Observation Langstroth beehive

01 · HOW IT IS USED

Filled on the day you are showing

The routine lasts a day: take from a working hive a frame with open brood, nurse bees and stores, shut it in here, close the entrance and travel. When you are done, the frame goes back to the hive it came from.

It has an entrance, but the design is worth understanding: a single frame will not sustain a colony in the medium term. This is outreach equipment, not a production hive in miniature.

02 · VISIBLE FROM BOTH SIDES

And that is the point

The two sliding side shutters open independently, so the same frame is shown on both faces without taking it out. Behind them is acrylic, which stands up to a day of handling at a fair far better than glass.

With the shutters closed the bees are in the dark and quiet between demonstrations — which is exactly how you want them.

03 · WHAT THERE IS TO SEE

The script of the demonstration

A frame of open brood gives you everything a talk needs: the queen laying, workers emerging, pollen cells sorted by colour and the passing of food between nurses.

If the queen is on it, the demonstration explains itself. Marking her beforehand saves ten minutes of «where is she?» in front of thirty children.

04 · THE FORMAT

Langstroth, and no super

It is built for the Langstroth frame of 48 × 23 cm — in Langstroth the brood and super frames measure the same, so either one fits.

It needs no super and takes none: the purpose is watching, not producing. It has metal catches, a carrying handle and feet to stand steady on a table.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Teaching equipment, supplied empty: