For a number of years I ran a project called Bees -the Experience which
toured schools in the south of England with a fairly dramatic show which involved
everyone from the youngest child to the headteacher and parents. It was a laugh
with a serious purpose, in that I wanted to indicate the importance of bees
to everyone. The climax of the show was my remote-controlled sunflower which
grew from a seed to 6ft tall in a few seconds. That was a riot.

Over the years I developed the best observation hive for my purpose. It had
to be:-
a) safe
b) easy to operate
c) easy to observe
d) give realistic conditions
e) not stress the bees.

This was my solution.
Make a nucleus hive big enough to take 5 frames. It has an entrance which can
be securely closed, and I mean secure. The floor is thoroughly ventilated and
there are some low side ventilation holes as well. Make a deeper than usual
space below the frames.

Establish a small colony in the nucleus hive and keep it in an accessible
place. Manage the small colony to keep it a moderate size by removing brood if
necessary.

Make a single-frame observation hive but mount it on a base as broad as the
nucleus hive. There are several 25mm dia holes in the base below the frame;
these are covered with queen excluder.

Make a secondary layer of perspex or plexiglass outside the glazing, to
protect the glass. Fix good carrying handles.

When you are ready to take the hive to a class, choose the frame which
demonstrates what you want to show. Put the queen on it. Put that frame in the
observation portion. Put a frame feeder with liquid feed in the nucleus box in
place of the frame you have taken out. Fit the observation portion on top of the
nucleus box. Use fixings that curious fingers cannot tamper with!

So you now have the situation where you have brood and the queen in the
observation portion. However, any worker can retreat below whenever she feels like
it. Down below it is dark, there is brood, ventilation and liquid feed. Nurse
bees will go up into the observation area to feed the brood and carry out
housekeeping duties, then return below. There is very little of the panic you
frequently get with say a normal three-frame observation hive.

Because there is only one frame exposed, it is easy to direct the attention
of the participants. The queen behaves calmly, laying continuously. You can
show many of the patterns of behaviour that you cannot when the colony is rushing
around.

Other advantages? It is stable, so you can put it in the back of the car
without having to prop it up or strap it to supports. Children cannot knock it
over, so you can concentrate on the important work. The bees can be kept closed
in for several days without any harm. Alternatively you can drop it off at home
and open the entrance - the colony can operate like that for several days
happily.

When you are finished, remove the observation portion, and put the
observation frame plus queen back in the nucleus. Easy.

I hope this is useful - any queries?

Regards

Matthew Allan

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::