Author: MacRobert, G. F.
Language: English
Year of publication: 1997
Number of pages: 1
Type of publication: Article In BfD Journal
Publisher: Bees for Development
Edition: #42
Pages in original publication: 7
Publication location: Text on this website

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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 be directed towards the area outside the bee house, rather than inside.
· With a 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.

First published in Bees for Development Journal 42