Probably getting myself into trouble...

I didn't have one, but one of our apiarian friends did. One just built the boxes open backed and attached them to a fairly well sealed window in his honey house. Never added boxes or pulled honey from them, just had it set up for the visual effect.

Wild bees aren't as friendly as the domestics--we had 3 hives, and the 2 domestics could be worked on with minimal effort, but the wild hive got pretty alarmed whenever someone got too close. They were the only hive that ever stung, and the sound when you'd lift the top off--it even sounded mean, deeper and more aggressive than the domestics.
 
I guess these are feral Italians. His domestic Italians were so easy going I could put my face a foot away from the opening and they didn't care. These Italians either are slightly hybrid or are just plain wild. They prefer I don't get too close, but as long as I move slowly, I was able to be about a foot away from the hive, (not the entrance!) and carefully place the boards on top.

The sun is starting to come out. I bet they are going to start working!

Make sure you check out the pictures. I was really close to get those. They came out pretty good.
 
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