observation hive

[randydrivesabus]

i am building a 3 frame observation hive. any suggestions as to what kind of glass to use? regular? tempered?

[pttom]

I would use tempered. If there are any kids around, it will make your day.

[Scadsobees]

Yeah, that tempered glass is magical...a wrong bump and it disappears!! :roll:

I have a portable/home obs hive that I use to show kids, and I don't think that I would do anything except Plexiglass.  It is more pricey, and there will be some clarity issues in the future because it don't clean so well, but worth it for me.  I used 1/4 inch plexi so most of my cost of the hive was in the plexiglass.

Advantages or plexiglass:
Easier to work with (cut on table saw)
Less easy to break
can drill tiny holes in it to spike SHB :-D

Disadvantages of Plexiglass:
hard to clean
easy to scratch
Expensive

Depends how you are going to use it...I have small children who like to try stuff (bang on the glass!!), and I bring the hive out to show kids,  so that was really my only option.

One other thing is that I installed a bottom entrance, and in order to close it off I use a slim peice of 1/8 plexi, so I put small notches in the bottom of the plexi panes to give me just enough room to slide that through to close off the hive, but not big enough to let bees out.  I don't think that would be too easy with real glass.

Rick

[Jon McFadden]

Rather than make a dedicated observation hive I would have to maintain, I made a KTBH into one. I used scrap lexan to make the windows. The scrap pieces I used were scratched and I had intended to remove the scratches, but in two years of looking through them, I haven't really noticed them when observing the bees.
Here is a link to the plans:
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36&PN=1
Here is a link to the results:
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=42&PN=1
Jon

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesobservationhives.htm#glassorplexi

[randydrivesabus]

i am leaning toward safety (tempered) glass. Someone suggested polycarbonate but I think that may be expensive. One of the criticisms of tempered glass is that if hit right it will shatter into many little pieces.
I guess theres good and bad sides to everything.

[Jon McFadden]

Tempered glass will break if hit around the edge. Once mounted, with the edges protected, it will take an amazing amount of abuse. It might be possible to buy a small piece of polycarbonate at the same place that would handle glass.
The nice thing about lexan is that I work it with the same tools I use for wood.

[Michael Bush]

If you are building an observation hive, you might like to read this:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesobservationhives.htm

I've listed most of the common issues like the space between the glass (which everyone seems to get wrong) and everything else that I've faced over the years.

[randydrivesabus]

thanks MB. no need to reinvent the wheel. i think the plans on beesource call for 1 5/8" between the glass. I have been following those as a general guide. i don't remember ever measuring the thickness of a drawn frame. I think the distance between the glass should be the thickness of a drawn frame plus 3/4".