Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING => Topic started by: philinacoma on September 29, 2010, 06:19:42 am
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I have the council comming over tomorow morning to make sure I comply with the regs after the neighbour complained about bees swarming into her property. :roll: I explained to the council that the bees were not necessarily mine as the guy 2 door down from her also has italian bees. Close enough for them to have been his. As soon as I got home that night I did the good beekeeper thing and went around and collected the swarm in the dark, just so there was no problem with the neighbour. It just wasn't enough for them. I guess the bad blood is just too entrenched between us! I would normally offer a bit of honey, but I don't think they would accept it from me anyway.
I don't think there will be any real problem with the council in the end as I comply with the code of practice to the letter.
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ahhh. I dont envy you. Some people are just miseries.
I have 1 acre but it back onto all the regular houses. On GF day i went over and said hey dont jump the fence to get your ball etc (i dont like people coming over my fence anyway) cos i have some bees. Come and get me and its no probs for me to get the ball. I had honey for them. They took the honey, said something about being allergic and made some noises and went back inside. No thanks or anything...i KNOW its going to be a hassle one day.
I made sure and said if they get any bees issues, cos bees will normally swarm round here anyway, come and get me and i will sort it out...(as if to say its a bonus for them having me as their neighbour :) ) I honestly wish i hadnt bothered to try and do the right thing.
My hives are 2 m from his fence instead of 3. But they also face away and i have 10ft trees between hives and fence and half the limit for hives on this land. How much land and hives do you have?
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It's something to do with the nature of city dwellers fellas. Dont have those sorts of problems in the bush. People I farm my hives out to get stung but dont carry on and also get to enjoy some of there own local nectar.
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Well, I guess you put a hog pen in the back yard and open up a shooting range for all your friends with guns to come over and shoot at 6:00 Saturday morning. See if they complain about the bees after that. Don't forget to buy a loud motorcycle that needs a lot of work on it. (with the muffler missing)
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Don't forget to buy a loud motorcycle that needs a lot of work on it. (with the muffler missing)
Yeah umm...got motorbikes and we used to use the paddock as a track while we were building and it was messy anyway...oh and we got a bobcat in and built a 5m tabletop jump...but...no broken mufflers :)
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Does your council have something like this?
http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/imageThumbnail.asp?C_Id=2737&preview= (http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/imageThumbnail.asp?C_Id=2737&preview=)
Mine doesnt have bees on it, but DPI says 10 hive on an acre in Vic.
http://www.beekeepers.org.au/becoming_a_beekeeper.html (http://www.beekeepers.org.au/becoming_a_beekeeper.html) (cant find the dpi link)
My question is, why are council inspecting if its governed by DPI? Maybe ask for copy of council policy and jurisdiction before giving them access.
My council only mentions bees as pest and refers to DPI http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/page.asp?Page_Id=87&h=0 (http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/page.asp?Page_Id=87&h=0)
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Code of Practice (http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/4AC9E7E751D28AA1CA257069001FF86F/$File/Apiary+Code+of+Practice+May+1997.pdf)
Don't forget to buy a loud motorcycle that needs a lot of work on it. (with the muffler missing)
Now that's one I like!
The local council web site has almost nothing on bees. I have spoken to one of the DPI inspectors and also a beekeeper who was on the panel who drew up the code and associated beekeeping legislation. It is all very vague. As I understand it the livestock contol act 1994 in regards to bees was brought about because the councils were banning bee hives in their area and there was an outcry from people with fruit trees not being polinated.
A friend of ours was considering keeping bees but were told by their council that they are not allowed to keep bees at all. I asked the DPI inspector about this and he said that if the council has banned them having bees then they can't have bees, but there seemed like there could be some sort of loophole which he did not go into. The answer to the same question of the keep who was on the panel also was somewhat vague about the restriction, but thought they could probably keep bees.
