points of the compass

[Finman]

Look the yields what you get there. That rules, I had 25 hives this year. Do I put them in one circkle? That has no idea. How many hives you need to get 1000 kg honey?

I have pastures, where 3 hives get 30 kg/hive. Then 5 km away 4 hives all get 100 kg/ hive. Then I have spots where 3 hives get each 150 kg/hive.

Good yields come from pastures. Not from hives or hive circles.
- Bees must store the nectar into hives, and 40 kg capasity hive cannot store 120 kg into the hive.
- Most space takes the nectar store
- 120 kg yield needs 120 kg capasity from the hive.

3 fold difference in yields is usual when apiaries are on same area 2 -3 km away from each other.


When a rape field is at the distance of 1 km from hives, you will loose 50% from yield. At the distance of 2 km supoer will be often empty.


The worst yields I got this year from rape fields which were 200 hectares around my hives. They gove nothing. The secret was, that rape did not give
honey this year and next flowers were somewhere 2-3 km far away.

No trees no other flowers nearby. Best yield came from aphids under tree leaves.
.

Normally one plant blooms 2-3 weeks. What the bees do outside the flow during rest of summer 3 months? And this year it was continuous rain 3 weeks when rapoe was in bloom.

OK, rain stopped but there was not any other flowers nearby. Only green rape fields.
..

I have not met beeks who think these. They are broud when they have numbers of hives on pastures.

5 bees per square meter is too much in flower field. I like 2 bees per 100 m2. Then they have job to doo the whole day.

5 bees/m2. Flowers do not have time to make nectar when somebody is again licking the flower.

 

[Finman]

.
Do I speak facts? You just try yourself. Very easy.

But look first that the pasture is not filled with other's bees.

But my hives are in the South East corner of Finland which has very few beekeepers. My official home is in the Centre of Helsinki 150 km far away. I have alternatives where to put the hives.

My yield period is maximum 6 weeks. No mercy if I do mistakes. If I see in two days that bees get nothing in this site, I move the hives. Miracles will not happed.

.

 

[Motobiman]

All very interesting, if your moving hives around to make as much honey as possible with no other consideration.

Getting back to the question, maybe a beekeeper with fixed apiaries could comment?

Quote
which way do you orientate your hives, do you have a reason why ?
Unquote

PS
And I doubt the (apparently considerable single-minded commercial beekeeping) experience of a single beekeeper in Finland really applies per se to the rest of the world.

 

[Finman]

All very interesting, if your moving hives around to make as much honey as possible with no other consideration..

I am not moving around. I select carefully the best pastures and move some hives beside them.

What are those "other considerations"?


I have done this 50 years. First with bicycle, then with moped and then with car.

I keep my hives 9 months in my cottage yard and then for main yield I move hives to best pastures.

 

[Finman]

So (only) four hives in one spot must make for a lot of apiaries for a commercial operation but how does that apply to the relational positioning of those four hives, that was the question?

Many professionals use here only 4 hives in one spot.

It is very easy to fnd out what is the proper number.

And if you are professional, and if you want to be good, you cannot do what most beekeepers do. Then you are only an average,

Motobiman, what is your average honey yield?

.

 

[Motobiman]

Motobiman, what is your average honey yield?
.

My average yield 2014 = nil
2015 = nil
2016 = nil

The OP question was about hive orientaton, not honey yield.

 

[Finman]

My average yield 2014 = nil
2015 = nil
2016 = nil

The OP question was about hive orientaton, not honey yield.

It is said in beekeeping elementary books.
.

 

[Motobiman]

It is said in beekeeping elementary books.
.

And that's another source of information that doesn't change each time you read it.

At last we agree.

 

[Finman]

And that's another source of information that doesn't change each time you read it.

At last we agree.

Yes, sun is shining from same direction..
.

 

[Anduril]

Many professionals use here only 4 hives in one spot.

Just for clarification do you mean 4 hives on 1 pallet per field or 4 hives on 1 pallet with 5 pallets which equals 20 hives per field. If I was a commercial beekeeper with 4 hives per field, most of my day would be spent driving.

 

[Finman]

. If I was a commercial beekeeper with 4 hives per field, most of my day would be spent driving.

These guys want to get 70 kg average yield. Not 15 kg.

If there is honey for 4 hives, why you want to waste your hives more when those 4 make the whole job. When you put apiaries along the same road, the distance between apiaries may be 2-4 km.



.
.

 

[Anduril]

These guys want to get 70 kg average yield. Not 15 kg.

If there is honey for 4 hives, why you want to waste your hives more when those 4 make the whole job. When you put apiaries along the same road, the distance between apiaries may be 2-4 km.
.
.

Do you do similar? By experience if there are too many hives on the one site you reduce the number to increase the yield, but the problem for us is finding a sympathetic farmer.

 

[yeogi75]

better replies on this site than the American site

 

[Motobiman]

. If I was a commercial beekeeper with 4 hives per field, most of my day would be spent driving.

Or posting on a forum.

 

[ladaok]

better replies on this site than the American site

So you noticed ..... yes I ask the same question on both sides of the pond

the replies are usually similar, but different ! ,,, if you imply they don't know what their doing, or refute their reason, .. ****, it's like stick'n ya head in a wasp nest, they are so patriotic, i's nearly beyond belief

 

[Finman]

.

Fine. You cannot move hives to better pastures, but you can turn entrance to some direction. Turning hives does not add nectar in flowers. Very usual thinking among beekeepers.

But some beekeepers move to heather and to rape or what ever. That is called honey production...

Then all beekeepers are proud of bees' pollination, but very few move hives as pollination service.
Actually natural pollinators do the job without beekeepers. Yeah, world is full of adult fairytales.
.

 

[Finman]

.
Position of hives...

Often the shadow next door hive harms the nursing operations. That is why I keep the hives in certain order and in certain sites.

Shadows in a circle. ... I do not even believe, that many in the world keep hives in circle. I have not seen such in google pictures. But it does not harm me if some one does so.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

So you noticed ..... yes I ask the same question on both sides of the pond

the replies are usually similar, but different ! ,,, if you imply they don't know what their doing, or refute their reason, .. ****, it's like stick'n ya head in a wasp nest, they are so patriotic, i's nearly beyond belief

Sounds like a challenge for Finman

 

[REDWOOD]

The Greeks and Romans built oblong structures, the Egyptians built triangular shaped buildings and we built circular ones, somehow we have a fascination for circles

 

[Finman]

Sounds like a challenge for Finman

IT was a challenge and will be. There was too much those do nothing guys.
.

Best what I have met in beekeeping is "natural beekeeping on flow hives" and "foundationless beekeeping on flowhives".