Towards a Controlled-Environment Room Suitable for Normal Colony Life of Honeybees 1. Description and General Observations

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Abstract
Modifications in bee flight room (BFR) construction are described which improve the chance that a honeybee colony can survive for a long period. In the BFR described a colony maintained itself for more than 18 months, foraging for all its food in the room, no food being provided inside the hive. The modifications concern the illumination of the BFR: (1) indirect lighting, over a wider angle than is normally used, produced a better and more natural angular radiance distribution (ARD); (2) high intensities of UV gave much brighter illumination to the bees than intensities of “white” light visible to the human eye; (3) the light-ripple was adapted to the high flicker fusion frequency of the honeybee eye. A device for measuring “bee brightness” and ARD is described.