# Observation Hives in the Bedroom?



## IAmTheWaterbug

I aspire to have an observation hive some day. From a beekeeping point of view my master BR would be the best place to put one:









I have a window/wall where it would look nice, and I could have a relatively short access hose to an area of the backyard that gets almost no human traffic.

I also am currently single, so there would be no one to object to my decision 

My gut reaction is that this would be the best thing ever! 

But, as always, I like opinions from those who have gone before me. Is the sound more like a soothing white noise that lulls one to sleep? Michael Bush writes that it's "Less noise than the refrigerator." Or are there enough sudden/changing noises to wake one from sleep?

Will my bedroom smell like lemongrass? Is that a bad thing?

I live in earthquake country. Has anyone here ever dropped their OH or had it fall off their wall? I've had bees in my house before, and it's not something I want to repeat. If I buy/build this with laminated safety glass, and add a spring-loaded door in case the hose gets disconnected, would that be sufficient?

For those of you who have OHs with two sets of frames back to back, how often do you see your queen and brood? 

For those of you with single-wide OHs, how difficult is it to manage a relatively small colony? I'm in a warm climate with no real winter, if that helps.

Would it be possible to have the equivalent of two Bonterra SwingView Hives, but only single layered, but connected to each other, like two pages of a book?


----------



## Phoebee

I overwintered a hive in an unheated workshop this winter, with a tube going out the window. It seems to have worked.

Dr. Frank Linton gave a talk at our club a couple of months back. He keeps them indoors even in a heated house. Don't expect a single hive to last for a year like this, but he can keep them going for a while, then rotate them out. He has a website and some books.

http://thebeepeeker.com/


----------



## Tenbears

Speaking from someone who has several Observation hives, I can tell you they are not at all troublesome to listen to. even when you have a piping queen on the hunt. But you must remember that you have to be able to close them off and take them outside from time to time for maintenance. All my O.H. are 8 frame and with that I have to cut them down for swarm management twice a year. you could let them swarm, But I hate to loose the bees. They will also build wax on the glass from time to time that you will want to clean off.


----------



## Michael Bush

>I also am currently single, so there would be no one to object to my decision 

Now is the time. Too late to negotiate later...

>My gut reaction is that this would be the best thing ever! 

Pretty much. There are a few things better... loving wife, grandkids...

>But, as always, I like opinions from those who have gone before me. Is the sound more like a soothing white noise that lulls one to sleep?

Yes.

> Michael Bush writes that it's "Less noise than the refrigerator." Or are there enough sudden/changing noises to wake one from sleep?

I went to the link. While I agree, I did not remember saying that... But yes, I did and yes, it is less noise than a refrigerator. No it is unlikely to wake you up. I certainly wouldn't wake me up.

>Will my bedroom smell like lemongrass? Is that a bad thing?

More like a beehive. People pay good money for that nowdays...

>I live in earthquake country. Has anyone here ever dropped their OH or had it fall off their wall? I've had bees in my house before, and it's not something I want to repeat. If I buy/build this with laminated safety glass, and add a spring-loaded door in case the hose gets disconnected, would that be sufficient?

I don't live in earthquake country... but if it's strong enough to knock the observation hive over, you may have bigger problems...

>For those of you with single-wide OHs, how difficult is it to manage a relatively small colony? I'm in a warm climate with no real winter, if that helps.

It's not hard to manage. You just manage it. What is happening is obvious if you watch Bee TV every night. So you take it outside and deal with it when you need to.

>Would it be possible to have the equivalent of two Bonterra SwingView Hives, but only single layered, but connected to each other, like two pages of a book?

The bees need things together to view it as all part of the same hive. I won't say it CAN'T work but it will work better if the hive is all adjacent to itself and not two separate boxes connected by some kind of tunnel...


----------



## deknow

You won't need a collection of etchings to invite him/her up to see.


----------



## IAmTheWaterbug

deknow said:


> You won't need a collection of etchings to invite him/her up to see.


Help me understand your wisdom . . . ?????


----------



## deknow

..it's old skool for 'Netflix amd chill'.


----------



## IAmTheWaterbug

Michael Bush said:


> >I live in earthquake country. Has anyone here ever dropped their OH or had it fall off their wall? I've had bees in my house before, and it's not something I want to repeat. If I buy/build this with laminated safety glass, and add a spring-loaded door in case the hose gets disconnected, would that be sufficient?
> 
> I don't live in earthquake country... but if it's strong enough to knock the observation hive over, you may have bigger problems...


