Someone put bees next to my bee yard. Now what?

[twb]

In one yard I have three hives on a friend's property.  He just called and said several hives were placed "next door" to his property.  About 2 acres away from my hives.  I plan to find out who the "keeper" is and see if his beekeeping philosophy is anything like mine first, but I suspect mine will have to go.  I'm sure there is enough forage nearby for all to produce honey.  My concern is getting whatever his bees have.  What say you?

[doak]

Not much you can do if he is in the right.
As for not wanting the bees to catch,"if" anything, just don't say any thing and move your bees.
The less said, the less dread. :)doak

[rast]

 Without knowing they were there, I placed some hives (with the property owners permission) within about 250 yards. of a queen raiser's outyard. After I found out his were there, I went over to apologize. He told me no problem, he had seen them and knew they were mine and considered them a good drone source. I also this year went and got the OK to put 5 hives within about 100 yard's of a commercial beeks that winters here in an orange grove. Sites to keep bees here is at a premium.

[pdmattox]

Sites to keep bees here is at a premium.

Hey save me some spots! ;)

[Natalie]

Is 2 acres away that much of a problem? How many hives does this other guy have?

[iddee]

Just ask him if he knows anything you can use to get rid of AFB. His will be gone the same day.   :evil:   :-D

Best thing to do is speak to him with a totally open mind until you get the full story.

[gguidester]

Can't we all just get along.  2 acres can be a lot of different distances depending on how wide a piece of ground you are talking about.  I have a one acre lot that is over 500 ft. long.  That would make 2 acres almost a 1/4 mile.  If there is plenty of forage, whats the issue?  He is just as likely to be as good a keeper as you. Might have more swarns to cach next year.  Find out the details before you run him down to bad.  ;)

[BjornBee]

Bravo! Another beekeeper. We should all be excited about others getting bees.  ;)

I thought many of my hives were "isolated" years ago. Then, when I got the master list from the state when I was an inspector, I was shocked to find out how many had hives close to my yards. If I had previously looked closer, I would of seen some of the other beekeeper's hives from my own yard. And the list only accounts for what is reported, which realizes that there are probably more locations nearby as most beekeepers have yards they do not report.

Yes, it is nice to know who is close by. But I have seen bees rob out hives from at least a mile away. So unless you know who is further down the road, worrying about the guy 200 feet away, makes little sense.

Maybe you can make a new friend, help a beekeeper (since you think he has all kinds of nasty stuff in his hive already) and actually contribute to the overall bee industry. That would be far better than casting unfounded guilt, and assuming the worst.

[BeeHopper]

 Bee Keeper Camaraderie, get over there and buddy up   :-D

[patook]

Bees cannot work alone but only survive by working for the good of the colony.  I find it profound that us beekeepers are very much in the same position.

There are a few islands where your bees can be isolated. For everyone else, we need to work together. If you have the advantage of being able to talk with this guy, take advantage of it.

[Bee-Bop]

"1 acre lot over 500 ft. long "
Exactly how narrow is your property ?

A acre is size is 208.7 ft. by 208.7 ft., total sq.ft. 43560.

Remember to take every thing you read on these forums with a grain or two of salt !

Bee-Bop

[oldenglish]

"1 acre lot over 500 ft. long "
Exactly how narrow is your property ?

a acre is size is 208.7 ft. by 208.7 ft., total sq.ft. 43560.

Remember to take every thing you read on these forums with a grain or two of salt !

Bee-Bop

Could it be a "metric" foot  :-D

[gguidester]

Thats right my lot is about 90 ft wide at the widest, down to 83 at the back.

[Tucker1]

It could be a round acre (radius of 117.75 feet)   :-D

[twb]

I stopped by the property today to see for myself.  There are six double deep hives and they are about an eighth of a mile away from mine. If the terrain were level I'd see them easily from mine, but as it is I can not due to a hill between us.

I do plan to find and speak with the beekeeper and share phone numbers so we can inform the other if we get anything major in our hives.  I do hope to keep mine there because it is so convenient for me.

It is a bit of a bummer for me but it may all work out just fine, too.  Time will tell.

I guess all my reading about the troubles you pick up from pollinating almonds, for example, had me thinking separate beekeepers with hives intermingling was something to be avoided at all costs.

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions. :)

[Ross]

Gee, you gonna move all the feral hives too.  There are always going to be other bees around yours.