# General beekeeping > Alternative beekeeping >  Bee House

## Troutnabout

Has anyone any experience of using a bee house?

I have just started keeping bees (the hives were my fathers).  My job means that I can only open up the hives on a Saturday and Sunday - weather permitting.  Due to the bad weather and other important familly stuff during May, I was unable to do any active swarm control.  As a result I had a swarm on the 1st of June.  Luckily I was able to get to it and I have managed to get it into a a hive and it has settled nicely.

I am considering a bee house for next season so that no mater how wet or windy it is, i can open up the hives for a proper inspection etc.

Hints and tips will be gratefully accepted

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## Trog

Funnily enough I was thinking about bee houses today so will follow this thread with interest.  No idea myself but someone's bound to come along with useful advice.

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## Calum

Hi,
I have bees in 3 different bee houses my mentor has his 30 cononies in one, they are very popular here in Germany. Here are some pictures I uploaded of some.
On the plus side:
*they are secure*
you are out of the weather (although the bees can be tempremental in bad weather, or not)
you can pack alot of gear into them 
your well away from the young bees when they are on their orientation flights and returning bees
On the down side
they are dark so seeing things like eggs in a queen cup is a pain
the bees that fly in also need a way out 
when you drop a frame it is just you and them in a small space.
they are a pretty investment and need to be big enough for your future needs.
I do not know if you need planning permission - here beekeepers have special concessions so they can be build almost anywhere.

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## gavin

> .... when you drop a frame it is just you and them in a small space.


LOL!!  That paints a picture ...

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## Calum

yup. just like you imagine. But there are some colonies that have not seemed to notice they'd been dropped. Others - well just opening the hive during changeable weather can be enough.
I only wear a straw hat when I work so (in a shed with poor light and a hood you really need a led torch with at least 8 leds) is up close and personal.

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## Trog

Surely when the hives are opened bees end up inside the beehouse.  How do they get back into their hives if the entrances are outside the house?  (Doesn't apply with the open ones - though I can't see the advantage of the last couple of types in your photos; not much extra shelter - but the big one with the lovely scythe looked like a proper shed.)

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## Neils

There's a guy on one of the other forums who's built himself a beehouse on his allotment, I seem to recall he stuck some vids up on you tube, I'll try and track them down.  As for bees inside the thing, leave the window open  :Wink:

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## Calum

Hi 
normally 'windows' are installed with a build in gap in the glass/plastic/corrugated sheet of about 10mm at the bottom so the bees can escape. Otherwise you have to hang around to close the window once they have all left..
Yes Trog the last two offer no real protection from the weather. Third to last offers little security, and has very poor lighting. But it is 94 years old.

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## Mellifera Crofter

On our windswept hill I often wish for a bee house or bee shelter as in some of Calum's photos.  Surely a shelter might give some protection?

I often wonder how flying bees in a bee house could find their way back into their hives without having to first find their way out of the bee house and then back through the pouring rain.  Would it help if the hives had two entrances - one open to the outside, and a smaller one at the back?

There is a little diagram in Ted Hooper's 'The Beekeepers' Garden' (1988) on how to position a hive inside the bee house.  I've made a pdf copy of that page, but I don't know how to attach it to this post - so if anybody wants a copy, just send me a private message.

You can also Google for 'An Introduction to Bee-houses' by David F Bates.  It's a help, but still leaves me with a lot of questions.

Here is a link to the Finsbury Park bee house: http://www.honeyshop.co.uk/Bee.html.

Kitta

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## Calum

hi Kitta,
the problem with a small entrance on the inside is that it increases the chances of 'silent' robbing, 10 mm window gap is fine (also helps keeping smoke levels down), I'll take more pictures the next time I am in my new bee house.

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## SueBee

I made a (removable) bee shelter out of some scrap timber which I use during winter (and again this MAY!).  It keeps the worst of the weather off the hive, has an open front, the slatted sides allow ventilation, and the clear corrugated top allows the sunshine to warm the hive.  Only problem I have with it is that I feel the need to tie it down with guy ropes just in case of a huge gust of wind.
Just took it off last week, but will put it back on this evening to take a photo and show you.
However, looking at the open bee houses, I am getting grander ideas...

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## Troutnabout

I got the idea for a bee house from a book my dad gave me "How to Keep Bees Without Finding the Queen" by Paul Mann, ISBN 978-1-904846-30-7, published by Northern Bee Books.  The bee house is basically a shed with a gap in the roof that allows the bees out.  The Bee House Chapter is short - 2 pages of text, 6 small B&W pics and a small line sketch of the house.  The auther does say he has plans available for houses that take 8, 12 and 16 colonies, £5 per set.

