An Indoor Beehive in My Bedroom Wall

https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/an-indoor-beehive-zbwz1810zsau/

by gscott • 1 year ago

182 97 1 year ago

Well, at least it's not hornets.

MarcusE1W• 1 year ago

We had hornets for a summer in a tree in front of the house once. They mostly kept for themself and absolutely no wasps in that year.

dumbmrblah• 1 year ago

This year I put a beehive in my backyard. I can sit for hours (not really, minutes more likely) just staring at them working, going in and out of the hive. Maybe in a year or two I'll actually get honey.

teddyh2• 1 year ago

I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

— Jerome K. Jerome

banksybugg• 1 year ago

The saying goes: “your first jar of honey costs $1,000.” Good luck in your first season!

accrual• 1 year ago

For now, it feels good to know that behind me stand centuries of bee-lovers who have had the joy of listening to the hymns of bees far into the night and smelled the intoxicating aroma of honey and propolis waft out across the room before the dawn light begins.

I wonder what that's like. Is it just another nice smell, like coffee brewing while sunlight hits your face?

otherme123• 1 year ago

My grandpa had one of these (the traditional they talk about), and the smell fades away. I guess it smells like honey to everyone visiting, but for you isn't there.

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

It's an indescribably wonderful smell. I love the smell of my beekeeping outfit, which also includes smoke from my smoker (the beehives themselves don't smell of smoke though). You can buy propolis products and get a very slight idea.

You might want to take a class in beekeeping, one where they take you to do some actual hive inspections. You'll need a beekeeper's suit.

quinnjh• 1 year ago

This article is a great introduction to the topic of indoor (or rather in-wall) beehives, which I was curious about after seeing a father-son duo construct an impressive setup with hexagonal 3D printed enclosures. The authors voice is very enjoyable. Give it a read if you have a few mins

userbinator• 1 year ago

This gets a solid "nope" from me, and probably everyone else who has a memory of a very painful sting in their past.

bigstrat2003• 1 year ago

Yeah, I have no particular animus towards bees but they terrify me. Without a doubt the thing I'm most afraid of on this earth. I would be a nervous wreck if I had this in my home.

teddyh2• 1 year ago

You might secretly be an elephant.

johnisgood• 1 year ago

You should check out some creatures living deep in the ocean. I cannot remember the name, but Lord, they terrify me. It looks like a centipede (ugh), and the way it catches fish is wild. I do not think I am referring to deep-sea amphipod though, but that is wild, too. The ocean is full of terrifying creatures. Bees are lovely in comparison.

Thoughts on centipedes though?

phyzome• 1 year ago

I've been stung a number of times by bees and wasps, but I still find them fascinating, and I would love to have one of these in my wall.

SoftTalker2• 1 year ago

Honeybees aren’t very aggressive with stings. Yellowjackets in the other hand are vicious if you’re disturbing their nests in any way. Any that establish themselves near my house will be dispatched with as soon as I notice them.

retsibsi• 1 year ago

Honeybees aren’t very aggressive with stings.

Depends on the bees! I was always pretty relaxed about bees, until a hive at my house turned mean. They would sting us just for daring to be near them, and by 'near' I don't mean we were approaching the hive -- just walking past it, or doing some gardening several metres away.

worthless-trash• 1 year ago

Australian natives sting is very minor, maybe even stingless. I've had to move them out of my water main box, thing, in the thousands without getting bitten once and only using latex gloves.

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

Africanized bees can be extremely aggressive.

giantg25• 1 year ago

I have bees and it gets a nope from me for the inconvenience and potential damage factor. If it were better constructed, maybe. Bees can potentially bend the plexiglass or chew holes in the wood to escape. There are better designs out there.

nkrisc• 1 year ago

I would classify a bee sting as more of an irritating pain, like a stubbed toe.

jader2012• 1 year ago

You must not be allergic, then, because it lasts a lot longer than a stubbed toe, and much more painful than simply “irritating”.

I’d rather stub my toe 10 times than get stung by a bee — well, maybe not the same toe. :)

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

One, yes. Many, no.

snickerbockers2• 1 year ago

Jesus, I clicked expecting a big post about carpenter bees and found something far, far worse.

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

I would love one of these in my bedroom. I adore the sounds of bees. It's very relaxing.

Freak_NL• 1 year ago

I don't hate bees. At all. But the aggregated buzzing sound of a lot of tiny buzzy insects means one thing to me as homeowner: wasps found ingress and a nest was built somewhere in your house. It is a sound I do not want to hear anywhere near my house, because you can't let them be, and getting rid of them is a damn stupid chore which more often than not involves dismantling part of the house to even get at them. I did this once, and that was enough (didn't get stung though).

fhdkweig• 1 year ago

And you can't just poison them either. It leaves a wall full of honey that the cockroaches will find and feast for months or years. The whole hive has to be completely physically removed.