Anyway the council wanted to inspect the hives to make sure they complied to the code of practice, which they do at the moment. That took all of 5 seconds. They did talk to me regarding using queen excluders to manage swarms and adding an extra super or a 'half super'. His recommendations showed only a very rudimentary knowledge of beekeeping and swarm control.
He suggested that I find a different location to keep the bees in the garden that is not so obvious to the next door neighbour. I explained the impracticalities of doing that and the longshot was that were going to put fence extenders on to raise the height of the fence by another 1/2 m or so.
Hmmm motor bike with no muffler Hmmm :evil:
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I had a hive on the roof of my townhouse - i got a letter from the body corporate asking me to get rid of it - they said i should be considerate of my neighbours etc. Given that the thing was on the roof of a second storey i don't think they were going to dive bomb anybody and sting them! I'm glad though that they didnt see the other one that i had on the roof at the back or the one sitting on my back porch :-D
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If you don't mind building something out of the ordinary you could probably hide them in some interesting places. ;)
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If you don't mind building something out of the ordinary you could probably hide them in some interesting places. ;)
Absolutely! i'd thought of putting one in our evaporative cooling pod on our roof hahahah...
Glad to hear things went well with the council inspection mate! some people just don't understand bees or what they're about! it's sad
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I don't think it is the last I'll hear about this though. I expect the neighbour to complain more. She hates dogs (we have a couple of those) she hates chickens (we have a couple of those too), she does like cats (we don't have any of those) and now I know she doesn't like bees either. :roll:
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I don't think it is the last I'll hear about this though. I expect the neighbour to complain more. She hates dogs (we have a couple of those) she hates chickens (we have a couple of those too), she does like cats (we don't have any of those) and now I know she doesn't like bees either. :roll:
If push comes to shove i have a yard that you can keep them at... kinda defeats the purpose you're trying toa chieve by having them there but atleast it will stop the complaints
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My wife overheard her on the phone this morning making a complaint to another government body.
Here are some of the highlights:
Environmental department please
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I want to make a complaint about some bees. That man next door has bees and the hive is hard up against my fence.
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They came out here yesterday to speak to him, but he still hasn't moved them!
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Yes it's about that high.
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They're flying up and over my rooftop. [pause] But they then fly straight down into my garden. [pause] Well yes, I accept that I would have bees in my garden, but there are so many of them! My children have to push their bikes right by them in the flowers!
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There were lots of bees hanging on a branch of one of my trees.[Pause] He came around that night and did something to take them away. But he didn't say a word to us! [pause] They were quieter the next day but now they're back again!
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And there's such a dreadful noise comming from the other side of the fence!
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There are all of these dopey bees on my decking! [ed: and I thought I was breeding bashfull bees! She's just lucky they weren't grumpy bees. May be my girls have discovered one of the neighbours growing dope in a back yard and are stoned! Is there such thing as THC honey?]
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I've asked him realy nicely to move them away from my fence but he hasn't done it! [ed: hah! That note does not constitute asking nicely.] He has a huge garden he could put them anywhere other than against my fence. [pause]. We walk down that side. [pause] It wouldn't be a problem if it was on the other side as we don't really use it. [pause] I wouldn't mind if they're moved a little bit every day.
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One thing I forgot to mention about the talk with the council, apparently they were described to them as 'killer bees'. The council guy made an observation that the bees are obviously fairly docile as he saw me walk straight up to the hives with no concerns.
The bees are in her garden because she has the second biggest echium I have ever seen in the middle of it (in flower). Not to mention the rosemary which is in flower, or the other flowering plants of which I can't remember the name of. OMG! Who would have ever guessed that all of these bees would come into the garden just because she had put these plants in?
I don't know who she was talking to on the phone but it sounded like they new something about bee behaviour and the code of practice. (the DPI?) I'm sure though I'm going to get another card in the letterbox from a government dept. wanting to inspect my hives to make sure I comply with all of the regs. :roll:
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Just tell your neighbor to get rid of their flowers. Then your bees would not be over there working, and getting in the way of her children.
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How insensitive of her to plant bee attracting flowers when there are kids around! She should be reported.