Single-story wood frame houses actually tolerate earthquakes remarkably well, especially if they're bolted to their foundations. The structure itself will survive shaking that breaks all the windows, knocks over anything taller than a nightstand, and knocks everything off the walls. It's the latter case that concerns me. The aftermath of a major earthquake would be bad enough without adding 10,000 confused bees. Then again if I mount it near the window in the above photo, and we get the 8.0 quake, that window will probably break and provide a good escape path for the bees. So I'm probably overthinking this.


> >For those of you with single-wide OHs, how difficult is it to manage a relatively small colony? I'm in a warm climate with no real winter, if that helps.
> 
> It's not hard to manage. You just manage it. What is happening is obvious if you watch Bee TV every night.


That sounds promising. Most of my mistakes over the last 2 years have been because I wasn't watching things closely enough or frequently enough, which is partially a function of the hassle of getting suited up, etc. Bee TV is always on!


> So you take it outside and deal with it when you need to.


Here's an interesting design:







The frames are contained in modular frame holders with sliding metal covers to completely enclose them for insertion and removal. You can allegedly insert/remove frames inside the house without releasing any bees. I'd have to see this in action before having any faith in the design, but it's an interesting idea.


> >Would it be possible to have the equivalent of two Bonterra SwingView Hives, but only single layered, but connected to each other, like two pages of a book?
> 
> The bees need things together to view it as all part of the same hive. I won't say it CAN'T work but it will work better if the hive is all adjacent to itself and not two separate boxes connected by some kind of tunnel...


I was imagining something like two side-by-side hinged hives, with a big, flexible tube right at each pair of frames. Have you (all) seen hives in the wild that had two separate volumes connected by narrow tunnels or crevices, but that still operated as a single hive?


----------



## IAmTheWaterbug

deknow said:


> ..it's old skool for 'Netflix and chill'.


LOL!

And now everyone over 50 is going to google "Netflix and chill" . . .


----------



## jmgi

IAmTheWaterbug said:


> I aspire to have an observation hive some day. From a beekeeping point of view my master BR would be the best place to put one:
> 
> View attachment 23133
> 
> 
> I have a window/wall where it would look nice, and I could have a relatively short access hose to an area of the backyard that gets almost no human traffic.
> 
> I also am currently single, so there would be no one to object to my decision
> 
> My gut reaction is that this would be the best thing ever!
> 
> But, as always, I like opinions from those who have gone before me. Is the sound more like a soothing white noise that lulls one to sleep? Michael Bush writes that it's "Less noise than the refrigerator." Or are there enough sudden/changing noises to wake one from sleep?
> 
> Will my bedroom smell like lemongrass? Is that a bad thing?
> 
> I live in earthquake country. Has anyone here ever dropped their OH or had it fall off their wall? I've had bees in my house before, and it's not something I want to repeat. If I buy/build this with laminated safety glass, and add a spring-loaded door in case the hose gets disconnected, would that be sufficient?
> 
> For those of you who have OHs with two sets of frames back to back, how often do you see your queen and brood?
> 
> For those of you with single-wide OHs, how difficult is it to manage a relatively small colony? I'm in a warm climate with no real winter, if that helps.
> 
> Would it be possible to have the equivalent of two Bonterra SwingView Hives, but only single layered, but connected to each other, like two pages of a book?


Someone who is not a beekeeper and could care less could never, ever, ever, ever understand why anyone would want to put an observation hive in the master bedroom, but a true beekeeper knows why. I'm going to break the news to my wife tonight when she gets home.


----------



## deknow

IAmTheWaterbug said:


> LOL!
> 
> And now everyone over 50 is going to google "Netflix and chill" . . .


They don't have to.....they are at the submarine races!


----------



## Michael Bush

>You won't need a collection of etchings to invite him/her up to see.

True and it will quickly filter out all the ones you don't want because bees creep them out...


----------



## IAmTheWaterbug

jmgi said:


> Someone who is not a beekeeper and could care less could never, ever, ever, ever understand why anyone would want to put an observation hive in the master bedroom, but a true beekeeper knows why. I'm going to break the news to my wife tonight when she gets home.


