Kathy,
An Observation hive is not only a fantastic sales help, but it TEACHES, not
only the
observers, but more particularly YOU.  The more YOU watch carefully what
going on, the more you LEARN, and the better you can ANSWER the question of
the buying
public.  Trying to sell honey without an observation hive is SILLY - you
might as well direct them to the nearest grocery store and tell them to buy
the cheapest  With an observation hive and INTELLIGENT answers from YOU
regarding customers questions, your honey can COMMAND a price near double
that of the grocery store; and you MAKE FRIENDS who appreciate your knowledge
and with send new customers to get some of your LOCALLY PRODUCED SPECIAL HONEY

An Observation Hive is a "pain in the fanny" to manage and look nice.  It is
so small, that a new young queen will lay so much that the bees are always
swarming.  I always insert some old queen in my observation hives rather than
kill them, so that
brood production is minimal.  The queen MUST BE MARKED, so visitors can find
her.
The BIGGER the Observation Hive, the better it is, but NEVER, NEVER wider
than one
frame, because then the queen can get in between two frames and the visitors
can't
find her.  My particular preference is an observation hive using 4 medium, 6
5/8", frames, since all my colonies are ALL medium frames for both brood and
super frames.  If you are using Deep frames, I suggest 2 deep frames and one
medium frame in your Observation hive.

All the supply companies sell Observation hives. Since it is a lifetime
investment,
look at all and chose wisely.  Telephone Brushy Mountain Farm at 1-800-BEESWAX
for their free catalog and look at page 83 for 2 nice examples.

Hope I have helped.

George Imirie
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper

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