Scott
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If they take her kids away, then there would be no problem.
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Apart from the dogs and chickens I dont think she likes you Phil.
Hang in there mate.
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Increase your hive numbers, fast. Then when they come to inspect and ask you reduce them they can report that you have halved the number of hives. She complains, they inspect and issue instruction and you comply. Bureaucracy in action.
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Had a neighbour like that a long time ago. Winging, whining sad thing that she was. I nicknamed her "Mrs Cockroach" because of her peeping behaviours. I forgot to explain to my children about when not to point at her and introduce her as :evil: Mrs Cockroach to some of their primary school friends. Life never got any better with her until she moved some years later.
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:'( You guys just bring a tear to my eyes.
I used up my last nuc on friday capturing a swarm outside of my front gate. And today while I was desperately trying to build some more boxes, another swarm lands in the neighbour's front yard. This one cannot possibly be mine as my italians are stretched so thin between all of their swarms that they would have had to merge a couple of the swarms to come up with this numbers. I reckon it was the guys bees from 3 houses down. (atleast that is what I told the neighbour. I don't think it was too far from the truth) I captured them anyway as he was away for the weekend. While I was thinking that was nice and easy I can get back to building boxes I find a swarm 2 houses down from me in the front yard about 4m up. Oh crap, there goes trying to get into the caucasian's box and making sure they dont swarm! They just did.
If these bees don't stop swarming I'll never get to open the boxes to stop them swarming. The council are going to love this.
And to make things really interesting, a friend of mine who I got hooked into keeping bees and only recently gave him his first 2 hives, called to say he's got 2 swarms that have just landed, help!
It never just rains, it has to swarm!
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Current tally, 4 swarms in my immediate vacinity, 4 at my friends. They can't have all come from the managed hives...
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Aliens. I'd blame the aliens. :-D
A swarm will land in the same location as an earlier swarm because of all the swarm scent left there.
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Aliens. I'd blame the aliens. :-D
a swarm will land in the same location as an earlier swarm because of all the swarm scent left there.
I'm sorry to have to say this, bit I think you're missing the point here. The real reason why the bees like swarming in the neighbours garden is that they can smell the fear!!! :evil:
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So you put on your little green suit late at night, and go spreading swarm lure all over the neighbors yard?
Don't forget her flower garden. :-D
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Curious how this has panned out?
My neighbours have decided that my bees are a big problem...one of them got stung and they want me to move them...trouble is they are in the best place for my yard.
I have agreed to do something...just not sure what? One hive is quite hot and its 1 of 3 that are going this week... reducing me to 4 and this will be my max for the yard from now on. So other than reducing the numbers, i am not sure what i can do.
Fence extenders might be an options, but not sure if this will keep them out of their yard...now matter where i move them I cant stop them from going into their yard.
I am sympathetic, if you dont like bees and you have lots in your yard it would be annoying so i want t sort it out...but in a way that works for everyone.
any ideas?
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The neighbour is still complaining, I just don't know who it was she spoke to last week.
The council inspector called me during the week and my thought was oh s#!^ what has the neighbour done this time! But no, it was the council guy calling to say "please, please come and save the special school from this nasty swarm in their car park!"
It was a request I just couldn't refuse! Gotta keep on the good side of the council officer! By the time I got there the swarm had gone.
What was the neighbour doing when they got stung? When you say a lot of bees in their yard, what are they there for?
Do you comply with the code of practice?
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The Code requires beekeepers to:
manage colonies to prevent or minimise swarming
capture swarms that have left a colony they own
provide water on the property where the bees are located if they don’t have access to water
The above i am doing or have done. I have 20m2 pond 10m from the bees.
maintain colonies located in urban areas with young docile queens
This i havent done, but i am getting rid of the hottest hive and the next to learn in beekeeping is re queening.
store used hive components not housing bees in such a way that bees cannot gain entry to it
prevent or minimise activities of robber bees
observe hive density limits for properties in urban areas
Everything is stored in my shed, nothing lying around. I can have 10 hives, currently have 7 and will reduce to 3 (maybe 4?)
ensure bee flight paths don’t interfere with neighbouring land
place hives greater than 3 metres from a property boundary fence. This does not apply if a bee proof barrier, not less than 2 metres high, is situated on the boundary fence line adjacent to the hives. a bee proof barrier is not required where the adjoining property to that fence is unimproved land.
