Second hive location

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alldigging

Drone Bee
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Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
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Location
Oldham
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
251836_420897291286410_1619046611_n.jpg


Which side to put my hive?

Left or right? Facing in or out?


We are looking northwest in the photo
 
Entrance towards the rising sun yo get them flying earlier..... Now wait for other comments!
 
Nice area for Apiary.

Alldigging, It really does not matter. If you have neighbours close by then you might be limited to the number of hives. I have six, yes six in what looks like half your space.
It might be good to give some shade to at least one of the hives especially in the afternoon. But as to how close (3' minimum.) It does not matter. Its just a question of your ideal position for inspecting.
In fact you could put 12 hives in that area you have, but there would be a lot of bees flying every day. And the washing will suffer, as mine does.
see bobshoneybees co uk , fill in the dots to get to website and look at the photos there. Believe me you are so lucky.
Bob.
 
Re: the shade - on the left you can see a shady spot - I had thought of this spot for my hive to give it a rest from the sun sooner.

This section is on our allotment site immediately behind our houses (my neighbour's hive is the one already there)

Am thnking about when we're dealing with one hive we might not want the entrance of another one pointing right at us ... so perhaps pointing the entrance more away from it...
 
Close up Nucs

When I do my 5 frame Nucs, after adding my virgin queens, the Nucs are placed on a pallet one each end with the entrances facing the opposite way, sun makes no difference, in any case the nettles have to be cleared very often so the girls can get in anyway.
If it was easy I would put some pics up on here.
Bob
 
Looks like there's room for about eight more! Maybe the next one to the left (in the photo) and facing south, but I'd make plans for positioning say six rather than just two - next year you may well temporarily have four or five (after performing artificial swarms or deciding you want to keep a spare queen in a nuc, etc.), and inevitably you won't stick at two anyway.

Apart from the aspect, the location is pretty similar to mine, in that it's in the corner of a large lawn bounded by trees and large bushes. I've formed an enclosure on the remaining two sides with a lattice of living willow about 6' tall. Seems to be working well as the whole thing acts as a chimney, with the bees spiralling upwards before flying off.
 
I would also say that it really doesn't matter that much.

These are in full sun where it get v.hot, mid to high 30's and as you see, all over the place.:biggrinjester:

Some-hives.jpg
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Chris
 
Looks like there's room for about eight more! Maybe the next one to the left (in the photo) and facing south, but I'd make plans for positioning say six rather than just two - next year you may well temporarily have four or five (after performing artificial swarms or deciding you want to keep a spare queen in a nuc, etc.), and inevitably you won't stick at two anyway.

8!

We've got 2 more people on our allotment site who are keen to have bees so we will have more I'm sure.
:)
 
...
Am thnking about when we're dealing with one hive we might not want the entrance of another one pointing right at us ... so perhaps pointing the entrance more away from it...
Yes, you should be able to work the hive without being in the entrance flightpath of another hive. Ideally!

Avoid a military arrangement. Irregularity of placement (and hive appearance) helps the bees find the right hive, which reduces drifting, which reduces the bees concern about robbing, which makes them less bothered about people moving within sight of their entrance ... :)
 
If this is an allotment site ie lots of peiople about, I would suggest facing the entrance towards the tall conifers on the left to disperse them and lift them. Less likely to have a motorway between the hive entrance and the nearest raspberry patch.
 
had this talk with a long established beekeeperer in outpatients the other day
he sad face them into the prevailing wind, somewhere sheltered and in full sun1
that would be south west in these parts....
into the wind.. lets the bees get up to altitude quicker...
bees an Biggin hill ... there's a thought!
 
had this talk with a long established beekeeperer in outpatients the other day
he sad face them into the prevailing wind, somewhere sheltered and in full sun1
that would be south west in these parts....
into the wind.. lets the bees get up to altitude quicker...
bees an Biggin hill ... there's a thought!

Now that's a new one- the wind blowing in to the entrance! I wouldn't have thought they'd like that much!
 
Alldigging,
At last able to upload some pics.
Here is what I mean about bees being close in a garden.
And at the out Apiary, with woods behind, the hives face East.





Bob
 
I would face them south where the sun get on them most of the day, thinking of winter you don't want cold north / east winds blowing in the entrance, rain falling from trees hitting the tin roofs is to be avoided as it upset the bees but had no experience of this. Think wisely as you know the 3 feet or 3 mile rule.
 
3 feet apart, to give you enough space to work them. South-East ish facing, but not both facing exactly the same way. Not under a tree as this stops the natural rainfall and gives a sudden drenching from the leaves in a gust of wind. A blue, white, yellow or black marker on the hive front can help the bees to orientate but a different shaped roof is the best way to prevent drift and when I tried this the bees come in to land from higher (bees eh?)
 
Is the direction they face important with open mesh floors?
 
Have you got a friend who works in the Royal Mail paint store?
Hi richardbees,
No its the flash that made it more red than it should be.
In fact its timbercare from bnq 5l for 11.98 RedCedar. All my Brood boxes and Supers are coated with it and they are lasting well so far after 5 years. But I did glue my joints with epa glue from the same establishment. So it looks like the cheaper alternatives are just as good as the more well known brands, even if I do have to put three coats on it soon dries.
Bob.
 
Bob
only joking...their stuff is good value - and the colour will soon fade

Facing South East is so the morning sun get's them going. f you've got room, I would space them 6ft apart so you can do the full 'Artificial swarm' procedure next year on each hive.....

rich
 

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