Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Hive placement, shady spot  (Read 8846 times)

Offline Moonshae

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 988
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #20 on: June 20, 2008, 09:40:05 pm »

I would, but I really only want one hive... I know, I know... 2 are easier to manage.  But 1 is all I really desire, and the fewer hives, the more likely the neighbors are to be accepting of it.

What about a full hive and a nuc? you could combine them in the fall, and then split out a nuc again in the spring. The population difference wouldn't be very great, but you'd have all the benefits of a second hive...frames of eggs, a spare queen, frames of brood to supplement...
"The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer." - Egyptian Proverb, 2200 BC

Offline annette

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 5353
  • Gender: Female
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #21 on: June 21, 2008, 12:31:35 am »
I understand your feelings about having one hive. I started with only one hive and that was great for me. Went through the whole year with only one and it was a good strong hive at that. Then I split the hive because they started to make queen cells and I knew they would swarm. I was very worried about having 2 hives and thought it would be way to much for me to handle. Sometimes you just have to split the hive just for the health of the hive, so sometimes the number of hives you have may go up, sometimes they may go down.

Just start out the way you want, and have the experience. You may find you just have to increase to keep the hives healthy. But you can always keep the operation small in any case.

Good Luck
Annette


Offline SgtMaj

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1464
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #22 on: June 21, 2008, 12:56:02 am »
I have a feeling that between the skunks and chickens, and bluejays and cardinals that we have around here... the hives would never quite get strong enough to swarm.  But if I do see queen cells, I'll just kill them off to keep them from swarming.

Offline eri

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 309
  • Gender: Female
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #23 on: June 21, 2008, 09:05:07 am »
I saw a suggestion somewhere to raise the boxes high enough off the ground to that the skunk will have to 'stand up,' thus exposing its tender belly to the guard bees.  Looks like that ladder is long enough ;)  From what I understand the birds won't make much of a dent in the population.
On Pleasure
Kahlil Gibran
....
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.

Offline Joseph Clemens

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 382
  • Gender: Male
    • http://cordovan-honeybee.com
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #24 on: June 21, 2008, 01:18:04 pm »
My main apiary of about 15 hives is on the North side of my workshop and near my Northern property line. It is also surrounded on the North, East, and West by a six foot high barrier of tan shadecloth. The same shadecloth is in a six foot wide swath that goes over the middle of the otherwise open top. This provides them with some shade almost all day, every day. Right now it is just past 9:00AM and the ambient temperature, in the shade, is 101.5F. If I didn't provide them with some shade and lots of available water, I would likely lose some to overheating.

My Nuc colonies, which I have about twenty of, are nearer my Southern property line. They are underneath a very large Mesquite tree whose canopy reaches to the ground in many places. It is the shadiest location on my property, besides the crawlspace beneath our home. Perhaps a more sunny location would inspire them to begin foraging earlier in the morning, but having them expire from overheating by 10:00AM doesn't seem like a good trade-off.

<img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/miniWeather06_both/language/www/US/AZ/Marana.gif" border=0
alt="Click for Marana, Arizona Forecast" height=50 width=150>

Joseph Clemens
Beekeeping since 1964
10+ years in Tucson, Arizona
12+ hives and 15+ nucs
No chemicals -- no treatments of any kind, EVER.

Offline annette

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 5353
  • Gender: Female
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #25 on: June 22, 2008, 12:28:58 am »
I have a feeling that between the skunks and chickens, and bluejays and cardinals that we have around here... the hives would never quite get strong enough to swarm.  But if I do see queen cells, I'll just kill them off to keep them from swarming.

They will still swarm and you will not have a queen left behind

Offline JP

  • The Swarm King
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 11709
  • Gender: Male
  • I like doing cut-outs, but I love catching swarms!
    • JPthebeeman.com
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #26 on: June 22, 2008, 08:50:06 am »
I have a feeling that between the skunks and chickens, and bluejays and cardinals that we have around here... the hives would never quite get strong enough to swarm.  But if I do see queen cells, I'll just kill them off to keep them from swarming.

They will still swarm and you will not have a queen left behind

Reminds me of that commercial, Its not nice to fool with Mother Nature! Once the bees are oriented to swarm they must be tricked into thinking they have swarmed out or they will, this involves making a split, and placing the parent queen in the new set up.

Some say giving them extra space will alleviate the need but I've found firsthand that this just doesn't work if they've already put in the legwork.

Adding extra boxes once they've created swarm cells is a moot point.


...JP
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline derrick1p1

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 203
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #27 on: June 23, 2008, 12:03:15 pm »
Yep, learned that lesson this year.  don't detroy swarm cells.  Doing so and giving them space does not convince them that they have swarmed.  Only splitting them will.
I won't let grass grow under my feet, there will be plenty of time to push up daisies.

