Hive Location near house

[Acebird]

1. I had to cut off all outdoor lighting in the back of my house.  If not, all night long bees killed themselves on the outside lights

We were concerned about this on the placement of our hive.  It is very close to an automated bill board sign that is obviously lighted with high power lights.  The thing is we never see any bees flying around the lights or dead bees on the ground so it can't be that much of a problem.

[thegolfpsycho]

My dog nosed around the hives until he got stung.  His ugly old face swelled up and he was pretty miserable, laying around feeling sorry for himself the rest of the day.  But he was fine the next day and never bothered them again.  I don't know what a sting would have done to a small dog.  Madmax tipped the scale around 75 lbs.

[jdnewberry]

My home is on a "postage stamp" lot in a subdivision.  From my back door to the lot line is only 20 feet away.  When I started beekeeping, I immediately got three hives and had to put them in the back yard until I found another location for the apiary.  Never an issue.

I mowed and weed-eated around the hives about twice a week, kids and pets never had problems, and believe it or not, the neighbors were fine, too.  I made a point to locate a gentle race that met my requirements, then never looked back.  Though, it always helped with the neighbors when I delivered a nice jar of honey after harvest...

I have made one observation that I've never heard anyone else talk about...  The more exposure my bees had to me, the gentler they were.  When I finally moved them out into other apiaries, they never were quite as gentle.  I only see them about once a week now, versus every day.  They're still easy going, but i can't work them in shorts and a t-shirt anymore.

[tillie]

The more exposure my bees had to me, the gentler they were.

I would agree - I think it isn't about "you" but rather about the more exposure to being intruded on - my bees in Rabun County came from Don in Lula and they are the gentlest bees when first you meet them.  I have them in Atlanta in a top bar hive and in Rabun county. 

I'm checking on the top bar weekly during bee season and those bees remained calm and gentle throughout the season.  The bees in Rabun only saw me (or had my intrusion into their hive) about once a month and they got much less friendly as the season went on - in August I went into the hive expecting my usual gloveless, only a bee veil experience and boy, did I sing a different tune after multiple stings.  So after that I only visited them fully suited.

Don is in his bee yard constantly, daily, hourly, and his bees at his house are dreamy to be around, but the fact of their lives is that their hives are frequently opened.

Linda T in Atlanta

[edward]

If you have normal bees the only time they will bee a newsense is if you walk bare foot on flowers on your lawn.   :cindi:

If you are a girl with long newly washed hair that smells of flowers.  :mrgreen:  :-D

And if they need to drink water.

So try to provide a water source so they can drink without drowning.  :drowning:

I have 12 hives in my yard , hardly ever see any bees  :(

They are too busy to stay in my yard , they are always flying all over the entire neighborhood.

mvh edward :P