees with the queen on it and didn't return it to the hive for 12 hrs. Needless to say, the hive wasn't happy with me, so I was more careful the next time to leave her home.

This year, I hope to have a nuc or smaller colony that I can keep outside of my display hive but grab the queen and frames to go to the shows and farmer's markets. My hive has currently made a queen cell that I will probably move out of the hive this weekend after they have capped it. Even if she turns out to be a drone layer (because she can't possibly get mated well this time of year), she will be my O.H. queen that I can take places and not worry about if she dies from the stress. Plus if she had frames of drone bees, I can take them to the shows and even let people hold them, as they don't sting. (I know a drone laying queen will drain the bee-resources, but I don't plan to keep her year round. And I'd be happy to get some of the original queen's genetics out there in the form of drones).

I have some pictures of my display hive on my FB page if you want to see it. Built it out of scrap red oak trim and standard 16x20 glass. It also doubles as my solar wax melter, if I'm not careful


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you want to take them temporarily, just do it. Put them back when you get home.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesobservationhives.htm


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