Rooftop beekeeping

[busybee53]

Can any one tell me about keeping bees on top of residential buildings?

I am thinking of a possible site and problems that could arise.

Has anyone had experience of residents leaving a window open and bees getting in to rob honey from them or otherwise annoy them?

Are there any other tips/things to be aware of? (Access/maintenance/wind etc. etc.)

 

[MartinL]

Shelter would be my first concern.

Had planned to keep all my bees on a flat roof but last year the first hive put there were overrun & destroyed by wasps.

Didn't think it such a good idea after that!

 

[MartinL]

Also they wern't big enough to carry nextdoors jars

 

[Skyhook]

There was a thread on here about keeping bees on top of commercial buildings, and the general view was that you'd have to be really careful about a) wind, and b) access- you don't want to be carrying stuff up and down ladders, and you don't want to be chased along corridors by bees.

 

[Luminos]

Muswell Metro has some hives on a university roof - not sure if this counts as residential

www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18462&highlight=university

 

[thorn]

I've got three hives on top of my air raid shelter (left over from WW2) It's a solid brick structure about 9 feet high, and very close to the house. No problem with bees flying in, and they ignore me as I mow the lawn beneath them, or just stand a yard way, right under the flight path watching them fly in and out. They get the sun earlier and keep it until later than they would at ground level, while being shaded by a nearby silver birch in the middle of the day.

It seems ideal to me, though when the day comes that I take a step back while being pinged and fall into the next door neighbour's garden I may change my mind.

 

[MuswellMetro]

first issue is SAFETY,

second issue is WIND

pros:

• Bees fly above your neighbours heads and less likley to sting them
• Bees are said to be healthier but no evidence yet, I assume due to ill bees not being able to gain hieght to reach the hive

Con:

• Beekeepers can fall off roofs
• access to roof must be safe,you cannot carry a 25lb super down a ladder or into a half landing window
• The wind can be funnelled by buildings ( garage roof between two semi detached houses)
• hives can loose roofs and move in gales due to stronger eddies in the wind
• dropping a hive tool on a felt roof can cause damage and leaks

I have hives on a university roof three storeys up....36m above the ground....a NE facing roof was chosen sheltered by other parts of the biulding from SW gales.........bees seem healthier, low varroa but swarming worries me as the could settle high up in the building

working with a organsiation like a university has been difficult even though they invited me..., certificates of insurance, Beekeeping qualifications !!!! .restricted access times, get parking on site to bring in supers, obtaining pas to open doors as we are not,students, staff or an approved contractor Then H&S kicks in...even though the hives are 50ft from the edge of the biulding, they wanted us to wear safety harness, no Smokers to be used, hives to be strapped down by straps that would hold a lorry......current issue is bee proof netting that is fire proof to protect a velox window that the bees might swarm into and still an issue as to whether they should have asked other beekeepers as well to have hives there .

and i have to check the Beaufort scale before i can go on the roof in case it is too windy

 

[richardbees]

busyb

There are lots of hives on the roof of 2 storey+ buildings in London.

Access to the roof is your main concern...it has to be secure and through a door - scrambling through a window will not work.

Harrods, Fortnums, Claridges are amongst West End buildings that have hives on the roof (Also a friend in a massive high rise Council block in Stockwell has secret hives on her roof)

 

[Outlander]

(Also a friend in a massive high rise Council block in Stockwell has secret hives on her roof)

I always thought gorilla gardening was so cool but Gorilla beekeeping wow now that is cool. I really would love to see that set up or just pics, how about it Ricky gets some pics for us. She must be one cool Lady.

 

[busybee53]

Hi all. Thanks MM that's just the sort of thing I was thinking of. Am thinking of a specific council block and want to be prepared for what they will see as problems.

Hats off to the lady in Stockwell but I would rather be official.

Am just reading The Urban Beekeeper by Steve Benbow of the London Honey Company. Interesting read and with some pics of guerilla urban beekeeping in New York. You might like it Outlander.

Seems the beekeeper descends a ladder with a full super dangling from his waist by a rope, then wraps it in a bin bag and takes it on the subway. No probs with access then!

 

[Luminos]

Seems the beekeeper descends a ladder with a full super dangling from his waist by a rope, then wraps it in a bin bag and takes it on the subway. No probs with access then!/B]

I bet he doesn't have any trouble collecting high swarms, either

 

[itma]

The French (as usual) don't have quite the same attitude to Health & Safety as MuswellMetro has been facing.

Here's a clip about the bees that are kept on the roof of the Grand Palais in the centre of Paris ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIaIjRMATjk

 

[Joseph]

I have a couple of colonies on a home extension right above the back door of my parents' home. Some bees do occasionally come in at night attracted to the light but my dad wants the hives there.

Bees are said to be healthier but no evidence yet, I assume due to ill bees not being able to gain hieght to reach the hive

Interesting!
I have had for 4 years year in year out, a significantly higher yield from those hives. I think it may be down to the fact that the bees are exposed to the morning sunshine and perhaps the warm black felt on the roof helps them along too. Also as MM points out, you do see weaker bees on the ground who cannot make it back into the hive. That can be a problem when children are walking in a garden barefoot etc...