Thank you so much Paul. This is great. I am planning to grow a line of
palisade fruit trees to separate the hives from the vegetables, I will probably
put some kind of temporary fence there until they are established. One more
thing that struck me today is that we have a very good intentioned fellow who
fastidiously mows the paths around the allotments, only one side in my case,
will this annoy the bees? I would hate for him to get put off! (He’s being
very supportive at the moment!)
I shall try to do you as sketch tomorrow.
I’m pretty sure I’m going for TBH’s although I have changed my mind at least
twice so far.
Best
Karen
Karen Giles
Senior Design Engineer
Black Dog Design Ltd
t: 07790 908144
e:karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 14 Sep 2019, at 20:58, Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Karen, here's a bit of a late reply. There was a meeting today (more on that
in a blog post). It went on much longer than anyone expected!
I’ve been given the go ahead for up to 3 hives on my allotment! (I’m
starting with 1 next spring!)
Congratulations!!!
I am hoping to tap into your expanse of knowledge regarding facing position
and best location to benefit the bees.
I have a corner plot with a large hedge along one side and a barb wire
fence between my plot and a horse paddock on the other. To complicate
things there is a children’s park about 100m (the opposite direction to the
paddock) away which I have been asked to mitigate against bees heading for
(not sure that’s possible?!)
Most people in the northern hemisphere point their hive entrances East or
South East if feasble. I suspect it doesn't really matter and you see them
pointing in all directions. The idea is that the morning light comes in and
wakes them up early, then they go out and get more nectar. Now, they
definitely get up earlier. I rotated my hives 45 degrees to test this and the
bees immediately began flying half an hour earlier. Whether this means they
get more nectar is questionable though! If you watch honeybees they are very
scent-driven and they do not land on flowers in shade, the flowers must be
sun warmed before honeybees feed from them. (Whereas bumblebees are not put
off by cold.)
What is usually more important is the flight path. So for example Ann Poulter
had some hives in a side passage next to her house. It was shady, and the bee
entrance could only face one way, but the bees were fine.
So, most important is whether the flight path of the bees crosses a path /
area used by humans. Almost as important though is whether it is near horses.
That's because unlike most animals, if a horse is stung it does not run away.
Its instinct is to kick out, This could knock over the hive. So you want the
hive at least a few feet from the horses.
One trick people often use is to put a head height barrier in front of the
hive entrance. For example a fence or hedge. This forces emerging bees to
climb above head height before flying on. They tend to cruise at that height
- presumably it takes more energy to move up/down than fly horizontally.
Of course a barrier like this can shade the entrance. But as discussed above
that is probably not too important. I was going to use a bean fence in front
of one (plans changed) - I reckoned this would let some light through but
discourage the bees from barging straight out. It's the last few feet before
the entrance that are where stings happen, partly because the traffic is
concentrated there, but also because the bees zoom straight in / out and
don't expect to find a mobile object (you) in front of them.
As it is an allotment you will be near the bees, and sweating. You can expect
the bees to find you are a delicious salty drink. You don't want their
entrance to face a bed you will work a lot. Helen pointed out a while ago,
don't grow plants with pungent saps neat the hive because if you crush them
it alarms the bees.
Here is a factor you may not have thought of: ideally the entrance should be
a good distance above the ground, for example 12 to 18 inches. If it is down
near the ground, it will be in the zone where damp and mist accumulate
overnight. Also if you have a stand with legs, you can wrap copper tape round
the legs to stop slugs creeping up.
Also in our climate, you ideally want the hive to be in shade from noon on.
Do you have any trees on your plot or next to it?
Can you tell us -
- what type of hive you will be using
- which directions (north etc) the sides are on (send a sketch?)
- how big the plot is - if it is small it may constrain you
The final point raised by our council was regarding competition for food
with “wild” bees (yes I explained that all bees are wild!!) and whether I
can do some planting to mitigate the honey bees effect on other bees food
sources. I have to be honest this is not something I’ve given much thought
to but any thoughts on this and any planting suggestions would be welcome.
Hmm well some plants are no use to honeybees with their little short tongues,
but fine for bumblebees and butterflies. Red clover? I'm hoping someone else
can answer this query as it's not my area of expertise.
Paul
