bees in a green house

[catfishbill]

Hey everybody,i have a friend that ask me about putting bees in a green house for the winter to work his plants.would it be better to put the hive in there or leave the hive outside and put a hose to the green house kinda like a observation hive.thanks.
Bill

[SgtMaj]

Bill, how big is this greenhouse?

[Robo]

Unless it is a huge greenhouse and you can put the hive in the middle, I would recommend not doing it.  Honeybees do not function well in greenhouses and you will find many many dead bees along the glass.   Bumbles are a better solution for greenhouses. According to the brochure, Swarm Catch can be used to "stabilize"  bees when they are placed in a greenhouse.
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/downloads/

[Michael Bush]

Bees navigate by polarized light, which will be changed by the glass or plastic.  They also tend to fly up toward light to try to escape.  Basically honey bees have never been very successful in greenhouses.  Most greenhouses employ bumble bees instead.

The honey bees are better off outside.

[TwT]

not No but heck No , bee get unorganized when enclosed in a building or greenhouse, even when the side of a green house are up and bee's fly in they usually fly up and collect on the ridges at each end of the greenhouse, you have to drop the tops out of the ends so they can get out, they will not fly out the sides, been there done that, just say no! now I heard bumble bees do fine in greenhouses.

mb posted when I was typing this, we seem to be on the same page about greenhouses

[randydrivesabus]

what is going to be grown in the greenhouse?

[catfishbill]

thanks everyone i do believe the answer is no!the green house is 24x24 and he is just growing some veggies and a few flowers.i know he is gonna ask about the bumble bees when i tell him what the replies were.do they use a normal hive?and where can he get some.thanks
bill

[SgtMaj]

Bill, you can create bumble-bee nests out of a styrofoam cooler lightly packed with furniture cotton, with a section of garden hose attached to it.  Bury the cooler in the ground with the hose running to the surface. 

PS - if you do that, bury it where no one will walk, lest their foot goes right through the top of the hive.  Else invest in a hard plastic coolers for their hives.  A bit pricier, but well worth the investment if you don't have someplace to bury the nest where you won't walk on it.