Overhead power lines

[johna]

If the word is don't examine bees if a thunderstorm is iminent then I would assume the emissions from power cables could have a similar effect and make the bees "peppery" methinks.

 

[oliver90owner]

Neither do I know nor care what is near, or close, quantitatively. I would think that directly under the supergrid is a definite no-no.

I have read many reports and heard some also (but rarely 'first hand'), of tetchy bees when under power cables. We now know, after much fudging by the CEGB) that power line emissions/fields are almost certainly the cause of some childhood leukemia cases. So there are effects to living cells and organisms. Bees are organisms, just like us.

I know not what the voltage was, to which poly Hive was referring. I would consider a 33kV supply marginal, but I avoid any risks by not placing bees directly under the supergrid, or any high tension power lines, and reduce the effects, if there are any, to a minimum, by site choice, in any and every particular circumstance.

I have bees fairly close to a 3.3kV supply, but am not worried too much about that.

Whether the effects might simply be on temperament (cf impending electrical storms) or of productivity, I have not a clue. And I don't intend finding out!

Regards, RAB

 

[johna]

Finding out could be painful

 

[Hombre]

I have been offered a site in a fairly large field.
Good access.
Secure,
Watersupply,
Room for several Hives
BUT
Power lines
Hence the reason for no one else wanting to use the field me thinks.

Has anyone any experience of siting Bees near these.

With five colonies, might you not trial the site with one of your colonies, as it will give you a bolt hole should you need a temporary site for moving bees to?

At the end of the day you will be able to form your own opinion and probably be the wiser for it by the end of the season.

If at any point you feel that the attributes of the site are less than beneficial to yourself or your bees, then you can move them away and abandon it, confident that you have given it a go and not passed up a suitable site due to the o pinions of others.

This is an area where there are mixed feelings and I certainly wouldn't wish to live in close proximity to a set of high tension cables for any length of time.

I respect the views of PH, RAB et al. I have seen and heard the power lines crackling in damp weather and these lines pass over a shopping park where lots of people work and shop. I have no theories or experience regarding power lines and bees.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The only experiance i have had regards to bee's and electric pylons was several years ago on a site which i had taken the bee's for the borage,right next to these pylons. No ill effects that i noticed with the bee's,or diminishing numbers or anything strange at all,weather conditions were perfect and the supers filled very rapidly. The hives were only on this site for the duration of the borage and then moved on elswhere,so cannot comment if there would of been any effect on the bee's if it had been a permanent site.

 

[Black Comb]

Well I was brought up v close to power lines at the back of the house and we always played football in and around the pylons.
I'm still here but recently have succumbed to a virus which I think will be with me for life (beekeeping).

 

[oliver90owner]

I'm still here

A typical reply or argument, but one swallow does not make a summer. 1% ill health of some form cannot be pinned on any particular cause, but it would be caused by something..

Look how long it took for the vast majority to realise that most lung (and some other) cancers were caused by smoking.

Look how long asbestos was used extensively for insulation purposes, until all those many, but isolated, cases of lung disease were collated and directed back to the source.

Need I go on about CFCs, DDT, dioxins and other environment damaging chemicals - all man-made, of course.

No, a particular negative result does not necessarily mean something is good for you.

Regards, RAB

 

[steve1958]

With five colonies, might you not trial the site with one of your colonies, as it will give you a bolt hole should you need a temporary site for moving bees to?

Same thinking here.
I am meeting the owner this morning for a chat, so will make a decision then.

Thank you for all your comments

 

[Black Comb]

Agree to a certain extent Rab but ask anyone in Kenya if they think DDT should have been banned and the answer is no - malaria has once again become a big killer. As ever nothing is quite as simple as it seems.

 

[steve1958]

Decision time.

Go for it.
I have decided to accept the offer of siting some Bees in this Highly Electrifying environment

I shall let you know how I get on next spring time.

 

[oliver90owner]

What votage and how close?

 

[jimbeekeeper]

SHould be intresting then when I get to put some hives in the Power station grounds...will report back any findings.

 

[steve1958]

Maybe we will end up with Fizzy Honey.

We could market it as a Super Energy Food