Architecture student researching bees

[l'amour]

Hi.
I am an architecture student in Sheffield, UK. I have been issued a brief that is focussed on urban food production in the post-industrial north of Sheffield.

I am keen to focus on bees, the production of honey and soft fruits so I need to gather information and figure out how to make my proposal as plausible as possible. I have some questions and I would be very grateful for any answers you can give.

The initial questions that come to mind are:

How many bees exist in a hive and how big is a hive?
How much space is required per hive, assuming a docile variety of bee?
What is the average honey yield per hive?
What fruits and flowers are particularly attracive to bees?

Thanks in advance and forgive me if my approach is simplistic, I'm keen to learn.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

ooooooooh not again!

 

[Moggett]

James, you have failed the first test - lack of googling skills.

All the answers to these questions are ready available online with the simplest of searches.

First thing to do is learn the difference between 'hive' and 'colony'.

 

[Erichalfbee]

You could start by contacting
http://www.sheffieldbeekeepers.org.uk


How many bees exist in a hive and how big is a hive?
From a few to many thousand, it depends

How much space is required per hive, assuming a docile variety of bee?
A National hive has a footprint of 18 inches square.....Do you mean forage?

What is the average honey yield per hive?
There is no such thing. It depends on so many things, weather, type of bee, skill of the beekeeper to name a few. An individual beekeeper can give you an average of his colonies over a number of years. You could average yields from all over the country but this figure would be meaningless.

What fruits and flowers are particularly attracive to bees?
Simple open flowers, particularly in large numbers. Think trees, such as a Sycamore, Lime, Hawthorn and fields of Oil Seed Rape,Clover, Dandelion, Borage.

 

[Madge]

Do you want to design a hive; or do you want to design an urban building that houses bee hives? Or are you more into landscape architecture / urban design and want to design on a much greater scale to include apiaries in your design for a town or city?

 

[wessexmario]

answers here:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+many+bees+exist+in+a+hive+and+how+big+is+a+hive?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+much+space+is+required+per+hive,+assuming+a+docile+variety+of+bee?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+the+average+honey+yield+per+hive?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+fruits+and+flowers+are+particularly+attracive+to+bees?

you'd think the first thing they'd teach students is how to do research, wouldn't you?

ps, Google even corrects your typos for you... how easy do you want it?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hey wessexmario....thats really neat. How do you do that?

 

[wessexmario]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=let+me+google+that+for+you

(never done a recursive one before )

 

[domino]

Everything you need to know - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iwIumXefqk

 

[l'amour]

ooooooooh not again!

Why even bother, mate?

James, you have failed the first test - lack of googling skills.

All the answers to these questions are ready available online with the simplest of searches.

First thing to do is learn the difference between 'hive' and 'colony'.

Yes I am aware that there are many ways to find answers but I was actually hoping for a conversational approach to learning about beekeeping. You would come off as less of a tosser if you were a bit more welcoming.

 

[l'amour]

You could start by contacting
http://www.sheffieldbeekeepers.org.uk


How many bees exist in a hive and how big is a hive?
From a few to many thousand, it depends

Depends? What should I be looking for/considering?

How much space is required per hive, assuming a docile variety of bee?
A National hive has a footprint of 18 inches square.....Do you mean forage?

Yeah I hadn't considered forage. I have a site of 600 square metres around one half to two thirds will be used for planting, depending on the size of the hives and soace required.

What is the average honey yield per hive?
There is no such thing. It depends on so many things, weather, type of bee, skill of the beekeeper to name a few. An individual beekeeper can give you an average of his colonies over a number of years. You could average yields from all over the country but this figure would be meaningless.

Ok, that makes a lot of sense.

What fruits and flowers are particularly attracive to bees?
Simple open flowers, particularly in large numbers. Think trees, such as a Sycamore, Lime, Hawthorn and fields of Oil Seed Rape,Clover, Dandelion, Borage.

Thanks for your answers. I appreciate it.

 

[l'amour]

Do you want to design a hive; or do you want to design an urban building that houses bee hives? Or are you more into landscape architecture / urban design and want to design on a much greater scale to include apiaries in your design for a town or city?

I have a 600 square metre site just outside the city centre the city, there is a requirement for a small building but the bees would be outside in a sort of small flower garden setting. It is essentially meant to function as an exemplar project to eplore and promote the idea of urban food production and urban green spaces.

So it touches on both landcscape architecture and urban design. The actual 'architecture' bit, the building is not really the focus just yet.

 

[l'amour]

answers here:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+many+bees+exist+in+a+hive+and+how+big+is+a+hive?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+much+space+is+required+per+hive,+assuming+a+docile+variety+of+bee?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+the+average+honey+yield+per+hive?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+fruits+and+flowers+are+particularly+attracive+to+bees?

you'd think the first thing they'd teach students is how to do research, wouldn't you?

ps, Google even corrects your typos for you... how easy do you want it?

Why bother being a smart arse about it?
Forgive me for thinking I could learn from people who know what they're on about.

 

[domino]

Free beekeeping book http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/agrs93.pdf

Has most the answers to the questions you've asked.

It's a US book some there are some differences, the basic premise is the same.

 

[domino]

Why bother being a smart arse about it?
Forgive me for thinking I could learn from people who know what they're on about.

Same stuff is asked every week by people doing a 'project'

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you take a Standard National box .....ostensibly the most commonly used format here in the uk..... you will have 35-50,000 bees in the height of summer dropping to maybe 5,000 in the winter.
Small mating hives....will have only a handful of bees.

Some bees are more prolific than others.
Buckfast bees, say, produce bigger colonies than native black bees.

Regarding planting adjacent to beehives.
Bees will not usually forage next to where they live in the summer.
It IS worthwhile, however, planting early forage such as Crocus and Willow so that the bees do not have far to fly when it is still cold in the Spring.

 

[l'amour]

Free beekeeping book http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/agrs93.pdf

Has most the answers to the questions you've asked.

It's a US book some there are some differences, the basic premise is the same.

Thanks. I'll have a read of that.

 

[Chris B]

What is the average honey yield per hive?

The British Beekeepers Association generally reports an average of around 30lb, based on their annual survey. However, most beekeepers would generally expect a bit more than that, and it's possible to get 200lb or more from exceptional colonies.

 

[l'amour]

If you take a Standard National box .....ostensibly the most commonly used format here in the uk..... you will have 35-50,000 bees in the height of summer dropping to maybe 5,000 in the winter.
Small mating hives....will have only a handful of bees.

Some bees are more prolific than others.
Buckfast bees, say, produce bigger colonies than native black bees.

Regarding planting adjacent to beehives.
Bees will not usually forage next to where they live in the summer.
It IS worthwhile, however, planting early forage such as Crocus and Willow so that the bees do not have far to fly when it is still cold in the Spring.

Would I be right to assume a radius of 20-30 metres is too close?

Thanks for the answers, by the way.

 

[l'amour]

The British Beekeepers Association generally reports an average of around 30lb, based on their annual survey. However, most beekeepers would generally expect a bit more than that, and it's possible to get 200lb or more from exceptional colonies.

Do you find, in your own expeience, that there is much variance from year to year?