Looking at the set up, I reckon the only form of swarm control that would be practicable would be a shook swarm.

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## Troutnabout

> yup. just like you imagine. But there are some colonies that have not seemed to notice they'd been dropped. Others - well just opening the hive during changeable weather can be enough.
> I only wear a straw hat when I work so (in a shed with *poor light* and a hood you really need a led torch with at least 8 leds) is up close and personal.


If I build a bee house I plan on a perspex panel in the roof, paint the inside white and adapting those little solar power garden lights for the inside.

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## Mellifera Crofter

> Here is a link to the Finsbury Park bee house:


Sorry, I gave the wrong link.  It should have been this one: http://www.taylorsgardenbuildings.co..._beehives.html

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## Mellifera Crofter

> hi Kitta,
> the problem with a small entrance on the inside is that it increases the chances of 'silent' robbing, 10 mm window gap is fine (also helps keeping smoke levels down) ...


Thanks Calum - so would a bee house with a large roof overhang help to keep the bees dry on their way back to the hive - in other words, not like the Finsbury bee house I mentioned earlier?  (Or am I being silly?)

Kitta

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## Calum

Hey Kitta,
Finsbury Park bee house - nice looking but I'd never again keep bees on two levels - one of the bee houses I work has bees on two levels.
Working bent over on those is really a pain in the back, and you offer a nice siloutte as a target.
The large overhang in one of the pictures in my album enables a row of nucs to be placed on the ground in front of the hut and be sheldered from the rain (I guess they dont like it druming on the roof...).

Turnabout, you'll need a hell of a lot of solar lights.. And white shows the dirt so well  :Smile:  - unless you use a material you can wash off..
a skylight is a great idea though!

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## Alvearium

I remember in our association years ago there were two elderly beekeepers who had a beehouse and seemed quite successful. When I kept bees up north I came across 3 abandoned beehouses in the hills near Tomintoul. One still had bees in it. They were in a very isolated spot. They were probably built by David Emslie from Elgin in the years before the last war. I have attached an old Scottish Beekeeper advert. There is also a picture of these beehouses built on wheels in the Cummings & Logan bee book. They had little skylights at the top of the roof space to allow flying bees out. Our association apiary manager is dead keen on one of these for the future. Hope the attachments are there! By the way the beehouses I found were on metal runners so they could be winched on to a truck for moving. 
Alvearium

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## Calum

Pictures of my newest bee house (the third one I am in). I'll try and get pictures of the other one that is missing from my album..

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## The Drone Ranger

Great pics wish I had a bee house now

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## wee willy

I recall seeing pictures of a bee house fitted with a 'Lantern exit' in the roof . after manipulation, curtains were drawn over the windows admitting light for the operator to see by, thus leaving the 'Lantern exit' as the only light source/ escape route.
I shall have to look it up again.
WW

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## Trog

I'm beginning to get tempted by the bee house concept  :Smile:

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## Calum

Hi here are three more pictures of a fourth house I have bees in on a queen breeding site in the mountains.
It badly needs a rain gutter, apart from that well dimensioned for 10 colonies.
I notice they all have different hights of tressle for the bees. Some too low, some to high, or maybe I am just a bit goldy locks... but you feel it in your back after 8-10 colonies (the largest bee house I work has 24 colonies).

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## Bridget

I am resurrecting this thread as my husband is 3/4 way through building our bee house and I wondered if any more beekeepers have something to add on the subject.  Several people sounded interested back in 2011 and I wondered if anyone had built one.  Ours will take 5 hives and a nuc though there is space to increase this by two or three hives if it becomes necessary.  We can of course have more hives outside, especially in the summer.   The area giving a wee bit of trouble at present is getting the hive flush to the front opening so that bees can't crawl up inside the house.  
We have top opening perspex windows but I also intend to have one or two very small openings covered with some plastic queen excluder so the bees can get out when its shut up and maybe a small shutter that can go over it externally when the house is not being opened up.  We shall get a very simple solar lighting system for possibly a strip light.  there will be lots of space for storage - yeh.  Interested to see Calums photos.  I shall get some up myself when its completed.  
Just started to move a couple of my hives, a couple of feet at a time, into a closer position.  I see Calums photos don't show any recognisable feature for individual openings.  I was thinking of giving each hive a colour splash on the front now with the same colour above their entrance to the house.  Any thoughts?

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## The Drone Ranger

there were some articles in the 1940's Scottish beekeeper mags
Converting a small caravan or mounting a small shed on a trailer then towing it to various locations was popular back then  :Smile:

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## Blackcavebees

Regarding the entrances and colours, university of sussex (i think) uses shapes more than colours above the entrances, painted horizontial or vertical or diagonial stripes

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## Calum

for some reason here white yellow and blue are the used colours traditionally.
I have no idea why.

