7/31/2015 Due to extreme heat & humidity conditions, the bees have left the constructed beehive and had to be captured nearby for relocation. We are looking at our options for relocating the hive and camera at this time to a cooler area with some modifications to the hive body.

The Duke Farms Honeybee Camera is located inside custom made top-bar style beehive made out of a recycled 55 gallon plastic drum. The hive has been stocked with Carniolan honeybees, a variety of the european honeybee (Apis mellifera) that is gentler to the keeper, builds better combs and has somewhat higher resistances to common bee diseases.

Over the next few weeks the hive's queen and the worker bees will build up combs in the hive and begin rearing young and stock honey in the hive as fall approaches. For now they are being supplemented with sugar syrup to expedite hive building. The hive will continue to be active until winter when temps drop below 50 F and the bees begin to heat the hive with their own body heat using stored honey as fuel for their body movements.