Daftest question ever?!

[Norton]

Daftest question ever?!
.................................
CORRECT!

 

[Luminos]

Someone feel free to call me daft but, why do beehives always have to be standard sizes?? If I didn't want any honey but wanted to set up a mini beehive just for the good of the bees...would that be possible? Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

Are you one of the Borrowers?

 

[alldigging]

There are many ways you can help bees.

Planting a few flower seeds can be one of the easiest non-skilled things people can do.
A tree is a bit more effort, but very useful still. There are lots of books about this and garden centres have started labelling up bee friendly plants.

Bumblebee boxes are easy peasy too. We're going to have someone making insect homes at our allotment summer event.

If you're not interested in taking a honey harvest then there would seem little point in attempting to keep bees. Especially in a shoe box.

Join a local bee association as a social member and go along and see what they do.

You can also 'adopt' a bee hive.
bbka /shop/product_category/adopt-a-beehive/

 

[Friar Tuck]

No.

I have no objections to the non standard size, I just don't want the drones from an unmanaged hive visiting my colony with goodness knows what on them or in them.

What about swams that leave peoples hives, and then go and live in rotton trees or in peoples roofs or other wild places ? or wild ferral bees ? Surely their drone vist your hives?

 

[victor meldrew]

No.

I have no objections to the non standard size, I just don't want the drones from an unmanaged hive visiting my colony with goodness knows what on them or in them.

You must live in La la land if you think this doesn't happen already
VM


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[itma]

Someone feel free to call me daft but, why do beehives always have to be standard sizes?? If I didn't want any honey but wanted to set up a mini beehive just for the good of the bees...would that be possible? Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

Brendon, there are lots of different 'standards' - but as you've noticed, they are all largely similar in volume.

This is because a bee colony needs to be a certain size to be viable. Too few bees and they simply won't survive. Too small a box and they will outgrow it and swarm. To avoid being a constant swarm generator, you are looking at something like a 60 litre box.
That is why you don't have beehives that are the size of a shoebox (maybe 2 litres?)



Much about beekeeping is confusing.
Often enough for beekeepers too!
Beekeepers do indeed use well-insulated, shoebox-sized hives for the special purpose of rearing new queen bees.
BUT those micro-hives are only used temporarily - they cannot be used to keep bees permanently.

If you want to "help the bees" then I'd suggest the following
-- plant things that will help sustain the population of pollinating insects. Flowers are obvious, but check the details - typically modern varieties are less helpful than older, simpler varieties. But even Ivy is phenomenally useful to wildlife, although it will destroy your woodwork.
-- avoid using pesticides.
-- work to spread those messages widely, so that roadsides, parks and hedgerows can return to being havens for useful pollinating insects, including honeybees.

 

[pargyle]

Brendon, there are lots of different 'standards' - but as you've noticed, they are all largely similar in volume.

This is because a bee colony needs to be a certain size to be viable. Too few bees and they simply won't survive. Too small a box and they will outgrow it and swarm. To avoid being a constant swarm generator, you are looking at something like a 60 litre box.
That is why you don't have beehives that are the size of a shoebox (maybe 2 litres?)



Much about beekeeping is confusing.
Often enough for beekeepers too!
Beekeepers do indeed use well-insulated, shoebox-sized hives for the special purpose of rearing new queen bees.
BUT those micro-hives are only used temporarily - they cannot be used to keep bees permanently.

If you want to "help the bees" then I'd suggest the following
-- plant things that will help sustain the population of pollinating insects. Flowers are obvious, but check the details - typically modern varieties are less helpful than older, simpler varieties. But even Ivy is phenomenally useful to wildlife, although it will destroy your woodwork.
-- avoid using pesticides.
-- work to spread those messages widely, so that roadsides, parks and hedgerows can return to being havens for useful pollinating insects, including honeybees.

Very sensible reply and good advice to the OP - he should take it !

 

[Little John]

Someone feel free to call me daft but, why do beehives always have to be standard sizes?? If I didn't want any honey but wanted to set up a mini beehive just for the good of the bees...would that be possible? Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

Hello Brendan

there's no such thing - ever - as a daft question.

Unlike one or two of the people on here, in the wider world not everybody knows everything about everything. And of course, you don't know what you don't know.

You're quite right to question why beehives always have to be standard sizes - when there are no such things as 'standard-sized' holes in trees, or cavities in walls.

But - I think your question has been answered - a beehive needs to be large enough to contain the amount of bees involved. But as even that isn't a 'standard' amount, hives are usually expandable (and woe betide anyone who's hive isn't) in some way to accommodate fluctuations in numbers. Even the early skeps were used with ekes to enlarge them, when needed.

