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Bee box

bee box

Box made of wood which can be used as an artificial nest site for feral colonies of honey bees. A - top view, B, C - side view.

Entrance (E) was made as a slit large enough for queens and drones. The narrow entrance can discourage animals other than honey bees form occupying the box. If you would like provide the box for other species as well, you can make a wider opening area of which is 7-30 square centimetres. The wall with the entrance is removable which allows cleaning of the box. Inside volume of the bee box should be about 40 litres. In smaller nests (42 litres) there was fewer Varroa mites than in larger nests (168 litres) How Honey Bee Colonies Survive in the Wild: Testing the Importance of Small Nests and Frequent Swarming,
PLOS ONE
, Volume 11, Number 3, p.e0150362, (2016)
[1].
The bee box should be located in isolation at least 500 meters from apiary or other bee box. If there is no risk of vandalism it can be mounted as low as one meter above ground. However, honey bees prefer nest sites located higher above the ground The nest of the honey bee (Apis mellifera),
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 23, p.495-512, (1976)
[2].li