# Bubble Bees



## DarkWolf (Feb 20, 2013)

Could be any number of things.

Do you remember those Macramé‎ plant hangers that everyones mother used to make in the day? That's what's holding it up. 

As for the bowl? You can find large glass salad bowls on Amazon, Wal*Mart, etc. 

Roof? Not sure what they use. Can use sign metal and just form it over it, which looks like what they did. Leave a bend for an entrance. 

Just keep it out of direct sunlight. Indirect/dappled would be best.


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

Okay, so I whipped up a quick 3D model for a bit more elaborate design.
(and the image attachment feature is not working, so I'll just photobucket it)



Clear plastic dome with the bottom cut out of it. Piece of PVC pipe with a lip on it to make sure it sits in the hole snugly, cap base of pipe and cut an entrance into it. Cap the top and put entrance holes to the pipe inside the dome (here I just modeled it as a cap with some dowels connecting to the pipe). Long dowel going up through the middle to another wooden cap attached in the same way to a hole in the top plate to give room for a feeder. Coat the undeside of the base and the feeder bottom cap with wax (in yellow here) to give them something to draw off of, and stick a couple handles on top to lift the whole thing out of the dome with as needed. Suspend in rope hanger as before.

Come to think of it, can probably remove the central dowel completely as long as the entrance pipe at the bottom has enough of a lip on it that it doesn't need support. Still makes for an easy road for the bees to crawl up and down though until the comb is fully filling the bubble.


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## DarkWolf (Feb 20, 2013)

Well, if you're going that far and want to drop large $$ into it, consider sourcing lexan domes from places like http://www.cleardomes.com/ and other manufacturing facilities.


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

Lets see, normal frame is 19 inches long, so start with a 20" dome... that would run $45 from these guys.

If nothing else, that provides me a very good price comparison point, thanks.


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## BeeNRA (Jun 20, 2013)

This looks amazing! Love the solid works or maybe CATIA model. opcorn:

I'd just want movable frames... Like a top bar hive setup but in a dome. Then you can still get to the bees if needed.


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## JoshC (Jul 26, 2013)

I helped some friends take down a yurt a few years ago. That looks a lot like the dome that goes at the top of the yurt. I think they come in a variety of sizes, and you can get tinted or not. The tinted might be a tad easier on the bees. Here's a link to what I'm talking about:
http://www.coloradoyurt.com/yurts/yurt-features/ring-and-dome/


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