I tried to raise bees in the house last year, in an observation hive, and it didn’t go well at all. They all left. I wondered all winter if it was something I said? Then I discovered I did not have enough bees to support a colony in the beginning. So, they departed the fix…
After giving it some thought again this year, I decided to try again. So I made my own hive, and added a lot more bees than I had last year. This seems to have made a difference. They were put into the hive on 27 Mar., and are still here.
27 Mar 2013 – Bees in the Haus
Just after the bees are put into the hive, they cluster around the queen cage. That cage is in the middle there. On the right side of the hive you can see the feeder. I feed them a syrup made of equal parts of water and sugar. On the left side is a tube to the outside. What I have noticed is, they won’t go out until the outside air temperature reaches ~ 50 degrees or so. Then that tube becomes like the LA Freeway!
The towel is to cover the hive. I keep it covered most of the time as bees typically live in the dark.