So what did she say? Or are you posting your reply from the doghouse now?


----------



## Scpossum

Good luck with the wife. Mine said No! No! No! To the bedroom. 

That was the end of that. Ended up putting it in the garage in a small side room. Has worked well. Overwintered and ready to expand.


----------



## Harley Craig

Scpossum said:


> Good luck with the wife. Mine said No! No! No! To the bedroom.
> 
> That was the end of that. Ended up putting it in the garage in a small side room. Has worked well. Overwintered and ready to expand.


how long you been married? don't you know by now it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is permission? If my bedroom window was a good spot that didn't point to where the kids play, I would have her thinking it's her idea. She would think to herself. If he has that thing in here, I bet it will pay attention to it and leave me alone long enough to get some sleep LOL


----------



## D Coates

I've had one in my office for 4-5 years now. It's a big one (5 deep frames) but it's noise is negligible. The only trouble I've had with it to this point is one early spring the corn field next to me had a remarkably heavy henbit bloom. They worked it like dogs. Apparently henbit nectar/pollen smells like dirty feet in volume. For about 10 days my office reeked of a locker room of dirty feet. It was so bad I had people a few offices down asking what the smell was. I closed the door to my office and took it like a white boxer. The smell disappeared a few days later. That was a couple years ago and I've not had to deal with it since. 

The real reason I've not considered it for my home is it's a continual leak of cold air during the winter. On really cold days my office is 5-10 degrees colder than the rest of the office. The hive must have ventilation. The ventilation exits into your room. If your bedroom is facing the direction your cold fronts come in from this could be worse. You're in CA so this whole cold air concern of mine may be of no concern to you.

OB hives are awesome but they do require a bit more effort than a regular hive. I strongly recommend them for any beekeeper with experience. I will say "do you want to see my beehive" will be the most unique closing line out there. I'd bet fence sitters will opt to accept to at least see the bees...


----------



## Scpossum

20+ years married. She still didn't go for it. So now I stay down in the garage:thumbsup:

I watch the bees, reload a little, watch the bees, reload a little....if I put a tv in there it will all be over!


----------



## MariahK

Ha, I'm on the opposite side trying to figure if hubby will let me put an OH in and where? He wasn't to keen on getting bee's at first but now he loves them, the quetion is how much?


----------



## deknow

If he agrees to replace the mirror mounted over the bed with an observation hive, you will know how much :lookout:


----------



## Aroc

We are adding s master bedroom this summer. My wife insisted we put an observation hive in the bedroom with us.


----------



## aunt betty

If I'm doing an observation hive I think I'd want it right by the front door. Use some sort of fake door-bell looking hole for the entrance.
The "beware of dog" sign ain't working. Once a week on Saturday evening or afternoon the kids show up with their lawnmower wanting to chop all my white clover down. Like I'm gonna pay them kids to mow just the front yard because "surprise!!!" there are 17 bee hives in the back.


----------



## Phoebee

I won't Google "Netflix and chill", but that's a new one to me. My wife and I do that but I've been happily married too long to have ever used it as a dating tactic.

I'm old enough to have heard the "etchings" ploy.


----------



## Phoebee

aunt betty said:


> If I'm doing an observation hive I think I'd want it right by the front door. Use some sort of fake door-bell looking hole for the entrance.
> The "beware of dog" sign ain't working. Once a week on Saturday evening or afternoon the kids show up with their lawnmower wanting to chop all my white clover down. Like I'm gonna pay them kids to mow just the front yard because "surprise!!!" there are 17 bee hives in the back.


Somebody on the forum a couple of years back just kept an active hive on the front porch. It apparently did the trick.

These days you can buy a recording doorbell. Maybe record noise from a pissed-off hive, and when they push the button, a speaker behind the hive plays it back.

https://www.amazon.com/Buler-Simple-Recordable-Wireless-Doorbell/dp/B00M5PKUWG


----------



## Dubhe

My wife was okay with the OH in the living room-at first. The kids (elementary school age) loved it and it was fun seeing them and their friends with their faces literally pressed against the glass looking at all the drama that is bee world. But eventually the friends stopped coming over for play dates and the wife discovered that the parents were apparently horrified that we had caged venomous bugs in our house. Alas, the OH was removed and the kids are back. Apparently their parents are unaware of the 14 hives in the side yard


----------