LJ

 

[Chorlton Honey Bees]

bees could live anywhere

bees will live in anything provided it has all their needs no drafts big enough we put them in boxes, cos thats what they are we use the same size just cos its easy for us to extract the honey if the bee space is not incorporated into the box the bees will just brace comb the gap
i was told by my mentor that if i wanted to keep bees for pollination only
my bees would leave the hive cos bees want to populate and swarming is the thing they do as the colony gets bigger the bees will take off with full tummys and the old Queen and set up some where else thats why we a keeper munipulate them to not have the erge to swarm people who dont take the honey and i think they may be a few will still have to do something the stop the swarming urge hence, thats why we put on supers to give the room to store
CHB

 

[Ely]

Someone feel free to call me daft but, why do beehives always have to be standard sizes?? If I didn't want any honey but wanted to set up a mini beehive just for the good of the bees...would that be possible? Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

Bumble bee boxes are very easy to make. Lot's of advice on the internet.

 

[sainfoin]

Why is there is no point in keeping bees if you don't want a honey harvest? Learning to keep bees is absolutely fascinating and if they survive must help them - just as well the aim wasn't honey last year as so much feed was going in not coming out!

 

[Finman]

.
I think that you have too much bees even now in UK. You have very small hive yields and it tells that your bee pastures are over grazed.


Then you should cut off the isle and move it to the place, where climate is more steady. Everything is fine in your beekeepeeping but your weathers are, --- I cannot say from where.

.

 

[Ely]

How much rainfall do you get in finland over summer?

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[Finman]

.
OUr annual rainfall is about 600-700 mm.
Most of rain comes during summer.
But our evaporation is slow in cold climate.

Recipiation mothly in eastern part of middle Finland.
Blue is long term average. Tammi = january

Summer months kesä. heinä. elo

.

 

[pargyle]

.
I think that you have too much bees even now in UK. You have very small hive yields and it tells that your bee pastures are over grazed.


Then you should cut off the isle and move it to the place, where climate is more steady. Everything is fine in your beekeepeeping but your weathers are, --- I cannot say from where.

.

You may be right ... but we have not helped because our countryside and domestic gardens have changed so dramatically over the last 50 years. The hedgerows and field boundaries have reduced significantly, there are fewer orchards and fruit farms, people tend not to grow traditional bee plants in their gardens or flowering fruit & vegetables that bees like - there is an emphasis on evergreen shrubs, paving and less on flowering borders and with the weather as it has been during the last few years whatever forage there is often comes at a time when the bees can't/won't fly ...

Oh ... and there are fewer weeds ... dandelions etc.

 

[For want of a better word]

You may be right ... but we have not helped because our countryside and domestic gardens have changed so dramatically over the last 50 years. The hedgerows and field boundaries have reduced significantly, there are fewer orchards and fruit farms, people tend not to grow traditional bee plants in their gardens or flowering fruit & vegetables that bees like - there is an emphasis on evergreen shrubs, paving and less on flowering borders and with the weather as it has been during the last few years whatever forage there is often comes at a time when the bees can't/won't fly ...

Oh ... and there are fewer weeds ... dandelions etc.

But we do have loads of Himalayan Balsom and acres of OSR !
( weather dependant!)

 

[pargyle]

But we do have loads of Himalayan Balsom and acres of OSR !
( weather dependant!)

Himalayan Balsam may be this years saving grace - most of the OSR round here appears to have been ploughed back in ... never got started. But ... you are quite right - the only reason we have HB is that it is so completely invasive that it takes over wherever it sets ...

 

[victor meldrew]

Certainly saved my harvest last year and provided my bees with their Winter stores
VM


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[user 6228]

Someone feel free to call me daft but, why do beehives always have to be standard sizes?? If I didn't want any honey but wanted to set up a mini beehive just for the good of the bees...would that be possible? Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

The bees natural nest is the a hollow a tree . The ones the bees favour are hollows about 30 to 65 litres, that are around 180 to 250mm in diameter and typically 1m to 2m tall. These nests are surrounded on average by 150mm of wood.
The standard sizes are human constructs. Bees however need that 30 to 65 litres to prosper, and will adapt to many shapes but tall thin and insulated has many advantages for the bees but makes honey collection difficult.

 

[m100]

The bees natural nest is the a hollow a tree . The ones the bees favour are hollows about 30 to 65 litres, that are around 180 to 250mm in diameter and typically 1m to 2m tall. These nests are surrounded on average by 150mm of wood.
The standard sizes are human constructs. Bees however need that 30 to 65 litres to prosper, and will adapt to many shapes but tall thin and insulated has many advantages for the bees but makes honey collection difficult.

Have you got a source for that? (it doesn't at first sight seem to be the work of Seeley but I could be wrong)