where in th garden to put hives

[chutchy]

hi i have just got my new hive and wanted some advice where on the allotment to put it .i have a corner with a seven foot fence which faces east on one side and south on the other,i was going to build a frame around the area and mesh it off to hide the hivee from prying eyes.i am totaly new to this so hope someone can help
thanks chris

 

[tonybloke]

that sounds like a cold, shaded place to put a hive?
others will soon be along with their own take on the situation!

 

[oliver90owner]

Enlighten us. is the hive to be on the south-east or north-west side?

RAB

 

[Heather]

Have you a spot that faces the fence but will get morning sun?

Better for the bees to fly up fairly quickly and the fence will force this scenario. Stops them flying straight out and so being a nuisance to non bee people.
But sun directly on the hive a.m. is helpful to them. Avoid a draughty area. An escallonia hedge planted round will give some privacy & stop draught- and loads of food for them. LBut leave space for youself to work within this area (how big is your allotment.
And have you an open mesh floor installed- just as important IMO.

 

[Hombre]

Enlighten us. is the hive to be on the south-east or north-west side?
RAB

Funny enough, I was thinking exactly the same thought; it's all relative. A South facing fence is, by definition, to your North. Your South facing fence is probably your neighbour's North facing fence.

A).
If the fence is to the North and West of the hive it will get early morning sun from the East and the South, which if unimpeded is excellent.

B).
If the fence is to the South and East of the fhve it will get late afternoon sun from the West. The sun's elevation increases as we move towards the summer, and so the shadows cast by buildings etc. will have slightly less effect.

I have included a table of sun azimuth for the first half of 2010, which might be of minor interest to see how far to the North the sun gets before it goes down. In my location the sun disappears over my Western horizon at around 6 degrees.