Can I set up a hive in a shed?

[Jaymicafella]

Hey everyone, I'm new to bee-keeping  and just purchased my first langstroth hive.
Now I am thinking of setting it up inside a small abandoned shed on my property. This shed is probably 3meter by 5 meters, and has a permanent open doorway and permanent open window. Nature has basically taken over it, and there are already two wild hives established on either side of the shed in the walls.
These hives have been here for nearly ten years.
 I am thinking that if I set up my hive in this room, which has frequent bee traffic from the other hives, perhaps when it comes to swarming time, after I place some lemon grass oil on my hive, I may easily attract a swarm from one of the hives.

My biggest question is if such a location indoors good for a hive to be placed? Outside the windows and door there is a huge abundance of privet flowers, that the bees will never run out of.
I figured that having them inside will be a lot better in keeping them out of the weather.

Also, seeing that there are already two established huves nearby, will a new hive coexist peacefully with the presence of the others?

I live in Sydney Australia fyi.

Thanks for any advice in advance

[BeeMaster2]

An open shed is a great place to put a hive especially if small hive beetles are not a problem. Bees build in homes all the time and live there many years on their own.
I would also put a swarm trap a good ways away from this shed to attract the swarm.
Sometimes bees will move into a hive real close to the old one and sometimes they want one away from it.
You might try to find an experienced beekeeper from a local club to help you do a cut out of one of those hives.
Jim Altmiller

[Jaymicafella]

Thanks for the reply

What do you mean by a cut out of the existing hives?

[TheHoneyPump]

If you are thinking of putting the hive in the shed somewhere and expecting the bees to fly in/out using the door and the window ... well that just is not going to work very well, if it works at all.  The entrance to the hive, the bees' door, needs to be open directly to the outside.

The shed will surely be good to provide shelter from wind and the elements (rain/snow).  However, to use the shed install the hive right up against the North facing wall so their entrance is facing North and cut an opening in the wall that lines up perfectly with the hive entrance.  Then provide a plank from the outside of the wall cutout to the entrance to the hive. They will land on the outside of the wall and then walk in along the plank into the hive. Try to keep the plank as short as possible, less than 15 cm long from their landing at the outside of the wall cutout and walking into the hive. If the window is on the North wall; Perhaps board up the window with plywood, install the hive in the window sill frame, and cutout the entrance in the plywood.  I hope that gives and gets the idea of how to use the shed.   You indicate you are in Australia (southern hemisphere), so ideally have their hive entrance on the north wall.  If you were in the northern hemisphere, then you would place them to have their entrance on the south wall.

And - Yes, they will coexist just fine and peacefully with other colonies nearby.  The risk will come when there is little forage (dearth) at which time the hives may try to rob from one another.  When good forage returns, they will leave each other alone.

Hope that helps!

[FatherMichael]

I kept a hive very happily in an old abandoned farmhouse, probably 100 years old by now.

Put them in front of a broken out window that opened onto a porch.

That house is still there.  I see it on my way to the gun range.

If my operation expands I might ask the Eike's if they'd let me use it again.  It is surrounded by cotton and mesquite for the major flows.

[Bob Wilson]

A cut out means to remove  the parts of the wall in which the wild bees live, and then take out (cut out) the 2 colonies and place them inside two new hive boxes with frames. That will let you work them and take honey and gives you 3 hives total.

[Acebird]

My only precaution to moving purchased bees into an area that has native bees is virus loads.  The same risk exist when bringing cut outs into your apiary of mainly purchased bees.  If you want to have managed bees in this shed I would try to do it with the bees that are already there.  You might have better luck.

[beesonhay465]

I have seen an utube video of bees in a shed with a 6 in pipe through the roof elbowed directly into the hive. the person was worried about neighbors . the bees used it just fine . apparently, the bees can decend vertically and will find a way to get to and from the hive.       
i belive this beekeeper is in australia.