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## Bridget

> for some reason here white yellow and blue are the used colours traditionally.
> I have no idea why.


I read something similar else where - I will try those colours in various stripes and crosses.

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## The Drone Ranger

> for some reason here white yellow and blue are the used colours traditionally.
> I have no idea why.


are bees blind to red ?

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## fatshark

Yes ... that's why you can open a mini-nuc under a red light at night and not get a face full of bees ;-) it also means they see all my Kielers and poly hives as big black lumps, without me looking like I'm farming lumps of onyx. Or something.

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## The Drone Ranger

> Yes ... that's why you can open a mini-nuc under a red light at night and not get a face full of bees ;-) it also means they see all my Kielers and poly hives as big black lumps, without me looking like I'm farming lumps of onyx. Or something.


I wondered about those red beesuits you see on TV  :Smile:

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## Jimbo

There is a nice picture of a bee house and article in the latest edition of IBRA. I think the bee house was located in Fife

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## brecks

I imagine that smoke inhalation may be a big problem.

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## Feckless Drone

> There is a nice picture of a bee house and article in the latest edition of IBRA. I think the bee house was located in Fife


I must try to look at that - but what does IBRA stand for?

Came across this picture in a copy of the Northern Beekeepers Handbook, Inverness Association, circa 1950's. Apparently this chap kept a couple of houses, and I have other pictures. Life was so different then - the yields of honey that are reported are out of my league.

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## Jon

International Bee Research Association

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## Bridget

> I must try to look at that - but what does IBRA stand for?
> 
> Came across this picture in a copy of the Northern Beekeepers Handbook, Inverness Association, circa 1950's. Apparently this chap kept a couple of houses, and I have other pictures. Life was so different then - the yields of honey that are reported are out of my league.


My house is looking a lot like that though bigger windows and no wheels.

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## Mellifera Crofter

When do we see a photo, Bridget?
Kitta

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## Bridget

Official opening is 18th August - all welcome.  Till then all photos embargoed!

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## drumgerry

I'll be there!!  Camera in hand!

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## brothermoo

Bee house in a woodland estate just outside Belfast... They have the original plans but aren't exactly sure how it was intended to operate (think I was build around 1850)
___________________________________
sent from my smartphone.. although it doesn't filter my not-so-smart comments

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## Bridget

It looks more decorative than useful.  Love the narcissus.


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## Mellifera Crofter

Perhaps it is a beehouse for mini nucs.
Kitta

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## Jon

Belfast sent men to the moon in this during the 1960s
It was 300 feet tall when the boosters were on it.
That's just the capsule.

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## fatshark

A thatched spaceship ... that'll be no problem during re-entry!
Good thinking.


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## Jon

That is in fact a heat shield made from a top secret patented alloy which may look a bit like thatch to the unsophisticated.
Incredibly, there is stuff all over the internet claiming the mission was faked.

Shot in a Holywood studio, that's Holywood Co. Down just outside Belfast where Belfast BKA meets on the second Monday of the month.

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## Bridget

Moved the second and third hives into the bee house tonight.  We had a bee moving party - move bees, paella afterwards plus some plonk of course.  All seemed to go well - will see in the morning.  Now have three hives and one nuc in there.  All going well but need to get some lighting sorted as the nights get longer.  Solar or wind powered?  


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## Bridget

Well as promised here is the Drumguish Bee House.  Its been occupied for about three weeks now and of course there are some modifications to be made especially with the positioning of the hives - to get them flush up to the entrances we put some blocks on each side but of course this means its difficult to replace brood boxes or supers without crushing bees.  However it is really important to get the hives flush to the entrance or you find a puddle of bees on the floor inside.  One query Kitta had was regarding working a big colony within the house.  Well we have been surprised how quickly the bees disperse out of the windows - 10 mins and the whole place is pretty clear.
photo-6.jpgphoto-10.jpgphoto-9.jpgphoto-8.jpgbeeh7.jpg

1. Windows opening up and out -as per Kitta's suggestion as bees always climb up - thanks Kitta a great suggestion.
2. Interior with hives along one side and work bench and storage on the other
3. Front - three hives, one apidea and one nuc
4. The colour coding was to help the bees find the right entrance after they had been moved
5. Interior - Kitta you can see the blocks holding the hives in place in this pic.
Still to be added - some lighting for winter possibly solar and a sedum roof next spring.

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## Mellifera Crofter

Wonderful!  Got to go, but I'll have another look tomorrow.
Kitta

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## Mellifera Crofter

> ... there are some modifications to be made especially with the positioning of the hives - to get them flush up to the entrances we put some blocks on each side but of course this means its difficult to replace brood boxes or supers without crushing bees.  However it is really important to get the hives flush to the entrance or you find a puddle of bees on the floor inside.  ...


