Author Topic: My Observation Hive Project (Read 8116 times)

blakester · « **on:** November 02, 2014, 12:53:43 pm »

Hi, my name is Blake and I'm 15 years old. I am currently a life scout working on my eagle scout project. I have chosen to build an observation hive for my local library in an effort to educate the public on the importance of honeybees. I have received approval for the project and have designed the observation hive. There will be a video kiosk, and will be built to withstand public usage. Right now I am in the process of raising funds to build it.

I will keep you informed of my progress. You can see more details of my project at http://www.blakeoverton.com/eagle-project

Jen · « **Reply #1 on:** November 02, 2014, 01:06:46 pm »

This is very impressive Blake, enjoyed your site and hope you stick around and keep us updated with plenty of pictures. Welcome to this forum, such nice and helpful people here

Perry · « **Reply #2 on:** November 02, 2014, 01:23:45 pm »

Hiya Blake, and happy to see you with your first post.
I think what you are trying to accomplish is an incredible idea, and from what I read on the link I have no doubt you will be successful.
Congratulations on your project.

barry42001 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 02, 2014, 02:32:36 pm »

5 frame observation hive, very ambitious, very good project, and welcome to the forum.

kebee · « **Reply #4 on:** November 02, 2014, 05:41:26 pm »

Welcome to the forum and good luck in a good way on your observation hive.

Ken

Riverrat · « **Reply #5 on:** November 02, 2014, 07:16:08 pm »

Welcome to the forum. What a great project to take on to help earn your eagle scout.

blakester · « **Reply #6 on:** November 02, 2014, 08:53:27 pm »

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and the encouragement. I'm looking forward to completing my project.

riverbee · « **Reply #7 on:** November 02, 2014, 09:50:17 pm »

welcome blake!

how cool is this!!! i had to donate! good luck and best wishes to you on your endeavor, and i look forward to any updates or future posts!

blakester · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2014, 05:30:17 pm »

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the support. Since the Hive will be in a public place, I need some sort of safety glass or Lexan to withstand the tapping. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with either, and possibly the price difference.

Thank You

iddee · « **Reply #9 on:** November 10, 2014, 05:49:56 pm »

I would look at plexi-glass, if you have a company in your area that specializes in it. Order & cut to specs. That sort of thing.

This is one of our locals. I removed bees from his building last year.

http://endlessplastics.com/

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #10 on:** November 10, 2014, 07:50:52 pm »

Tempered window glass would be best, because you can scrape it to clean it. Lexan will scratch and will eventually look bad with repeated cleanings..
Pay attention to bee space when making your hive,and you will be happier with the results. A lot of OB hives give up the bee space, and they end up with a LOT of burr comb stuck to the glass.. Keep the spacing at 1/4 to 3/8 and your work will be minimal to keep it clean and looking good!
Thats an AWESOME project. Very impressive. Looking forward to updates!!

This is my OB Hive!
http://outyard.weebly.com/observation-hive.html

Riverrat · « **Reply #11 on:** November 10, 2014, 08:37:51 pm »

I would go with tempered glass. Over time it will look better than lexan or plexiglass. Another question. Have you thought about putting a feeder on the OB hive?

blakester · « **Reply #12 on:** November 11, 2014, 04:44:36 pm »

Quote from: Riverrat on November 10, 2014, 08:37:51 pm

I would go with tempered glass. Over time it will look better than lexan or plexiglass. Another question. Have you thought about putting a feeder on the OB hive?

Ok thank you, and yes, I've planned to have an internal feeder the can be easily swapped out.

-Blake

Zweefer · « **Reply #13 on:** November 26, 2014, 10:13:09 pm »

donated as well. I think this is an awesome project. best of luck!

iddee · « **Reply #14 on:** December 06, 2014, 03:54:14 pm »

Only 18 days left. I sent mine. Have you?

LindsayBrower1 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 16, 2014, 09:10:31 pm »

Best wishes Blake!!!

skydiver · « **Reply #16 on:** December 16, 2014, 10:41:36 pm »

I just donated about 4 quarts of honey in our market. If you had a good crop I challenge you to do the same and help out this scout. No ice bucket required

blakester · « **Reply #17 on:** April 06, 2015, 07:09:49 pm »

Hello, I’ve been busy with school work, but I've been working on my project. Fundraising continues and I have created a plan on what I am going to do, and what time frame I plan to do it. I plan to use a raspberry pi instead of a tablet for kiosk because it is less expensive and I can have a larger display. A raspberry pi is a small computer that is programmable to do many things, in this case, show a presentation. It is around 1/3 the price of tablet, so it is a better all around option in my case. I'm hoping to start the physical construction of the hive in May. Thank You.

Zweefer · « **Reply #18 on:** August 25, 2015, 10:56:44 pm »

Received an update from Blake. The hive is coming along nicely... Perhaps he could update here soon?

blakester · « **Reply #19 on:** August 28, 2015, 06:11:23 pm »

Hi everyone, My project is taking longer than expected, but that's part of learning. I am now in the building phase, so here's a picture of the hive so far