Hello,
I constructed an observation hive last year and am just now getting an opportunity to stock it. It will hold 3 deep frames. I thought that I would put a drawn frame that already has some brood on it, another drawn frame that is empty, and a frame with just foundation (plus bees and a queen). Does this seem reasonable?
Thanks,
...Tim
I have the same set-up. I sometimes use three mediums and a deep instead of three deeps, but it's still the same.
How much you put in will depend on whether or not you have a flow going. Over in Greensboro we don't really have a flow right now, so I put in (a week ago) one deep of all capped brood, one deep of mixed eggs/larvae and food, one deep of foundation, some pollen patties, and a sugar feeder. I went with this because I knew they would have a hard time drawing out the last deep, and if I didn't feed they wouldn't draw it out at all.
Personally I think one deep only of brood is not enough. It's late in the season and they can't be expected to build up too much.
Whichever you go with, make sure you shake in as much bees as you can. I usually shake in twice as many nurse bees as I think I need, and it usually works out.
It sounds reasonable. You may need to feed to ensure they've got enough supplies to overwinter. By the same token you need to be careful that they don't get too crowded and swarm. An OB hive is fun to watch but does need to be managed more than a regular hive.
Thanks!!! Also, some more information: I plan to use the observation hive for just a couple of weeks so I don't need to have the bees build up very much. The hive that I will pull from is one that I want to build queen cells, so this seemed like a good opportunity to make that hive queenless for a short time.
...Tim
If the obs hive is nearby the parent hive, make sure that you shake lots of extra bees in there, you will end up with many of those drifting back.
Rick