My First Apairy!

[RoseCottage]

Quigs,
What a neat job but I think you may need to come to my apiary and refine your technique (I will very generously let you re-arrange my apiary to help you practice)...

As others have said a number of practical observations:

1. Gravel Floor excellent choice

2. Access space is required all around the hives - enough to walk and carry BB, Roofs, or Supers

3. Having a small utility stand is also useful to place your smoker on, your toolbox should you use one, odds and sods of brace comb, and usually BB, Supers, etc

What's the other side of the hedge?

All the best,
Sam

 

[Quigs]

Thanks well if Im up your way........

Im fairly happy with the space just need to decide on which way to face the entrances.

Tried my smoker tonight, see how long i could keep it going for, but the good news is it hooks perfectly on the fence panels or the pole supports

Other side of hedge is about a 5m border of scrub, brambles (mostly my offcuts!) etc and then an open grassed area where the public footpath passes through but not along side more perpendicular to.

 

[BeeJayBee]

The hedge along the righthand side stays pretty much green all year with the holly mixed and no public access down that side. There is quite a dense screen of hawthorn behind the bright green shrub to the left which borders my property. As you can see the fence is higher on the chicken side, do you think the bees would rise almost vertically rather than out across the footpath area?

Our bees fly up and over a tall (10ft ish) beech hedge that's only a few feet from the hives, so I'd guess yours would fly up and over the hawthorn and holly rather than trying to burrow their way through it.