Any bee keepers here?
Discussion
Looking at starting or trying to start a small bee hive. I have a south facing garden of about 8 meters wide X 5 meters long in a residential area with gardens to the sides and back. In my garden I have an area of approx 1.5m square where I would keep the hive.
What I would like to know is:
Are hives very intrusive e.g to neighbours, my dog, me or friends sitting in the garden?
I would probably put a small picket fence around the area where I will keep the hive to keep the dog and littlen away. Will this hinder the bees at all.
Is it best to try and attract wild bees or to buy a queen for a new hive.
Is it even a good idea to have a hive in a small residential garden. Am I likely to have angry neighbours knocking on my door complaining about too many bees.
Any advice will be great and if you have any pics of your hives please share.
Adam
What I would like to know is:
Are hives very intrusive e.g to neighbours, my dog, me or friends sitting in the garden?
I would probably put a small picket fence around the area where I will keep the hive to keep the dog and littlen away. Will this hinder the bees at all.
Is it best to try and attract wild bees or to buy a queen for a new hive.
Is it even a good idea to have a hive in a small residential garden. Am I likely to have angry neighbours knocking on my door complaining about too many bees.
Any advice will be great and if you have any pics of your hives please share.
Adam
Your best bet would be to seek out your local association as they can give you all the help and advice you need. They can also help with sourcing bees and usually conduct in house courses to teach you all you need to know. There should be loads of meetings and events in your area this time of year that you can attend and get a feel for the hobby.
If your profile is up to date then your local is probably these guys:
http://www.buckscountybeekeepers.co.uk/
but if not you can locate your local one from this webpage:
http://www.bbka.org.uk/about/local_associations/fi...
As for siteing the hive you should be okay, the fence may even help as it would tend to direct the bees upwards and away from potential conflicts. Bees are generally not interested in hurting you or your neighbours unless you try to hurt them, so teach those around you to stand still, not flap their hands and they should be okay.
If your profile is up to date then your local is probably these guys:
http://www.buckscountybeekeepers.co.uk/
but if not you can locate your local one from this webpage:
http://www.bbka.org.uk/about/local_associations/fi...
As for siteing the hive you should be okay, the fence may even help as it would tend to direct the bees upwards and away from potential conflicts. Bees are generally not interested in hurting you or your neighbours unless you try to hurt them, so teach those around you to stand still, not flap their hands and they should be okay.
A beek here. You can certainly keep bees in a small garden - we've done so for many years without any problems. It's actually ideal for a beginner as all the equipment you'll need will be to hand rather than having to pack it in the car.
You're very unlikely to attract a swarm unless there are colonies nearby.
You can buy an established "nucleus" colony and guarantee bees of a good temperament (important in your case) or join a local club and go on their swarm list. You'll then wait for a phone call and end up with a collected swarm in a cardboard box that you introduce to your hive, and hope they aren't too "defensive".
However it's getting rather late in the year for swarms, and for them to build up sufficiently before the winter. Ideally you should join your local club and enrol on a beginners course; they start with the theory over winter and practical handling once it's warm enough in the spring. You do need to know about their lifecycle, pests and diseases to keep them successfully.
Happy to answer any questions ...
You're very unlikely to attract a swarm unless there are colonies nearby.
You can buy an established "nucleus" colony and guarantee bees of a good temperament (important in your case) or join a local club and go on their swarm list. You'll then wait for a phone call and end up with a collected swarm in a cardboard box that you introduce to your hive, and hope they aren't too "defensive".
However it's getting rather late in the year for swarms, and for them to build up sufficiently before the winter. Ideally you should join your local club and enrol on a beginners course; they start with the theory over winter and practical handling once it's warm enough in the spring. You do need to know about their lifecycle, pests and diseases to keep them successfully.
Happy to answer any questions ...
You asked for pictures, here's my modest setup. The hive on the left is the one I started out with, it's currently got a double brood box on as the comb in the lower box is original and very dirty, the double box is an attempt to get the bees onto clean comb although it's not going too well at the moment.
The other hive is a swarm collected this year, as you can see it's facing the hedge and the bees have no problem flying out and up to avoid the neighbours garden which is just to the right. It's also on a different orientation to the first hive to see if the prevailing wind is affecting the performance of the bees as the first hive isn't doing too well considering the time of year and the amount of nectar / honey around.
The south is behind me and the pole in the shot is the road. You may want to consider concealing your hive(s) from any public access, not only to avoid conflict but they are worth a bit of cash to the unscrupulous. The location's not quite as urban as yours though.
here's a couple of closer views
The plastic cauldron and the bricks are just to add a bit of weight to stop the roof blowing away although the cauldron does currently have a couple of leaf cutter bees working very hard laying eggs for the next season down the side of the earth in it.
Finally the swarm, collected in a nucleus (nuc) box and moved into the bigger hive a couple of weeks ago. the tray on the roof has gravel and water in it as the bees do need water, the gravel is to give them something to stand on.
here's a book you may want to look out for. My association recommends it to all our beginners as a good start:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Bees-Green-Guides-...
The other hive is a swarm collected this year, as you can see it's facing the hedge and the bees have no problem flying out and up to avoid the neighbours garden which is just to the right. It's also on a different orientation to the first hive to see if the prevailing wind is affecting the performance of the bees as the first hive isn't doing too well considering the time of year and the amount of nectar / honey around.
The south is behind me and the pole in the shot is the road. You may want to consider concealing your hive(s) from any public access, not only to avoid conflict but they are worth a bit of cash to the unscrupulous. The location's not quite as urban as yours though.
here's a couple of closer views
The plastic cauldron and the bricks are just to add a bit of weight to stop the roof blowing away although the cauldron does currently have a couple of leaf cutter bees working very hard laying eggs for the next season down the side of the earth in it.
Finally the swarm, collected in a nucleus (nuc) box and moved into the bigger hive a couple of weeks ago. the tray on the roof has gravel and water in it as the bees do need water, the gravel is to give them something to stand on.
here's a book you may want to look out for. My association recommends it to all our beginners as a good start:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Bees-Green-Guides-...
HereBeMonsters said:
We were going to (ordered a hive from Omlet) but then had to cancel as the only place we could reasonably put it didn't have enough space front and back for the bees to fly in and out easily. They need quite a lot of take-off and landing space, apparently!
A foot or two is plenty for the bees, but you will need more for elbow-room when you're inspecting them. They are quite happy doing VTOL, and as already mentioned a fence or screen quite near the entrance is a good way to keep them over passer-by's heads.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff