Dane it seems that spot you have picked out will be very shady, you could have shb issues and your bees won't be able to gather as long because your daylight hours will be lessened considerably. Not to rain on your parade but I have heard that honeydew honey is an inferior honey, but I don't know for sure. As for as propolis, I think you would get all you could handle.
Thx for the reply. :) There is no SHB here in Oregon (of which I'm aware) and also no honeydew honey that I've been able to find. Honeydew honey requires more than just pine or fir trees, it requires the scales (or aphids) to digest the sap and exude nectar. I'm unsure if those insects are here in any quantity enough to make it an issue. I've found no mention of them at all in any searches and have never noticed any in my tree climbing (
SRT) or hiking.
Regarding honeydew being inferior honey, that would depend on the criteria. As compared to typical flower nectar based honey; do greater amounts of oligosaccharides, glucose oxidase and anti-oxidants (all detailed in the article I linked) make honeydew honey inferior? By my reading, it seems it could be one of, if not
the, most healthful honey varieties.
ETA ~> Oh, I see a couple of new posts. It's the taste that is bad. Got it... Seems there may be an equitable medicinal market however ~>
retail link ($24/18oz!) :shock:
Gotchya on the shade. I can position the hives so they do get direct morning thru early afternoon sun, but they would be in the shade more than ideal. That's pretty obvious... I guess I'm more curious about about PNW forest nectar sources, duration, etc.,; Douglas fir, maple. I see hummingbirds around here often and have no idea what they feed on, besides residential flora. With the 2-3 mile radius forage range, that residential garden aspect may come largely into play...
In fact, the hives would only be about 5000 ft from 3 different parks (e.g.
Washington Park, 332 acres), one being the largest within city-limits park in the country (
Forest Park, 5000 acres) as well as the
Portland Rose Gardens &
Japanese Garden. So I'm somewhat hopeful they may find some decent nectar sources beyond the immediate area. Here's a broader satellite image:
ETA ~>
that's over toward estacada? you'd have plenty of forage options and the river. might not be a bad spot, but i agree about the sun. we need to give them all we can in this state!
Hi Kathy - I was posting as you were, lol. This house is right next to the Portland Rose Gardens, Washington Park, etc., (see image above). Whatchya think about over here?
ETA (one last "edited to add", lol) ~> Here's the run-down of the flora in Forest Park, which is representative of
some of what would be in forage range:
Forest Park is located within what is known as the Western Hemlock zone. In its natural, undisturbed condition, this zone is populated by three primary tree species: Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western red cedar. To a lesser degree, grand fir, black cottonwood, red alder, bigleaf maple, madrone and western yew trees also occur throughout the landscape.
Shrubs are well developed, including: sword fern, salal, Oregon grape, lady fern, red huckleberry, vine maple, and western hazel are common and indicative species. Predominant wildflowers in this zone include wild ginger, inside-out flower, Hooker's fairy bells, vanilla leaf, evergreen violet, and trillium.