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semiautonomous Guard Bee

Joined: 30 Dec 2013 Posts: 51 Location: England, Shropshire, Shrewsbury
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 12:33 pm Post subject: Info wanted on wild hollow tree bee nest |
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Hi people. I'm wondering if anyone can help me find some information.
I remember reading a really interesting article a while ago about the volume and diameter of wild honey bee nests in hollow trees. If I remember rightly someone had done a survey of tree cavities in trees that had been cut for logging and counted the ones that had been used for bee nests. It had really good stats on the internal diameter, the thickness of walls and total volume. And seem to recall the internal diameter was a lot narrower than Id expect. Does anyone else on here know of this and can give me a link? Or if you know of any other information on the subject Id love to hear it.
I'm thinking of making a new cylindrical hive. I know there are lots of different ideas on the ideal dimensions of beehives but thought since I remembered this article included some solid evidence I'd look at it first but I'm darned if I can find it anywhere.
Thanks, Duncan |
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Adriaan Foraging Bee
Joined: 18 Jan 2016 Posts: 139 Location: central Belgium
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 5:18 am Post subject: |
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Sounds like prof. Thomas Seeley to me
friendly greetings
Adriaan
ps there is no such thing as ideal dimensions of a bee hive |
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Barbara Site Admin
Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 1857 Location: England/Co.Durham/Ebchester
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | ps there is no such thing as ideal dimensions of a bee hive |
Agreed. Each swarm will have different needs depending on genetics, size of swarm, prime or cast and probably the cavity size of the parent colony and maybe climate and forage conditions too.
My trusty swarm catching skep has just been rejected by a very large swarm. I have increased the volume by placing it on an eke and they have now gone in.
I am personally leaning more towards smaller volume colonies particularly in our UK climate where the weather can be less predictable. The smaller volume means they swarm sooner which gives the swarms maximum opportunity to survive..... then again if you are more interested in honey production, then you will need to maintain larger colonies in order to produce a surplus, so the beekeepers needs may also be relevant. |
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Quality Top Bar Hives by Andrew Vidler
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Conserving wild bees
Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.
Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.
There is a spectacular display of wild bee hotels here
More about bumblebees and solitary bees here
Information about the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
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