How close is too close?

[Alderney]

I live in Alderney, which is only 1.5 x 3 miles in size.

I don't have any bees yet. I'm just deciding on what hives to get and where to put them. My preferred place would be some allotments just a minute away from my house, but there are already 2 hives there that belong to another beekeeper.

If I could get an allotment at the other end of the patch, my hives might be 100 or 200m away from his. Is this too close? How close is too close? My garden is only another 100m away. Really not sure where to put them.

Sorry if this is a daft question. Haven't seen it covered in the books I've read.

 

[enrico]

I have eight hives in a four meter by four meter area, two are six inches apart. No problems other than manoeuvring things on inspections! It's the amount of bees for the forage that may cause you more problems possibly!
E

 

[pargyle]

Enrico is right .. bees tend not to forage near to the hive... with an island the size of Alderney they would be capable of foraging across the whole island. So .. it's the quantity and quality of the available sources of pollen and nectar that will dictate whether there is sufficient scope for more colonies on Alderney. There will come a time when the law of diminishing returns come into play .. more colonies but less honey per colony and at that stage the bees will determine the outcome.

As for siting two more hives on an allotment site where a beekeeper already has hives sited ... it's not question of whether the site could cope with more hves ... it's more the ethics of siting your hives in the proximity of another beekeepers. It's something that you should really approach the existing beekeeper and talk to him (very carefully) before you even think about putting hives there. Indeed, the Allotment Society or whoever runs it may well have something to say about it. Just tread carefully - in such a small community the last thing you want to do is upset one of the existing beekeepers ... otherwise your out apiary will have to be one of the other islands !!

Good luck with it anyway.

 

[BeeJayBee]

My preferred place would be some allotments just a minute away from my house, but there are already 2 hives there that belong to another beekeeper.

If I could get an allotment at the other end of the patch, my hives might be 100 or 200m away from his. Is this too close? How close is too close? My garden is only another 100m away. Really not sure where to put them.

I think if you have bees on the same allotments as other beekeepers it's counted as one apiary if they're closer than 100m for insurance. If the other beekeeper has no insurance, then nor would you even if you'd paid in. Worth checking the fine print.

Apart from that, you'd probably be best checking the allotment's rules to find out if they would let you put bees there.

 

[Alderney]

Thanks. I think my bees might do well in Alderney. It's not built up like Guernsey; lots of wide open spaces, lots of lovely gardens. Soil is dry and sandy though.

 

[Alderney]

Thanks again mate Cheers for the PM, too. Really appreciate it and I'm very impressed with your hive-building skills!

I'll certainly speak to the beekeeper who is already based in the allotments. I've spoken to him already and he's very glad someone else on the island is interested.

Sadly, a nice old chap who kept 30 hives on a small farm died a couple of years ago. I'm told the farm manager isn't really a beekeeper and that his hives aren't really producing anything. I don't believe everything I hear, but I think this is probably true as I'd definitely expect to see his honey for sale in the little independent shops over here.

Sad story, but perhaps it gives my bees a chance to flourish.

 

[maddydog]

I bet they're producing swarms!! I would putting abait hive or two out next spring.

 

[Rahere]

If you do, keep them quarantined away from the allotments somewhere, if nobody's tending the bees disease may be a problem. Why don't you talk to the farm manager and work from there? He probably appreciates he needs bees, 30 colonies is obviously too many for the moment, but between you and your chum you may be able to handle 5 or 10, which is better than what he might soon have otherwise, zero.

 

[B Special]

I have one hive and it's close enough !!

 

[bontbee]

Thanks again mate


Sadly, a nice old chap who kept 30 hives on a small farm died a couple of years ago. I'm told the farm manager isn't really a beekeeper and that his hives aren't really producing anything. I don't believe everything I hear, but I think this is probably true as I'd definitely expect to see his honey for sale in the little independent shops over here.

Sad story, but perhaps it gives my bees a chance to flourish.

And unless the land management has drastically changed, the island will obviously support more than a few hives/colonies (unless they were all being heavily supported by the beekeeper). I'd love to know how the 30 "hives" did on a small island. I know of a project to put bees on Lundy (3m x 0.75m), but "someone" decreed that an island of that size would be too small to support any colonies of bees.

PS I know size is not the only factor

 

[Mellifera397]

I'd be interested to see what the small number of colonies does to later generations of queens. Will there be a gene pool that is too limited for healthy later generations?

M

 

[Rahere]

True, the puffins would probably wipe the bees out on Lundy.

 

[Dom]

Channel Islands !

Another Channel Islander! Greetings !

Perhaps the other chap on the allotment will show you how it's done, and you could negotiate a deal over a few of the thirty other hives? Do you have to register/ have inspections done on hives in Alderney (via Guernsey?). I'm certain there's more than enough floral wildlife to support a great honey... all of that sea thrift, et cetera- and a quick google found me this:

"Alderney’s mild climate encourages an abundance of wild flowers. In relation to its total area of just under 2,000 acres, there are more species recorded than almost anywhere else in the British Isles, with some 1034 species having been recorded at various times since the earliest records published in 1839."

As a fellow Channel Islander I am aware of our glorious biodiversity (due to non-intensive farming methods, preservation of field banks, et cetera)

Anyway, good luck! Keep us updated!