Author Topic: Beeline obstruction (Read 2502 times)

BEE C · « **on:** August 22, 2006, 07:48:40 pm »

Hey,
I had another newbie question. Do bees need a certain amount of space in front of the hive to fly out?I worked with a commercial apiary this summer doing pollination contracts and my employer had hives three feet or closer to blueberry bushes on one side of the trailer. He didn't seem to think this was an issue. My uncle keeps bees and swears that in his first year he made the mistake of putting a hive facing a tree, with ten feet between. at the commercial apiary we have four hives to a pallet, and some pallets were two feet apart entrance to entrance. What are opinions on this. I want to put as many hives in a small apiary at home as I can, and I'm planning out positions for them. Just curious what people do, know of in regards to this? Thanks. steve.

Brian D. Bray · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2006, 08:40:46 pm »

Shade from a tree will have a more adverse effect on a hive or bees than obstructions close to the entrance. A comparison of bee trees and cutouts will illustrate this point. You can place a beehive so close to a bush (i.e. blueberry) that the bees must fly or land at the sides of the bottom boards. However, placing them under a tree so they are shaded all day will cause the bees to be lathargic because they are operating in a cooler mirco envioronment. Bee trees, especially where the entrance is high in the tree fits more under the "bush effect" than the "shade effect."

Jerrymac · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2006, 11:40:21 pm »

There were these bees under the floor of a house. The entrance was a small hole behind an AC condenser. There was a bush between the AC and hole in the wall. In other words, no distance from hole to bush as the bush brushed the wall.

BEE C · « **Reply #3 on:** August 23, 2006, 05:27:03 am »

Ok,
I think I get why the bees so close to the blueberry bushes were ok, the trailer was 3/4 of the way up the bushes. I wonder how much of a colder micro climate I have chilled my bees with putting them in the bee hut I built before I had my electric fence up...

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qa33010 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 25, 2006, 01:27:57 am »

All my hives are facing a seven foot privacy fence. They get morning and mid day light and one gets dappled shade and later it and the others are shaded by the house and shed.

They fly out and immediately rise almost straight up over the fence and the house. Even if they are not going over them and have a clear shot to forage they rise up as if they are going over the obstructions.

Now, when they land it's almost a carrier landing (controlled crash) when they hit the landing board. If they miss the board they get right back up and in. I've been told this is a very good positioning as it keeps them out of traffic and away from the neighbors and still get the light they need when they need it and the shade when they need it during the hottest part of the day.

David