Apiary density with 10km

[Cuckmere couple]

on beebase

203

is this good, bad or indifferent

what does yours record?

 

[Boston Bees]

125 for my current one (Yorkshire village)

27 for where I used to keep them (Fife countryside)

So I would say you might be at the higher end?

But then, I suppose a count of actual hives would be more useful than apiaries .... wonder why they don't do this.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

But then, I suppose a count of actual hives would be more useful than apiaries .... wonder why they don't do this.

agreed

 

[user 20297]

73...north-east Scotland

 

[StephenT]

476

 

[Finman]

10 km is very long distance to bee hives.

 

[hemo]

It doesn't take in account :
1. Apiaries not know about.
2. Apiaries no longer used.

One may cancel the other out ?

Personally I think it only needs to be about 5km radius.

 

[Murox]

05 within 5km radius.

 

[user 6127]

151 at one apiary
90 at another, just over 3 miles away from the one above.

I don't personally believe a word of it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

on beebase

203

is this good, bad or indifferent

what does yours record?

It's meaningless - many of them are 'dormant' people who have given up beekeeping - or on a particular apiary but the apiary still exists on paper. Take for example someone who started beekeeping with a hive in the garden, later realised an out apiary was more sensible and less hassle, moves the bees from the garden to the new apiary, but the garden will stay registered as an apiary forever

 

[Boston Bees]

We all know these figures aren't accurate. Some apiaries won't be listed. Some listed apiaries will be empty. But they are probably inaccurate in a reasonably similar way nationally.

Does StephenT have 476 local apiaries? No. But does he, based on these figures, have 3-4 times more than me, and 6-7x more than Beebe? Probably in the ballpark. That in itself is interesting I think.

 

[Newbeeneil]

The density of hives gets greater as one gets closer to a metropolis I would assume.
My most northerly apiary is about 7 miles north of Surrey southern border which has a figure of 296 apiaries within the 10km radius. The most southerly one which is 7 miles into Sussex has 87 and the 12 apiaries in between have figures between these extremes. With enough information from those other apiaries you could build a contour map of densities. (God I must be bored! )
We all know these figures are not correct but they must give an indication of historical hive population if nothing else.
I have a Google earth map of my bee keeping area with the location of every hive and wild colony I've ever noticed and also where I have picked up every swarm over the last 5 years. It's extremely crowded now and you can even pick out swarming "hotspots" around wild colonies and certain beeks hives!

 

[smok]

where on beebase I can find map with interesting me land please

 

[pargyle]

I have 317 with 10 Kms. Not really surprised - Just the ones I know about within a mile of me must ne knocking on the door of 50 or so.

 

[benjamind]

It's meaningless - many of them are 'dormant' people who have given up beekeeping - or on a particular apiary but the apiary still exists on paper.

When you mark an apiary as inactive it’s removed from the count on beebase. At least the number at my nearby out apiaries went down by one when I marked home as inactive.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I can only delete apiaries that have not been inspected by the SBI. Or it may be related to when they were set up. The ones prior to 2018 don't have a delete button!

 

[Antipodes]

Being expensive and trendy to keep bees, higher rates in higher SES I guess.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I can only delete apiaries that have not been inspected by the SBI. Or it may be related to when they were set up. The ones prior to 2018 don't have a delete button!

In a way I can understand the NBU not wanting to delete old apiaries, There was a case in my area a few years ago when AFB cropped up at a beekeeper's new apiary, and questions were asked where the disease had come from - it just happened by chance that the RBI remembered that years ago when he started as an SBI there had been an outbreak in that same area, a bit of digging confirmed that it was the same apiary site which the former resident had abandoned after the outbreak had been dealt with. A bit of literal digging around in the undergrowth nearby uncovered some abandoned beekeeping equipment and, yes, it was still infected with AFB spores.
It's a pity they didn't just find a way to archive 'dormant' ones

 

[holmbee]

I have 130 apiaries registered near me in West Dorset. I am aware of several that are probably not registered.

 

[Sutty]

I may be being dumb, but where on Beebase do you find what apiaries are near you?