Subject: Kitchen Bees

From: AJ Muia <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 19:17:17 -0700

I spoke with Pat Wagner last month and she told me that she keeps a hive 
in her kitchen.  How is this possible?  Has anyone else tried indoor 
beekeeping?  I hope I'm not misquoting her, but I'm pretty certain she 
did say in the kitchen.

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From: <[email-masked]>
Date: 5 May 1995 06:20:14 GMT

>beekeeping?  I hope I'm not misquoting her, but I'm pretty certain she 

A friend of mine a looonngg time back used to keep bees in her bathroom 
on the second floor of a block of flats. She had a small window with no 
glass in it and had the hive pushed up against the wall facing outside. 
Not what I would think was the best way to keep them but it seemed to 
work for her for a number of years.

This might be how Pat is keeping her bees????

Best regards
Jeff C.

mailto:[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Malcolm Roe)
Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 12:29:58 GMT

>beekeeping?  I hope I'm not misquoting her, but I'm pretty certain she 
I expect this is an observation hive - a very small hive with glass
windows so that you can see what's happening inside.  The usual
arrangement is to keep the hive indoors but have a separate outdoor
entrance for the bees.  On way of doing this is to drill a hole in a
window frame and push through a piece of hosepipe which leads to the
observation hive.  An entrance this size would be too small for a
full sized hive but is quite adequate for the relatively small number
of bees in an observation hive.

Running an observation hive is quite difficult and not recommended for
a beginner.  It's the beekeeping equivalent of bonsai gardening.  The
colony must be kept unnaturally small but still balanced in population,
stores etc.
-- 
Malcolm Roe                                Phone  :  +44 1442 345104
Crosfield Electronics Ltd                  Fax    :  +44 1442 343000
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK        E-mail :  [email-masked] 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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From: Gordon Scott <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 May 1995 23:27:23 +0100

> beekeeping?  I hope I'm not misquoting her, but I'm pretty certain she 

In the kitchen is unusual but certainly feasible, but  many  people  run
'bee  houses'  where  the  hives are essentially in a shed, and the bees
exit through a hole in the wall  of  the  building.   This  is  quite  a
popular  way  of  beekeeping  in some areas of Europe and does have many
attractions.

As it happens (pure fluke) I was in a bee house today.

If you keep bees 'indoors' like this, they do seem less upset by working
them  (I  don't know why), so this is probably a good approach for urban
and suburban beekeepers, although of course one  should  avoid  becoming
over  confident  as a result.  [Hmm, maybe there's less obvious evidence
of them being upset.]

Where we visited today (Sid Pullinger, just a few miles south of us  and
probably  reading  this  --  thanks  again Sid) he has a bee house about
15x12 feet with 12/13 hives in it (all guesstimates -- with  several  on
scales  to  measure  weight  changes).   I  watched  quite  closely  the
behaviour of  the  bees,  both  from  within  and  without  because  I'm
considering  a  small  bee house in the garden at home.  I wanted to see
for myself how they react to manipulations in these circumstances and  I
was  quite pleased at what I saw -- I started beekeeping to get my fruit
trees pollinated (although I'd always been curious) but my garden's  not
really *quite* big enough unless the bees are really well behaved.

When you work bees in a bee house they tend (of course) to come  out  of
the  hives  into the house, but they then realise they're 'lost' and try
to find their way out rather than protecting their home.  This seems  to
distract  them  from their original intention to defend and reduce their
tendency to set up their usual 30ft away protective ring (don't quote me
on  the  distance -- it varies).  This seems to me to be a useful aspect
particularly in non or quasi-rural beekeeping.

I shall soon have a bee house in my garden.  I want bees  at  home  both
for  pollination  and I think for comfort (aren't they lovely ;-), but I
don't want the worry of distressed neighbours -- ok, it may be mostly in
their minds but that doesn't help me.

Incidently, Sid had a nice selection of meads too -- but that's  another
story.

Best regards,
-- 
Gordon Scott	[email-masked]		100332,3310 on CompuServe
Newsletter	[email-masked]	ditto
		Beekeeper, Kendo Sandan, sometime sailor.
		Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 5HP, UK