Keeping bees in yoru garden

[Swarm]

I've always wanted bees in the garden but husband has little grandchildren so I have resigned myself to never having any.
Till now.......I have it sorted. He's going to make me an insulated bee box that's going 20 feet up into fir tree at the bottom of the garden where the hens live.
It will be an interesting experiment

Serious?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Serious?

Why not?
A wild colony high up in a tree away from the apiary.
Do you think it's a daft idea? Am I mad?

 

[B+.]

Am I mad?

Yes....but, then again, we all are

 

[MartinL]

Why not?
A wild colony high up in a tree away from the apiary.
Do you think it's a daft idea? Am I mad?

what sort of layout are you going for?

Barrel or top bar?

Is it going to be fixed permanently, (like a bird-box) or on rope & pulley system, (for inspections)?

 

[drex]

Keep my bees well away from people. All colonies have been good to handle until now. One has turned into hive from hell. Yesterday I wore double suit and leather gloves, and the still got me on the wrists ( through the cloth gauntlet of the leather glove and below the cuff of my suits which had ridden up) . Could not find HM but plenty of eggs.
Next time I will move them before inspecting, so there are not so many flyers at home. HM has to go.

 

[B+.]

Keep my bees well away from people.

Me too! The place for bees is well away from people

 

[Cussword]

an insulated bee box that's going 20 feet up into fir tree at the bottom of the garden where the hens live.

How do you manage to collect the eggs??

 

[Erichalfbee]

what sort of layout are you going for?

Barrel or top bar?

Is it going to be fixed permanently, (like a bird-box) or on rope & pulley system, (for inspections)?

Ha ha
Doesn't the idea of having a wild nest to look at from afar appeal to nobody?

 

[Erichalfbee]

How do you manage to collect the eggs??

 

[BeeJayBee]

6 hives plus other colonies in a garden is a lot. The usual rule of thumb to avoid statutory nuisance is two or three. (Your profile says 4 by the way)

Sorry, but that's nonsense, and it depends entirely on the size and location of the garden. Not all beekeepers live in London, and not all beekeepers have small gardens.

 

[madasafish]

I look at the pictures of German beekeeping with children playing unprotected beside hives and think we are doing something wrong.. Well, I know we are..

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Sorry, but that's nonsense, and it depends entirely on the size and location of the garden. Not all beekeepers live in London, and not all beekeepers have small gardens.

Thank you Your Grace. My humble apologies, sir. Shall I mow the Russian Lawn today or tomorrow? :tugs forelock:

I look at the pictures of German beekeeping with children playing unprotected beside hives and think we are doing something wrong.. Well, I know we are..

Splenetic beekeepers.


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[Motobiman]

Splenetic beekeepers.


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New word, splenetic, love it, love it. Thanks.

 

[madasafish]

New word, splenetic, love it, love it. Thanks.

+1

Must use it and baffle people..

 

[pargyle]

Ha ha
Doesn't the idea of having a wild nest to look at from afar appeal to nobody?

I reckon all my bees are pretty much wild ... I only really inspect during the swarm season and don't treat for varroa, they build their own comb without the need for foundation and I largely let them get on with it. Haven't lost a colony yet, they are disease free, I get as much honey as they produce for me and I leave them enough for them to overwinter - I rarely need to feed them.

So .. Yep - I'm with you - wild colonies rule ! People who fiddle with their bees on a daily basis really don't do them a lot of good - they are wild creatures and should be helped to remain wild and not try to be tamed.

Go for it ... if you could find a big enough log to hollow out and strap that to the tree (your poor, long suffering, other half probably hates me by now !) then that would be even better. DerekM will give you the dimensions and will probably want to put some monitors in it !!

 

[B+.]

I look at the pictures of German beekeeping with children playing unprotected beside hives and think we are doing something wrong.. Well, I know we are..

I'm doing my best to change that.

 

[madasafish]

I'm doing my best to change that.

More power to your grafting..

 

[Robbo8916]

Both my hives are in a garden which has neighbours on all four sides. (Well three and the home of the owner). Not had a problem as yet and the neighbours are all very interested in having bees next door. I don't know if that is because they are all older people who are avid gardeners and plant specifically to help bees and other pollinators out.

They all invited me to have a search through their gardens when they heard I had lost a swarm earlier in the year.

I tend to check the bees every week or so as one hive are avid builders of queen cells for no apparent reason.

I have sourced a spot in a large garden of a detached house around a mile away from my current site so will be moving one of the colonies down there in the winter. May make the move sooner if I can figure out a way to do it without the bees all bogging off back to the original site.

I am aware that the hive with the close neighbours will have to be moved if they develop an attitude problem but currently they are pretty sweet. The garden is stepped and the hives are right at the top so even if the bees fly straight out of the hive they are a good 12ft up by the time they pass over the neighbours gardens. Seems to work fine at the moment.

 

[einsteinagogo]

I had colonies in my garden, and it was a joy, I visited them every morning and evening, and watch them. I do have neighbours, that didn't even know they were present, as I have a large garden, with very large hedges and trees and ether side. But I did tell them and give them jars of honey, and the sign outside, also may have given it away.

I never had any issues, but I was always mindful, of deep inspections, and manipulations doing them when neighbours were not out in the gardens...

I decided in the end to move all to an out apiary, within walking distance and I feel more relaxed when it comes to inspections and manipulations....

and just have to be careful not to leave any hives on "the hot spot" in the garden during swarming season, otherwise swarms go in to the hives!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Go for it ... if you could find a big enough log to hollow out and strap that to the tree (your poor, long suffering, other half probably hates me by now !) then that would be even better. DerekM will give you the dimensions and will probably want to put some monitors in it !!

Pargyle...that's hilarious, thank you
Stan's OK suffering, I think he quite likes it
He enjoys being busy and he will enjoy making the box, both the planning, putting up with my criticisms and actually constructing it.
I think he would draw the line at hollowing out a log, though