Hive positioning and 'flying up'?

[Oakbear]

Hi all,

I'm hopefully getting my first bees this week, and have a national set up and ready.

I have a nice sheltered spot ready for it that still gets a bit of sun, surrounded by a brick wall on 2 sides and a greenhouse on another, which will be ideal for hiding it away from not so keen neighbours (which unfortunately i have).
I've heard that if you place an obstacle such as a fence or tall plants near the hive entrance, the bees will simply fly up, and thus neighbours are less likely to notice them.

So my question is how close is too close, and how high should any obstacle be?

If i face the hive SE, it'll be toward the greenhouse which is about 7' high. I can do that and give a 3'-4' space until the greenhouse, but i'll mean working the hive from the side. If i give myself space to get behind the hive on that orientation, it'll reduce it to just a foot or so....

Thanks in advance!

 

[tonybloke]

Hi all,

I'm hopefully getting my first bees this week, and have a national set up and ready.

I have a nice sheltered spot ready for it that still gets a bit of sun, surrounded by a brick wall on 2 sides and a greenhouse on another, which will be ideal for hiding it away from not so keen neighbours (which unfortunately i have).
I've heard that if you place an obstacle such as a fence or tall plants near the hive entrance, the bees will simply fly up, and thus neighbours are less likely to notice them.

So my question is how close is too close, and how high should any obstacle be?

If i face the hive SE, it'll be toward the greenhouse which is about 7' high. I can do that and give a 3'-4' space until the greenhouse, but i'll mean working the hive from the side. If i give myself space to get behind the hive on that orientation, it'll reduce it to just a foot or so....

Thanks in advance!

most beeks (prepare for incoming missiles) have their frames 'cold way', ie running from front to back in the hive. this means that the best place to 'work' the hives (inspections / manipulations) is from the side of the hive.
3 - 4 ft from the entrance is fine for getting the bees 'up and away'
Have you been on any beekeeping courses?

 

[Oakbear]

Thanks Tony, i hadn't considered that!

What is the benefit of aligning frames that way, as whilst i have heard of it, i've only seen them in the more traditional set up?

I'm currently on the the Leicestershire beginners course, which is a steep learning curve but brilliant fun, and i can't praise the tutors and mentos highly enough.
I've learnt much but have much to learn....

 

[Rosti]

So my question is how close is too close, and how high should any obstacle be?

If i face the hive SE, it'll be toward the greenhouse which is about 7' high. I can do that and give a 3'-4' space until the greenhouse, but i'll mean working the hive from the side. If i give myself space to get behind the hive on that orientation, it'll reduce it to just a foot or so....

7 ft feels good as a height. I would compromise on the ideal SE direction to improve your inspection conditions. The hive will still be warmed. I had a hive facing North to avoid line of sight activity and it did just fine last year.

There are many quoted instances of 4 hives to a pallet either one was a perfect SE or two were 'ish but certainly 2 at least must have been north-ish in such a layout.

 

[beebreeder]

oakbear
Dont know where you are in uk but if the neighbours are not keen i always advise people to have a fallback site arranged at least or start off with the bees on a local farm as most farmers are keen on bees and have a corner to spare then you have no issues

 

[Oakbear]

Cheers folks!