That is a really lovely and well-made bee house, Bridget.  Some of your photos did not display - can you reload them as I would love to see more.

I don't quite understand the problem with the blocks, but might this diagram from Ted Hooper's original flower book, 'The Beekeeper's Garden', 1988, be of help?  I could not attach it to this post, so follow this link.  

Kitta

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## Bumble

I have a serious case of shed envy.

Is there a cure?

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## Mellifera Crofter

> ... I don't quite understand the problem with the blocks ...


It's good to see more photos of the shed, Bridget.  I can now see the problem with the blocks.  I think the Ted Hooper plan might help: move the boxes away from the wall and create connecting tunnels from the hive entrances to the hut entrances.  That will give you more space to move roofs and supers, and the bees, when they leave the hive, can only go one way and that's out.  They won't get lost.

Kitta

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## fatshark

The 'connecting tunnels' is easy to implement ... I did this with mini-nucs overwintering in a greenhouse last year. I used 40mm diameter drainpipe but smaller would work just as well. It should be opaque to avoid confusion. It should also be flush to the outside wall ... I nailed a small separate landing board underneath each entrance and had entrances about 30 cm apart and there seemed to be little confusion or obvious signs of drifting. Make sure they slope downwards from the hive entrance to the outside to avoid driving rain causing a flood!

An additional advantage of an entrance tunnel is that, with a little ingenuity, it should be possible to block the exterior and interior 'ends' of the tunnel and so minimise bees escaping when moving hives. I lacked this ingenuity but intend to give it a bit more thought.

I used a glue gun to stick the drainpipe in place, semi-permanently attached to the building wall, allowing the hive to be moved as needed. The beauty of a full hive is that it's heavy enough to not move if accidentally knocked ... this doesn't apply to mini-nucs as I learned to my cost  :Wink: 

Great pics Bridget ... like Bumble I'm suffering from shed envy.

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## Bridget

We had a short weekend break with friends in Switzerland. About an hour south of Basle and as we are all keen cyclists we had a couple of trips out.  Well we came across lots of bee houses. All the same design so they must be being produced commercially, but it seems that it is just a panel that can be inserted into the wall of a garage or shed.  Some were in the woods another in the centre of a small village.  The photos show a couple of them and then a bunch of brood boxes stored outside a house in a village each with their own distinguishing markings and colours.  
We liked the sloping landing boards (as Fatshark mentioned above) and also the landing board was hinged to allow it to be semi closed up.  I presume this is to stop the glare from the snow in winter, so is also a good idea.  What type of hives are they stacked up?  they looked a good deal smaller than ours. I would not be able to stack my brood boxes one above the other as the supers would not fit so I'm not sure what they do.  Weather was cold so no evidence of bees flying.   More pictures in the next post.  the local honey for sale was in the Saturday market and about 16francs for a standard jar - thats nearly £11.  
photo 2.JPGphoto 3.JPGphoto 4.JPGphoto 5.JPGphoto 1.JPG

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## Mellifera Crofter

Interesting photos, Bridget - but I think your beehouse is far better.
Kitta

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## Bridget

More Bee house photos - the one behind the tree is an inset into the wall of a garage.
photo 25.JPGphoto 13.JPGphoto 24.JPG

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## Bridget

We've had a weekend of work on the bee house.  Changing the entrances to the hives and how the hives butted up against the entrances 
mainly as the driving rain had caused the wood to warp and small holes were appearing in the wrong places.  We,ve also been given some fancy corrugated roofing by a neighbour who had some over after he had put up his new shed kit roof.  Despite wanting a sedum roof I think this will be better in the long run.  Thats next weekends work.  Nice weather, lots of bees flying and bringing in pollen so fingers crossed looking good to go. 


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## Calum

> We liked the sloping landing boards (as Fatshark mentioned above) and also the landing board was hinged to allow it to be semi closed up.  I presume this is to stop the glare from the snow in winter, so is also a good idea. photo 2.JPGphoto 3.JPGphoto 4.JPGphoto 5.JPGphoto 1.JPG


hi,
the landing board is hinged up so the entrance can be closed (if the hive is vacant). I just place an enpty brood box in the space to close the entrance (mine are not nailed down).
Prevents bees getting confused, and other animals gaining entrance... Also it is illegal in Germany & I assume Switzerland to leave empty hives openly accessable. 
br
calum

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## Bridget

Repairing the roof on the bee house today'
Nice new metal roof off cuts donated by a neighbour.  Bit of a jigsaw though.  



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## Troutnabout

Well done Bridget, it looks good.  i have not built one, but this is encouraging me to think about it again.

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