Hives facing different ways

[freethorpe bees]

Me again!
I have one hive at the mo, facing south. I want to increase to 2 this year. How far apart would they need to be, facing the same way, and not get drifting between the two?
Fb

 

[Hivemaker.]

To guarantee no drifting,about twelve miles.

 

[For want of a better word]

As one bee said to the other...
I used to be Snow White.... but I drifted !

 

[freethorpe bees]

In other words, you can't stop it! Unless you move the second hive somewhere the other side of Norwich!

 

[Hivemaker.]

LOL.... thats about it,stand them about five feet apart,should not be to much drifting then.

 

[Poly Hive]

More important than distance apart is making the hives identifiable.

If you pin a white square on one and a diamond say red on the other it will help a great deal.

PH

 

[Matthew]

I read somewhere that placing hives in horse shoe shape or in a circle is a good position for bees to be located at, but with 2 hives that is possible but hard) lol. try painting them totally different colors and like Poly Hive said stick a shape with colors on it.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I would not get to worried about a little bit of drifting,as long as your colonys are healthy...i have them straight lined in 30's,one inch between each box,and no problems at all.

 

[jameskilty]

I place my hives in pairs facing in the same direction on 2 4"x2"s 6' long. Then the next pair is in a slightly different direction and so on. 2 hives should be no problem - identifying them for the bees is a bonus, like belt and braces. The bees will navigate using local landmarks like bushes. If there are only 2 in a line they will either go to the left one or the right one.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

I've got one of mine pointing slightly SSW and the other SSE, away from eachother. Only about 2m apart but I'm hoping to get another in the middle as well this year. Not overly worried about a bit of drift.

 

[oliver90owner]

About 1.6m is a good distance. Much less and inpectin may be a little more difficult if the space behind is severely restricted. Drifting is not the only criteria to be considered.

A strong prevailing wind can make a difference, too.

Matthew said: 'but with 2 hives that is possible but hard'.

Not at all, in fact simple. Job done without even thinking! Just part of a biiiig horseshoe or a very large diameter circle! Remember the circumference of a circle, of infinite diameter, is a straight line.

Regards, RAB

 

[johna]

If you have them facing the same way keep them about 1.5 mtrs apart but stagger the fronts i.e. put one about 30 cm to the rear of the other.The rearmost one should be in the lee (downwind) side of the other relative to the normal prevailing wind.I've found this system minimises drifting in my apiaries.

 

[Black Comb]

With these semi-circular layouts the books always show them as concave.
Any reason why not convex?

 

[oliver90owner]

Err, stand behind or in front?

Not noticed that.

Regards, RAB

 

[Black Comb]

No, my English must be failing me. Stand behind in both instances?

 

[Skyhook]

Remember the circumference of a circle, of infinite diameter, is a straight line.
Regards, RAB

Now you're just being silly!

 

[oliver90owner]

No! Think about it- carefully.

Mathematically, the equation for the circumference of a circle and a staight line are really not different!

Think of a circle, a small part of the circumference becomes more like a straight line as the diameterof your circle increases, until when infinitely large, that amall length must be flat. If it is not, the circle is not infinite.... Just keep going round in circles, you'll get there!

Regards, RAB

 

[freethorpe bees]

Blimey, glad we didn't get that question in maths o-level!