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Step 7The Human-Bee interface
The general public doesn't seem to be very bee-friendly. They don't like to have bee colonies around where they live. In a city, that doesn't leave the bees much friendly territory.
One way to possibly fit a few bees in would be to put them in bee poles and have the bee entrance high up. Something like hollow telephone poles comes to mind. That way people wouldn't be walking in front of the hive entrance, bothering the bees so much. There would be less bee aggression.
There are apparently laws for how bee hives can be constructed. They need replaceable panels for inspection, among other things. Of course, that also limits comb damage when honey is harvested, so it fits right in with commercial apiaries. A hive inside a pole would probably not be legal in some places. If that is a problem, perhaps the laws should change to allow this idea.
The idea here is to establish "wild" hives that nobody has to maintain. What bee keeper would want to work 10 or 15 feet up in the air anyway?
Bee keepers on the ground might get seed colonies started in small sections of pipe. The pipes could be transported vertically. The bee keeper then could make one trip up the pole to set the seed colony, perhaps using a socket joint heat-formed into the bottom of the seed hive section. That way, rain would not get inside the pipe.
The pipe could have an outer insulation sleeve in cold climates.
The "wild" colony would either survive on its own, or it wouldn't. Good luck bees!
These pipe hives would not have removable comb panels, so vandals might might think twice about the effort involved in stealing honey from them. Remember, we are trying to just help the bees here, not harvest their honey.
If a hive dies, one can know it just from observing the entrance, and a bee keeper could do the required maintenance of dis-assembly and cleaning.
The poles could even be set in sockets in the ground to more easily remove the whole pipe for cleaning, if needed.
The whole country should be peppered with wild colonies, perhaps inside PVC pipes. The white color would help reflect light and keep the hive cooler, if heat is the main problem - like here in the tropics. Also, by being white they would be highly visible. People who are allergic to bees could more easily steer clear of the bees that way.
One way to possibly fit a few bees in would be to put them in bee poles and have the bee entrance high up. Something like hollow telephone poles comes to mind. That way people wouldn't be walking in front of the hive entrance, bothering the bees so much. There would be less bee aggression.
There are apparently laws for how bee hives can be constructed. They need replaceable panels for inspection, among other things. Of course, that also limits comb damage when honey is harvested, so it fits right in with commercial apiaries. A hive inside a pole would probably not be legal in some places. If that is a problem, perhaps the laws should change to allow this idea.
The idea here is to establish "wild" hives that nobody has to maintain. What bee keeper would want to work 10 or 15 feet up in the air anyway?
Bee keepers on the ground might get seed colonies started in small sections of pipe. The pipes could be transported vertically. The bee keeper then could make one trip up the pole to set the seed colony, perhaps using a socket joint heat-formed into the bottom of the seed hive section. That way, rain would not get inside the pipe.
The pipe could have an outer insulation sleeve in cold climates.
The "wild" colony would either survive on its own, or it wouldn't. Good luck bees!
These pipe hives would not have removable comb panels, so vandals might might think twice about the effort involved in stealing honey from them. Remember, we are trying to just help the bees here, not harvest their honey.
If a hive dies, one can know it just from observing the entrance, and a bee keeper could do the required maintenance of dis-assembly and cleaning.
The poles could even be set in sockets in the ground to more easily remove the whole pipe for cleaning, if needed.
The whole country should be peppered with wild colonies, perhaps inside PVC pipes. The white color would help reflect light and keep the hive cooler, if heat is the main problem - like here in the tropics. Also, by being white they would be highly visible. People who are allergic to bees could more easily steer clear of the bees that way.
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