The following summary is the result of this question I asked a month or so ago.
The hive is healthy and I greatly appreciate everyone's input!
The question was:
Has anyone had experience with varying lengths of the entrance tube?
I wonder if one meter is too long an entrance for a two frame observation
hive (American Langstroth frame).
The responses I received were:
From:
[log in to unmask] (Hans-Ulrich THOMAS) Subject: Observation hive
I have an observation hive. However, one frame only. The (horizontal)
entrance tube is about 30cm long and of a diameter of 3cm. Outside of the
building the entrance tube makes a 90=B0 turn upwards for a length of 2.5m
(!). The diameter chosen is larger and is 9 cm. This is a commercial PVC
tube available for kitchen sinks etc.
The bees seem not to mind it at all. They fly in and out with no
problems. I don't know whether they walk up the tube or fly. Just to be
on the safe side I sandpapered the inside of the PVC tube so it is easier
for the bees to walk up.
Good luck with your design
Hans
([log in to unmask])
From: RICHARD E BONNEY <[log in to unmask]>
I have seen a two frame observation hive with an 8-10 foot entrance tube.
It worked fine but it was a short term arrangement, about four days, in a
display at the county fair.
At UMass we have about an 18 inch tube regularly.
Dick Bonney [log in to unmask]
From: Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]>.
No it should be okay.
From: [log in to unmask] (Andreas Rose)
The zoo/ aquarium in Berlin has an observation hive with an entrance tube
that is at least 2m long and that changes direction twice. The tube is
made of acrylic plastic and has a diameter of about 8cm.
Best wishes,
Andreas Rose
[log in to unmask]
From: Phil Veldhuis <[log in to unmask]>
YEs. I currently have a full size colony (10 frames) on display in a
major art gallery. THe tube is over thirty (30) feet long.
The tube is clear plexi of 3 inch diameter. > > I wonder if one meter is
too long an entrance for a two frame observation > hive (American
Langstroth frame).
From: [log in to unmask]
I've used them up to 18 inches with no problems. I did try one with
the entrance tube at the bottom, and the bees couldn't seem to get the
hang of it. So now I'll use only the top.
I've always found they need intense management. One last year swarmed
four times, took two pesticide hits, and had to be replenished with
workers three or four times. I closed them out in November. The year
before we got one through the winter, with a lot of feeding and a blanket
over them on cold nights (the store was unheated at night).
The first one I had was on the kitchen counter. I didn't get much done
that summer, but I sure learned a lot. That was a cold summer up north,
and they exited on the north side of the house. I had to replenish them
quite a bit, and lost a couple queens too.
[log in to unmask] Dave Green PO Box 1215, Hemingway, SC 29554
From: [log in to unmask] (Ed Beary)
I've set up several observation hives with the entrance tube
length ranging from 15cm to 50cm without any
obvious changes in behavior. All of my tubes were 4cm groves cut in a 2
x 4 with a plexyglass top. There have
been people on net who have used much longer clear plastic tubes. The
diameter might be a factor in allowing the bees to set up two way traffic
lanes. Sometime last year there was a discussion here concerning hives
and I think someone mentioned that bees cam in on the bottom of the tube
and left on the top.
Ed Beary [log in to unmask]
From: [log in to unmask]
I just visited the Insectorium at the Botanical Gardens in Montreal. They
have an observation hive there (three full frames tall) with an entrance
that is at least a meter long. The entrance tube is relatively large,
about a 4 inch diameter plexiglass tube. It has a flat floor of
plexiglass inside the tube (maybe 2 inches across) and the tube makes a
sharp bend where it passes through a window (cuts wind, I guess). Some
bees seem to settle for crawling the distance. Others fly more or less,
often with considerable banging into the tube wall.
From: [log in to unmask] (Fred Rubin)
Adam: I worked with numerous observation hives while a student at UC
Davis, Although the short entrance tube is preferred, a healthy hive can
traverse a one meter length. Good Luck
From: Ann Dougherty (no e-mail address available--sorry)
I have an observation hive with a 11/4 inch diameter tube about
six inches long. It works great. The pacific science center here in
Seattle had an observation hive with a clear plastic tube that must have
been six inches in diameter and about ten feet long. I saw it after it
had been removed. It was filled with comb and was really quite
fascinating, but was a functional disaster as an entrance.
Ann
From Harvey Rutt (sorry, no e-mail address available)
I have seen a 2 frame obsn hive in a museum, apparently doing fine, with
a tube well over 2 metres long with some bends in it. Harvey Rutt (ex
beekeeper!)
From: [log in to unmask] ("Stefan Wojtowycz.")
A one metre tube would not be too long.
From: [log in to unmask] (Evan E. Twombly)
Years ago my dad used a 2 frame observation hive with an entrance tube
about a meter long. I think it works fine. For such a small hive, the
bees need to use up that honey somewhere, and walking the tube ought to do
fine.
There was an observation hive with 20 frames I read about that had a 10
meter entrance tube. So it's not impossible for the bees to use a long
tube.
This months Bee Culture magazine continues its series of articles on
observation hives and in discussing the waggle dance (indicates distance
and direction of nector/pollen source) the actual distance is related not
to meters but to energy expended so a more difficult entrance means the
dance is slower for a closer distance than in a hive with no entrance
tube.
Good Luck
Evan
If I left out your response, I'm sorry--I've been busy.
Thanks again everyone!
Adam
--
________________________________
Adam Finkelstein
[log in to unmask] Adaptive significance-- what's that?
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