Offline SgtMaj

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1464
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #28 on: June 23, 2008, 10:39:54 pm »
So basically, I should find someone willing to take them, then split them... right?

Offline Pond Creek Farm

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 566
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #29 on: June 23, 2008, 11:14:01 pm »
That is so true.  I scraped off queen cells and had to go buy a new queen to introduce.  My hive had swarmed and taken the laying queen, and then I went and wiped out the remaining bees' plan for a new queen.  You should have no trouble finding someone to take the nuc that you create.  You can likely sell it through your local association. 
Brian

Offline SgtMaj

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1464
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #30 on: June 24, 2008, 05:23:31 am »
Well, hopefully it won't even come to that.  I'll just give 'em plenty of room, and steal their honey as soon as they have a little extra to spare.   :-D


Offline JP

  • The Swarm King
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 11709
  • Gender: Male
  • I like doing cut-outs, but I love catching swarms!
    • JPthebeeman.com
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #31 on: June 24, 2008, 09:40:38 am »
Well, hopefully it won't even come to that.  I'll just give 'em plenty of room, and steal their honey as soon as they have a little extra to spare.   :-D



Sarge, not to beat a dead horse, but bees don't just swarm when they get honey bound, they also swarm, in fact mainly as a reproductive urge. I've seen many that have swarmed that had room to expand.


...JP
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline SgtMaj

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1464
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #32 on: June 24, 2008, 06:52:10 pm »
You're not helping my decision to get bees...

Offline Pond Creek Farm

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 566
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #33 on: June 24, 2008, 10:27:48 pm »
Don't sweat it.  Bees aren't pets, and they cannot be controlled.  They can, however, be managed so long as we go along with their natural urges and do not try to do something which is contrary to their programming.  That is, after all, what I and many others are attempting to learn from this forum and our experience in the field. To steal an oft used comparison, we are trying to learn to be bee "keepers" rather than just bee "havers".  (I am still just a haver)  Just because you cannot control them is not a reason to forego the experience of raising bees.  Learn to manage them and all will be well.
Brian

Offline JP

  • The Swarm King
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 11709
  • Gender: Male
  • I like doing cut-outs, but I love catching swarms!
    • JPthebeeman.com
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #34 on: June 24, 2008, 10:29:07 pm »
You're not helping my decision to get bees...

Just being honest, but they are truly magnificent insects, the pluses far out weigh
the minuses, as to the whys of keeping them.


...JP
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline annette

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 5353
  • Gender: Female
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #35 on: June 25, 2008, 12:35:00 am »
You're not helping my decision to get bees...

You want things your way, and I understand your feelings. When I started to keep bees I thought the hobby would be very easy. Just add supers when they need room and extract honey when there is some. Well I learned the hard way that there is much more to keeping bees than that. Much to learn, and do to truly keep them strong and healthy. Make sure you are totally committed to do whatever is necessary before you get into this hobby.


Offline derrick1p1

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 203
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #36 on: June 25, 2008, 04:59:39 pm »
Yes, this is certainly a hobby.  Like Annette, I thought, 'Oh, I'll keep bees and get honey'.  How difficult could that be?  Now I know.  I spend more time trying to figure out what their natural tendancies are rather than actually doing.  But there is alot of doing to be done as well.

With regard to "havers" and "keepers", I have to admit I get confused by this expression.  (it was used earlier in this thread).  There are members here that refer to themselves as havers, when I would place them in the "keeper" category. What are we talking about here?

I also heard this term when I first started and was forewarned not to be a beehaver.  At times I feel like a "beekeeper" at others I feel I'm a "get in the way of the bees keeper".

I won't let grass grow under my feet, there will be plenty of time to push up daisies.

Offline Pond Creek Farm

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 566
  • Gender: Male
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #37 on: June 25, 2008, 07:06:31 pm »
As for the "bee haver" vs. "beekeeper" thing, I have taken it to mean that there are those who have bees but really do not know much about them, how they work, what to do with them to promote their well being and how to maximize their benefits to humans.  These are the "bee havers".  It doesn't mean we are ill-itentioned, just inexperienced.  Then there are those who keep bees and live in harmony with them and their natural order.  I think of a beekeeper as an advocate for the bees and one who looks out for them and is a good steward.  It takes someone who understands the bees to handle several hives or commercially operate (at least if they are to be successful over time). The problem is that to be this more enlightened bee keeper requires a lot of experience and no small amount of study and just watching them. 

I think there are many beekeepers on this site that fit that description and many of us who are still learning but will someday rise to that level. I do not think it is a destination, however, in that many I see have kept bees for decades and will profess to learning new things daily about their bees. These are my thoughts on the subject.
Brian

Online Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19832
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: Hive placement, shady spot
« Reply #38 on: July 03, 2008, 11:14:59 pm »
>Is it ok to place a hive in a shady location?

Ok, yes.  But they seem to do better in full sun.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

 

anything