perfect apiary site - what have you got and what would you like?

[Steve 1972]

I don't think i could find a better place than i already have..my main apiary site is on a farm next to my lady friends cottage right at the end of a no entry track that is half of a mile long..i can fit ten hives in a little fenced of section of a field that i have recently put a gate on for easier access..it is low down in a valley and sheltered on all sides by a dry stone wall on the south side..a large willow woodland on a swamp that covers the Northeast side and the cottage and a sycamore wood that covers the west side..it gets full sun with endless forage and i can get my motor really close..

I also have a second spot in the cottages back garden that will take six hives if need be but that spot is mainly used for placing newly made nucs with bought in Queens...the one thing that could make it perfect is if it was level but i will get around this by making rows of hive stands from scaffolding ..

[Steve 1972]

Is anyone aware of any research correlating crop surplus with distance from main nectar sources? I know the obvious but we always waffle on about the 3 miles but for practical purposes I suspect most useful foraging is much less surely?

My colonies have multiple nectar/pollen sources right on there door step...ranging from 30 yards to around 500yards..the bees have no need to fly any further and since acquiring the right Queens a few years back the honey yields have gone through the roof ...so for my take on this is have big productive colonies with mixed forage as close as possible..

[NigelP]

As Steve points out distance is a a major factor.
A few years ago I had hives sat on a field of OSR that averaged averaged 120lbs of OSR honey.
My garden apiary was approx 1 mile away from the nearest oSR fields, averaged 60lbs and another site was 1/4 of a mil away and averaged 80+ of OSR honey. As they were all in the same general area the weather was similar for all, it was the distance to fly and return that seemed to dictate the yield.

Another factor is height or hilly location. Height spreads the timing of nectar flows or simply extends them. I can have crops (like OSR) finished on the lower grounds a few miles from me; yet it can still be in in full flower at the top of the escarpment again only a few miles away from me.

[Spike]

For winter, shelter and sun is good. For summer, some shade may be good.

[Steve 1972]

For winter, shelter and sun is good. For summer, some shade may be good.

I know where you are coming from but at my location the temperature never gets past 28°C on the hottest days of summer..if I lived in Africa where it gets to 40+°C I might be concerned but then again the bees have been here for centuries so I have a good idea they can manage whatever the British weather throws at them..even more so with mine and many other colonies being housed in Poly..

[Steve 1972]

Another factor is height or hilly location. Height spreads the timing of nectar flows or simply extends them. I can have crops (like OSR) finished on the lower grounds a few miles from me; yet it can still be in in full flower at the top of the escarpment again only a few miles away from me.

You are spot on with the hilly ground Nigel..my hives are surrounded by hilly crop fields as well as other nectar sources in this hilly location..it seems to spread the forage out over a longer period than what flat land does..sometimes up to 3/4 wk's..close to the Apiary the Thistle /RBWH and Bramble start and the further you go up the hill's it is only in bud..it is the same with the OSR ..the fields start flowering in the low valley and start climbing up the hill as the weeks progress..

[AdamD]

"...many other colonies being housed in Poly.. "

Is it the case that from the observations of poly-users that bees in poly in the summer are able to control their temperature better than in wooden hives. Or is top ventilation ever desirable? Abelo boxes have little holes in the sides that can be blocked off or opened as "desired" by the beekeeper. Are they used?

[NigelP]

Yes, in the occasional hot spells I'll remove a block in a super. Often remove a block to create an entrance in swarm control....no need for a floor....
I thin k it might require more energy to remove heat from poly hives in summer....hence I use open mesh in summer and "solid" floors in winter.

[Chrisbarlow]

Another factor is height or hilly location. Height spreads the timing of nectar flows or simply extends them. I can have crops (like OSR) finished on the lower grounds a few miles from me; yet it can still be in in full flower at the top of the escarpment again only a few miles away from me.

You are spot on with the hilly ground Nigel..my hives are surrounded by hilly crop fields as well as other nectar sources in this hilly location..it seems to spread the forage out over a longer period than what flat land does..sometimes up to 3/4 wk's..close to the Apiary the Thistle /RBWH and Bramble start and the further you go up the hill's it is only in bud..it is the same with the OSR ..the fields start flowering in the low valley and start climbing up the hill as the weeks progress..

I can't comment about hilly sites as a have none but I have an apiary in some very open and flat land, I think you're quite correct. I have a colony in a very flat agricultural area and it is intensively managed for farming. There is virtually no small areas of trees or bramble. It's all fields. Before and after the osr crop has happened, there is very little and that crop is quick indeed.

[MickBBKA]

I have excellent locations for my apiaries with varied forage from March through to mid June. Biggest issue as ever in Teesside is the weather in the Spring. It can be the most frustrating thing as a beekeeper to see the whole countryside in full flower with freezing cold Easterly winds preventing the bees flying until late April.
2021 I am setting up a new apiary another 10 miles inland away from the worst of the coastal winds. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes.

Cheers, Mick.