ThatMedicIsASpy• 1 year ago

As I've helped my beekeeping grandpa over the years I disagree. I've been stung twice (around thousands of bees) and both times they flew into my hair and could not get out.

I still do not like honey - unless I use it for cooking.

gorfian_robot• 1 year ago

hmm. bee's can easily cause a lot of damage inside your walls. not sure how this is avoided.

schwartzworld• 1 year ago

If the space is sealed, how would they get into the walls?

hasbot• 1 year ago

Carpenter bees tunnel into wood.

giantg25• 1 year ago

Technically the bees don't cause much damage. They will do things like remove insulation. Fermented honey, moisture, ants, wax moths, etc are all more damaging but technically a result of the bees. At least in an observation hive you can see what's happening before it spreads.

HappMacDonald• 1 year ago

Just makes me wonder what Erika Thompson's take on this project would be

quantadev4• 1 year ago

Made me realize for the first time Bees are the only insect that most people don't find disgusting. I mean we literally eat what they create: Honey. It would be fascinating to watch them build their hives.

SoftTalker2• 1 year ago

I think there must be others. Butterflys? Fireflies? Ladybugs?

quantadev4• 1 year ago

I stand corrected. You found 3 more. :)

And I like Praying Mantises because I think they're probably secretly alien robots. I wonder if biologists have ever taken one apart to see if they're truly biological or a machine. I've seen one take down a humming bird, so it's gotta be some kinda machine bro.

tcoff91• 1 year ago

Dragonflies are kinda cool too, and mantis.

Terr_2• 1 year ago

While they are admittedly not insects, I feel jumping-spiders deserve an honorable mention.

AngryData2• 1 year ago

I would think that was mostly because of the relation bees have to honey and all the wonderful imagery and thoughts people have about honey. But there is also a lot of general cultural tradition in bee keeping going back atleast 5,000 years.

quantadev4• 1 year ago

wow. I didn't know it went back that far, but it makes sense mankind discovered hives are basically a free sugar factory that long ago!!

Terr_2• 1 year ago

the only insect that most people don't find disgusting

That reminds me of a bit of fiction where a bioengineered commercial species is being critiqued:

Miles leaned forward again, to peer in revolted fascination. "It looks like a cross between a cockroach, a termite, and a... and a... and a pustule. [...] Nobody will want to eat food that comes out of something that looks like that. Hell, they won't want to eat anything it touches."
"People eat honey," argued Mark. "And that comes out of bugs."
"Honeybees are... sort of cute. They're furry, and they have those classy striped uniforms. And they're armed with their stings, just like little swords, which makes people respect them." [...]
Enrique said, in a bewildered tone, "So do you think if I put stings on my butter bugs, Barrayarans would like them better?"
"No!" said Miles and Mark together.
Enrique sat back, looking rather hurt.

--A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold Enrique sat back, looking rather hurt.

giantg25• 1 year ago

The comb doesn't look like it's on frames. The vast majority of states require comb to be on a frame or top bar to be capable of being inspected. There are plans online for in-wall mounted observation hives that would be much better than this.

wredcoll2• 1 year ago

Wait, what? Inspected by whom? How often? Who requires this??

ajdude• 1 year ago

In my state, routine inspections are required by a State Apiarist:

All honeybee colonies must be registered and inspected for diseases, mites, and Africanized bees. Surveys are conducted for Africanized bees along Delaware’s coastal anchorages and in the Ports of Wilmington and Delaware City. By law, the State Apiarist and state bee inspectors may enter any public or private premises and have access to and from all apiaries or places where bees and bee equipment are kept to inspect them for pests and diseases. The State Apiarist may also declare a quarantine and order the destruction or treatment of hives for serious pest or disease situations.

https://agriculture.delaware.gov/plant-industries/honeybees/

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

In Texas if you want to use bees for ag exemptions (property tax breaks), you need to show that you have active beehives, but no inspections take place. In other rather stupid states you have to have your hives inspected because oh-no-it's-varroa!

mtlynch• 1 year ago

Since others are sharing negative stories about state inspectors, thought I'd share a positive one.

In MA, state bee inspections are optional, but you can request one for free once per year. As a new beekeeper, I found it helpful, as the inspectors were highly knowledgeable and friendly.

I ended up deciding to stop keeping bees after two years. My colony died over the winter, so when I sold my equipment, it was helpful to have an official inspection report saying that my equipment was checked and had no signs of disease except for varroa.

jader2012• 1 year ago

they sing me to sleep

I read this at first as “sting” and was briefly horrified.

