[Stumbled upon this article & thought some might enjoy it)
Beehive Used as Chicken Incubator
Finding that the temperature in a beehive was exactly the same as that required for hatching eggs, an American living in Rome conceived the idea of letting his bees do the hatching. He built a rectangular frame, provided it with a linen bottom, placed 20 eggs. protected by a perforated cover spread over and around them, in the box, and placed the whole in the highest section of the hive. In course of time, 18 of the eggs were successfully hatched, without in any way preventing the bees from following their normal pursuits.
Repeated experiments proved that a dozen eggs at a time can be successfully hatched in this manner, and that in the course of a season one hive could produce more than 80 chickens.
Beehive Used as Chicken Incubator
Finding that the temperature in a beehive was exactly the same as that required for hatching eggs, an American living in Rome conceived the idea of letting his bees do the hatching. He built a rectangular frame, provided it with a linen bottom, placed 20 eggs. protected by a perforated cover spread over and around them, in the box, and placed the whole in the highest section of the hive. In course of time, 18 of the eggs were successfully hatched, without in any way preventing the bees from following their normal pursuits.
Repeated experiments proved that a dozen eggs at a time can be successfully hatched in this manner, and that in the course of a season one hive could produce more than 80 chickens.
