Observation Hive

[JordanM]

What happens when an observation hive gets to full, do they just swarm out?

[Brian D. Bray]

What happens when an observation hive gets to full, do they just swarm out?

If you let them.  In an OBH it is best to have 1 frame you continually change out to reduce this possibility.  Also with an OBH you should see the signs of over crowding, backfilling brood cells, development of queen cells etc as it happens so you can take measures.  That's what an OBH is for--learning what goes on in the hive so you recognize in the full sized hive what you observed in the OBH.

[tngold]

I have a 5 frame obh it has 2 deeps and three med frames. It is like a 1\10 scale hive sorta. I let mine sworm this year. my queen was on here third year. I just wanted to watch how it works out. This obh has tought me more than any thing else i have read or done. Like Brian says you can judge what can happening in the rest of your hives. Obh should be kept by every beekeeper, they are a great tool.    Jeff

[JordanM]

The reason i asked is because, i am going to make one out of a fishtank that is about 2' long by 1' high. I think it would be really interesting to see. And i would build my own frames to go in it.

[JordanM]

Do you think this will work?

[Michael Bush]

Yes.  They swarm out. Unless you do a split before then.