But bees singing is still, to me, quite horrifying, and would not at all help me fall asleep.

yboris• 1 year ago

Video detailing a technique to grow bees in bottles (easy indoor installation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ItlOFLTUAs by Advoko MAKES

snickerbockers2• 1 year ago

How did the ancients come to view beehives as a sign of prosperity? Did they actually understand that bees play a necessary role in plant reproduction cycles?

danielbln• 1 year ago

Honey is yummy, and very sweet. Not something that's easily come by in the days of yore. Maybe that's enough to give it a special status, a golden extremely tasty goop that's protected by a bunch of spicy yellow flies.

b112• 1 year ago

Indeed! As zombo.com says, honey bees can do anything. Anything at all!

https://zombo.com

astura• 1 year ago

Honey.

rcxdude• 1 year ago

Yes. The ancient egyptians kept a lot of bees and moved the hives up and down the Nile with the seasons to help pollenate crops.

cryptonector12• 1 year ago

I learned some really interesting things from the author's replies in the comments at TFA.

JimDabell• 1 year ago

I think this is great. Just the other day I saw this thread about a kid who 3D printed a hive for his bedroom:

https://www.threads.com/@bryanmarktaylor/post/DLXdzZzgcRr

It seems to be based on this design:

https://www.beeamond.com/

paranoidrobot• 1 year ago

If the idea of inside /obervation bee hives interests you, you might enjoy the Youtube channel run by Frederick Dunn. He has an observation hive built into the wall of his recording studio.

It's quite a relaxing channel to watch.

https://youtube.com/@FrederickDunn

maxglute2• 1 year ago

Neat, reminds me of when I all I wanted was a interior antfarm wall after playing too much sim ants. Cursory research and bummed antfarms aren't nearly as cool in real life.

analog31• 1 year ago

Obligatory Onion reference, one of my all time favorites:

https://theonion.com/ant-farm-teaches-children-about-toil-de...

pstuart2• 1 year ago

Ouch. Thank you!

Loughla• 1 year ago

Sim ant also made me get an ant farm. That's hilarious.

I went out and dug up a big black and nest to find the queen and put her and some workers in my farm. Apparently that caused some kind of peasant revolt, because they killed her the first day. 0/10 experience for young me.

Luckily Sim Copter didn't have the same effect on me.

maxglute2• 1 year ago

I did some playground digging as well! Bailed after getting nasty pinky bite and realized housing an army of them in an elmer glue ant farm crafted by 10 year old me was bad idea.

Lio2• 1 year ago

Cursory research and bummed antfarms aren't nearly as cool in real life.

For the uninitiated, what is a "bummed antfarm"?

evan_• 1 year ago

Bummed meaning disappointed. They’re disappointed that ant forms aren’t nearly as cool etc.

Sabinus• 1 year ago

I took it to mean it was borrowed/a hand me down/ otherwise scrounged.

loa_in_• 1 year ago

Could Stonehenge be a beekeeping prospect?

nanna• 1 year ago

Explain?

mhb• 1 year ago

A leaf cutter ant colony would also be nice. Not easy to get a queen into the US for hobbyist use though.

y-curious• 1 year ago

I just looked this up out of curiosity. These ants cut pieces of leaves off, store them and use them to grow fungus. They then eat the fungus. This is very cool

whartung• 1 year ago

It gets better.

When the tree has had enough of getting eaten alive by ants, it starts producing a compound that will now damage the fungus instead of help it grow, in order to convince the ants to leave it alone.

chasil• 1 year ago

Philips Corporation had a concept for this a decade ago.

https://newatlas.com/philips-beehive-concept/20412/

pryelluw• 1 year ago

How do you keep them safe from other insects and pests? How does this affect pest control within the home?

mark-r• 1 year ago

My grandmother had a swarm of bees living in the outer wall of her porch. It never occurred to my young mind that she might have done it on purpose!

pstuart2• 1 year ago

There was a very large bee colony in the walls of a neighboring house that was in disrepair, and it would emit swarms on a regular basis - which prompted me to capture one and get it in a hive so I could join in the beekeeping adventure.

It was a failure and a lesson learned: bees like sunny locations that can help keep their hive warm, and a shaded yard will not hold them long -- they will abscond.

millzlane• 1 year ago

This was a cool read. Thanks for sharing.reminds me of the first time I saw a beehive as a city boy. It was a indoor wall hive at the West River UM summer camp near DC.

jprd• 1 year ago

When I was growing up, I was always fascinated by a very similar installation at the Educational Center at the Five Rivers [1] park in Upstate NY.

The whole point of the place is to walk trails and watch the wildlife in different natural NY environments in the area, concentrated in one park.

The bees were always the first and last thing for me.

[1] https://dec.ny.gov/places/five-rivers-center

cafard• 1 year ago

A tech writer I worked with many years ago said that once during his adolescence he heard a humming from the exterior wall of his bedroom. This proved to be a beehive between the siding and the installation. He found that a bit creepy.

An Indoor Beehive in My Bedroom Wall

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