I have the fence in question, 3m trees and then the hives. The hives would be 2m from fence. but the tree line is dense, no bees will fly through. The path of most of the bees is in the exact opposite direction from him so any bees in his yard are lost or getting water...heading over today so he can show me what he means.
I have been doing some hive removals from possum boxes into hives etc that gets a few bees flying...i will either do that in a different spot or not when they are home :)
EDIT: i went over and looked from his backyard...the bees do fly straight over my 3m trees, but then they fly straight down into his yard. they are getting quite a few, they have a small yard with no flowers (seriously, no flowers) and bees seem to fly down into their yard and then over the fence to neighbors, whose yard is quite similar to theirs. He does have quite a few bees, maybe not enough to be legitimately unhappy, but its not super warm here today either. He says they crank right up when it gets warm. I have asked him to let me know next time and i will check it out.
I will look for a better place in my yard...further from him and see how it goes.
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Good luck with the hive relocation. Don't forget to either move them bit by bit or move at night and cover the entrance with twigs, branches or the like.
Had the other council officer call me yesterday to help a little old Italian widow out. Her husband had captured a swarm and put it in a box on top of their chook shed. He them passed away leaving the bees sitting there for the last 3 years untouched and in a part chip board constructed box that is about twice the length of a normal. One of the neighbours had complained to the council and she said that she can't do anything about them, which is when I got the call.
The chip board is disintigrating and it is going to be fun to relocate. I am going to have to treat it like a cut out as I'm worried if I try to pick up the box it will fall apart on me. I'm also worried that if I climb up on the shed roof to get at the bees, it will give way.
Where's a nice light person like OzBuzz when you need him? On a jolly overseas, unfortunately. It could take a while to get something to put them in as that shortage of bee boxes continues. Container of parts comming over from NZ next week...maybe.
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Just spoke to the council again. The chook shed bees have swarmed into the complaining neighbour's back yard!
They always know the best people to visit, don't they? :-D
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That's funny. :-D
I dont care if my neighbours get any swarms now. I have done the right thing and have moved all my bees to anther spot in my yard about 50m away and in between a high fence and a row of 3m trees. Hopefully this is now sorted...
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i went over and looked from his backyard...the bees do fly straight over my 3m trees, but then they fly straight down into his yard.
So what you're saying is that the bees were getting so tired flying over the 3m high trees, they had to stop in the neighbours yard for a siesta? :) What lazy bees!
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Good luck with the hive relocation. Don't forget to either move them bit by bit or move at night and cover the entrance with twigs, branches or the like.
I moved em and i covered em with branches, not just a few but heaps. Still after 3 days the bees are going back to the old spot, and there is LOTS of bees going there. Is there much i can do?
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The bees that are left behind will be dead in a few days. Their days are running out.
You can always scoop them up and dump them in the hives.
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I moved em 17+ days ago and i think they have self split their hive. I have around a small basketball sized swarm under the board i used to keep the hive on and the hive in its new spot is pretty quiet...havent checked if this clump is making comb yet...they look pretty active from a distance.
(http://i55.tinypic.com/zwas5g.jpg)
I will lift it up tonight and scoop the bees into a box and shake them into the hive...but i think they will fly back. :? I will make sure there is no shelter...but i dont really want a split right now, i have enough bees.
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I had this same thing happen to me earlier this year...the queen just didn't like the box so started building under the bottom board.
I scooped them up and moved them to another yard in a different box and it worked.
Had a different cut out that had two queens...one took up in the box, the other underneath. I'll have to do another cut out on them as they now have 5 combs built.
Scott