It usually starts about the end of February, early March ... they are a bit early this year. Probably easier at present as its been cold and they are smaller colonies. Time to make sure any out apiary hives are secured in one way or another. It may not prevent theft but what you want to do is make theft difficult and hope the thieves move on to easier pickings ...
Struth! Prepared? So no qualms about returning a second time even having nicked a colony already!
It's a worry isn't it ? My hives are secure in my garden but I know plenty of people with out apiaries and it must be a concern.
I even worry about the ones in my garden. We have an odd shaped plot which wraps round the house and the hives are in what might be described as the ‘front garden’ so could be seen by visitors if they were looking hard enough.
That’s a good idea.
Funnily enough, that’s what I have around my home apiary. It’s mostly to make them fly up and out and to afford some protection from the wind but it does make them less visible.
I have a line of bay trees around mine at the bottom of the garden. My garden is very secluded, but you never know!!!!
That’s what I usually use the netting for but I noticed I could see the hives as I drove by the orchard so decided I should try to make them less obvious. One thickness didn’t obscure them enough so I ended up putting 2 doubled lengths of black mesh up (4 thicknesses) which didn’t blank out the hives completely but made them indistinguishable.
You can do that……but it’s not a good idea to tell people
regardless of whether they are up to skulduggery or not - if you lay a 'trap' with the intent to injure a trespasser then you have firmly put yourself on the wrong side of the law.
I agree and I'd say that legally, this would be viewed in the range of offences akin to intentionally setting up to electrocute a trespasser or, in the old days, a mantrap. It's quite patently wrong, but I'm annoyed now that I've had to disagree so strongly with @Wingy; I was trying to be reasonable.
