Daftest question ever?!

[Bren99]

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

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Because they'll swarm when the queen runs out of space to lay

 

[Hivemaker.]

Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

You can and they work very well, some types are best buried under the ground.

 

[victor meldrew]

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

You may well want to set up a mini bee hive! The bees however have a completely different agenda!
You may have seen bees in observation hives but these are not the norm and are very temporary !
Just for the good of the bees means ,finding out just what that implies before contemplating let alone setting up a wholly inappropriate structure to contain bees (an impossibility anyway)
I wonder if your intentions are altruistic or for your own pleasure?
VM


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[Friar Tuck]

I have herd of a guy who sets up beehives around woods and other rural areas. He makes them out of cheap wood, gives the hive a decent entrance and mesh floor, he puts them up in trees, he puts bees in the hives and just leaves them..

Is this a good thing?

 

[Finman]

I have herd of a guy who sets up beehives around woods and other rural areas. He makes them out of cheap wood, gives the hive a decent entrance and mesh floor, he puts them up in trees, he puts bees in the hives and just leaves them..

Is this a good thing?

amen

Mesh floor up in trees.

 

[Bren99]

Thanks folks some interesting points raised here. I've got a smallish house and Garden in an urban terrace. I know there are many reasons why a (large) hive would be totally inappropriate, but am interested in giving the bees in my local area a helping hand and maybe a short term home!

Thanks for the pointers,

Brendon

 

[Chris B]

I've seen some non-standard hives made of brick and people set them up on top of their houses out of the way. Some of them are even self-smoking.
The best bit is you don't even need to buy bees to put in them as often they just turn up. No bother from woodpeckers or mice like a standard hive. I think they could catch on.

The serious point in the above - bees 30 feet up in the air are no bother to anyone and often go unnoticed. Anything purely "for the good of the bees" is basically a habitat they would choose themselves i.e. high up away from danger and not a nuisance to anyone.

 

[victor meldrew]

Thanks folks some interesting points raised here. I've got a smallish house and Garden in an urban terrace. I know there are many reasons why a (large) hive would be totally inappropriate, but am interested in giving the bees in my local area a helping hand and maybe a short term home!

Thanks for the pointers,

Brendon

The best way to give the local bees a helping hand is to forget all about getting a hive .
Temporary homes are not required. Think about it, you provide a small hive , how do you stock it ? Bees won't just turn up with a '
"Thank you" swarms look for a cavity of about 40 litres!
Should you put a cast ( a small swarm) into your little box, what have you achieved? It will out grow it so quickly that it will be forced to swarm prematurely . How will this 'help' the bees ?
The situation you describe is bound to upset your neighbours !
I make no apologies for my blunt response but being a fellow northerner you be used to being told how it is
VM


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[alanf]

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?

Have a look for designs of boxes to house bumble bees and solitary bees. Lots of bee species could do with help and once provided with a home tend to look after themselves. Unmanaged honey bees can be poor neighbours, swarming and spreading disease are the usual concerns.

 

[domino]

You could plant bee friendly stuff, that's probably going to have a better outcome.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You could plant bee friendly stuff, that's probably going to have a better outcome.

 

[YorkshireBees]

...
Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox?

Simple answer:
Imagine moving a family with say 5 kids into a 1 bedroom flat!?
Honey bees live in colonies that require a minimum sized box / cavity to live in.

Have a look for designs of boxes to house bumble bees and solitary bees.

This is the right idea if you want to help bees / pollinating insects in general.
As well as the planting of bee friendly plants as mentioned by others.

 

[Moggs]

If it ain't broke!

Modern beehives (apart from 'specials') have a design brief and technical specification drawn up from about 35 million years ago. Bees need a cavity that will efficiently befit their seasonal and colony dynamics - i.e. a space that will accommodate a productive force of tens of thousands of bees but that will still be suitable for a wintering colony without the overhead of a large fuel bill.

You will, no doubt, be able to keep bees in another container of larger or smaller proportions but I fear that this is all that it will be - a container, for a while.

 

[victor meldrew]

[/QUOTE]
This is the right idea if you want to help bees / pollinating insects in general.
As well as the planting of bee friendly plants as mentioned by others.[/QUOTE]

Now we're talking , there is still time this year!. Get your small box about 10" cubed, pick up some used rodent bedding from a pet shop , pop it in your box . Bumblebee Queens are programmed to follow the scent trail of mouse urine when searching for a suitable nesting site. Your box will have to be weatherproof and have a 1" hole close to the base of one wall!
You never know your luck in a draw!
VM


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[Luminos]

This is the right idea if you want to help bees / pollinating insects in general.
As well as the planting of bee friendly plants as mentioned by others.[/QUOTE]

Now we're talking , there is still time this year!. Get your small box about 10" cubed, pick up some used rodent bedding from a pet shop , pop it in your box . Bumblebee Queens are programmed to follow the scent trail of mouse urine when searching for a suitable nesting site. Your box will have to be weatherproof and have a 1" hole close to the base of one wall!
You never know your luck in a draw!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

Unless your opponent is Clint Eastwood.
Then it's pretty much a foregone conclusion.

 

[victor meldrew]

This is the right idea if you want to help bees / pollinating insects in general.
As well as the planting of bee friendly plants as mentioned by others.

Now we're talking , there is still time this year!. Get your small box about 10" cubed, pick up some used rodent bedding from a pet shop , pop it in your box . Bumblebee Queens are programmed to follow the scent trail of mouse urine when searching for a suitable nesting site. Your box will have to be weatherproof and have a 1" hole close to the base of one wall!
You never know your luck in a draw!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

Unless your opponent is Clint Eastwood.
Then it's pretty much a foregone conclusion.[/QUOTE]

Definitely a case for the Brook agency
VM


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[davnig]

Why don't you get beehives the size of a shoebox? Cheers, Brendon

because you won't fit 40,000+ bees in a shoebox unless you liquidise them first!

 

[John M]

I have herd of a guy who sets up beehives around woods and other rural areas. He makes them out of cheap wood, gives the hive a decent entrance and mesh floor, he puts them up in trees, he puts bees in the hives and just leaves them..

Is this a good thing?

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.

 

[pargyle]

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.

I've noticed a lot of posts on various fora over the last week or two of people who are 'wanting to help the bees' but they have little or no knowledge of what is involved in setting up and maintaining a colony.

Is there a sticky somewhere for people who, like this OP, have the best intentions but not a lot of knowledge about honeybees ... If not, is there one of you experienced beeks who could provide some encouraging words that are welcoming and not derisory that would lead an OP into a sensible course of action.

I suspect that the current press about the plight of honeybees is stirring up lots of people who would like to help but really don't have any basic knowledge about how to go about it.