Advantages of bee houses

by George MacRobert, Zimbabwe

ADVANTAGES

- Bee houses offer security against vandalism and theft of hives.

- The hives are protected from the weather and therefore last longer.

- Bees appear to be more amenable to the beekeeper working with them, especially during day light hours However one beekeeper remarked to me, “Have you seen what is going on outside the bee house while you are safe and secure inside?” in other words, if the bees become agitated their annoyance appears to directed towards the area outside the bee house, rather than inside.

- With floor of compacted clay/sand mixture or concrete it is easy to control ants and termites.

- If portable (as shown below right) a prefabricated bee house can be taken down, moved and re-erected on another site.

DISADVANTAGES

- Bee houses are expensive.

- Unless the bee house is of the portable type it can only be used in one place. This means that forage must be available at all times or the beekeeper must take less honey or feed the bees with sugar syrup when forage is scarce

* Please see the original journal article to see some pictures of bee houses