Elevated hive entrance tube thing ?

[greengumbo]

I've been asked to place a hive in a public site and one of the stipulations or requests is that the bees enter / leave the hive from an elevated height...ie about 6 feet above the hive. The person requesting suggested a see through tube or similar but I haven't found much on google.

I'm not totally convinced about it all but would welcome ideas just so that I can see if there are any designs I think would work with the locations.

So not looking for "dont be an idiot that will never work" type responses ! More "I dont think it will work but ..blah blah.. could be an option".

Cheers !

[fatshark]

Don't be an idiot, that will never work.

Instead, why don't you leave the hive entrance at the normal height and only allow vertically challenged people to view it?

PS More seriously, this is not an unusual setup with observation hives. There are pics on the web of long tubes and there's an article on Beesource here (http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?248048-What-is-the-maximum-tube-length-for-an-observation-hive). Do you need to provide a 'view' of the bees entering and leaving the hive? One well known and MBE'd beekeeper has a bee shed with a 6' high fence panel almost immediately in front of the entrance ... the bees are forced up and over the panel and the neighbours have no idea he's got half a dozen colonies there.

Or didn't until I wrote that ;)

PPS Shouldn't you be at work?

[fatshark]

Just remembered ... I've read somewhere that tube-type entrances should be flush with the exterior wall. If they protrude the bees get confused. No idea whether this is true or not. When I've housed mini-nucs 'indoors' using 40mm osmapipe-type drainpipe for the access I left these flush with the exterior wall and the bees coped very well. I've also read that vertical sections of smooth-walled tubes can cause problems so you might need something for them to grip on to - some people thread a piece of sisal or other rough string through I believe.

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi greengumbo
There were pictures on here might have been HJBee posted them not sure
It was at a showground or something so the beehive was in a fine mesh enclosure big enough to stand in
The bees had to fly out above the net and come back the same way about 6 ft up in the air
That would work and make them interesting to watch coming and going in complete safety
Allegedly :)

[Jimbo]

Hi DR
You are referring to Ayr beekeeping association who put on public demonstrations
They use an open top mesh cage and the bees do fly over the public
I also think they do a separation of the bees so they are young bees so less likely to sting but I might be wrong with that


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[EK.Bee]

An elevated entrance with a long run to the hive makes life difficult for the undertaker bees
The shorter the entrance tube length the better
Karl Showler's book on observation hives discusses the merits of various set ups of entrances
it might be a worthwhile read

I believe Phil McAnespie built Ayr BKA's magnificently practical screened surround, he'd be worth
contacting for advice

[Greengage]

Any picture of that anywhere on the net.

[The Drone Ranger]

GG there's a picture on here somewhere

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[Jimbo]

If you go to Ayr beekeepers then click on buzzword (their newsletter) then go to the July/Aug 2015 issue and scroll down you will see a photo of their setup


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[Greengage]

Cheers tks for the info, I looked it up.

[greengumbo]

An elevated entrance with a long run to the hive makes life difficult for the undertaker bees
The shorter the entrance tube length the better
Karl Showler's book on observation hives discusses the merits of various set ups of entrances
it might be a worthwhile read

I believe Phil McAnespie built Ayr BKA's magnificently practical screened surround, he'd be worth
contacting for advice

I'll drop Phil a phone. Do you know if there are any photos doing the rounds of the Ayr BKA entrance ?

[EK.Bee]

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/Ayrshire/images/ayr-beekeeping-show700.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/Ayrshire/ayr-flower-show.asp&h=447&w=700&tbnid=c4nfr3voqI5-QM:&docid=EWcv_IEy3hJguM&ei=YXfLVq2SBMKKP_GuleAI&tbm=isch&client=opera&ved=0ahUKEwjtxtOyoozLAhVCxQ8KHXFXBYwQMwghKAQwBA