Location, location, location – The Apiarist

Synopsis: Discovering a great apiary location includes homework and legwork. What do you have to search for and what to keep away from? A superb apiary will guarantee your bees are extra productive and your beekeeping is far more pleasurable, so discovering one is time nicely invested.

Introduction

It was the author and diarist John Evelyn (1620 – 1706) who, in 1697, first used the time period apiary to imply a spot the place hives are stored. Apiary additionally means a bee home , however for the aim of this put up I’m going to limit myself to outside places the place bees are stored.

How do you have to go about discovering a great apiary location?

Keep in mind … bees usually are not pets.

They’re working livestock.

That sting.

They’re additionally fairly excessive upkeep.

Regardless of what some appear to counsel, you can not simply dump them in any outdated area and return months later to reap buckets of gorgeous honey. For about six months of the yr they want common checks to make sure they’ve sufficient house, to forestall them from swarming and to ensure they’re wholesome.

If Carlsberg did apiaries … an apiary in Andalucia

All of these items – their work wants , the upkeep, the stinging – must be taken into consideration when deciding the place to website your beehives.

Since I’m within the technique of discovering and organising a brand new apiary I assumed it is likely to be well timed to debate the subject in a bit of extra element.

The backyard … maybe not the only option

Many beekeepers preserve their bees of their backyard.

It’s actually handy.

Nevertheless, as I’ve mentioned earlier than, there are a variety of disadvantages. When you’ve got a small city backyard you may be sure that ” … regardless of the proof (or lack of it), it will likely be your bees that sting your neighbours grandchild, poop on their Beemer and swarm onto the backyard swing.”

Swarm on a swing … not perfect if it’s within the subsequent door backyard

Though I all the time website bait hives in my backyard, till I moved to the distant west coast I’ve by no means stored bees there completely .

My bees are usually nicely behaved and my swarm management within reason good. Nevertheless, even probably the most benign bees can have a foul day, and fairly good means that there’s nonetheless room for enchancment .

It simply takes one stung grandchild, one BMW getting the pointillism with poop remedy, or one missed queen cell, to probably bitter relationships ceaselessly together with your neighbours.

Why threat it?

Sure, it’s handy .

Sure, it’s great to have the ability to see the bees busily flying out and in.

However disputes with neighbours can get ugly and are cited as the explanation for over 350,000 individuals shifting home every year.

Is {that a} threat value taking?

The backyard … you’ll nonetheless want an out apiary

In case you do intend to maintain bees within the backyard, test the deeds to make it possible for it’s allowed. Some preclude ‘holding livestock’ which, from a authorized perspective, most likely means bees .

And, if you happen to do preserve bees in your backyard, I’d argue you continue to want a further, or ‘out’, apiary . There are two causes for this:

• If and when it’s essential to transfer your bees you’ll probably have to take action at very quick discover . If the colony goes queenless and will get stroppy, or a baby develops an anaphylactic response, the neighbours usually are not going to simply accept being informed ”It’ll be OK in 3-4 weeks … and it won’t be my bees anyway”. Keep in mind, it’s the summer season they usually wish to have a BBQ.
• Some beekeeping manipulations (like making up nucs for swarm management) are made simpler by merely shifting bees to a distant website.

For the remainder of this put up I’m going to give attention to the options I search for in an apiary location, largely concentrating on rural or semi-rural areas . I’ll give attention to the wants of each the bees and the beekeeper, and I’ll embody some recommendations to make your searches a bit of simpler.

Meals and water

Aside from in very particular circumstances the realm across the apiary will need to have good forage.

With out ample pollen and nectar being obtainable the colony won’t thrive, they usually actually won’t gather extra nectar to give you a honey crop.

If the intention is to make use of the apiary year-round then there should be forage obtainable all through the interval of the yr when the bees are energetic.

In fact, the bees will vary far and large to search out appropriate forage, however the nearer they’re to it the higher they are going to do.

My hives on this area margin did fantastically nicely on the oil seed rape (OSR), however additionally they benefitted from hedgerow flowers and tree pollens, and from ample dandelion, clover and blackberry. Even with out the OSR, it was a great spot.

Mid-April in a Warwickshire apiary …

In extra to good forage, bees additionally must have entry to water. My bees spend hours gathering water from a pure pool a dozen yards from the hives. It’s attainable to supply water from a synthetic supply – like a moss-filled bucket within the apiary – however a pure supply doesn’t want topping up except there’s a severe drought.

Marooned …

However don’t website your hives too near water if there’s any threat of flooding.

Hives, significantly poly hives, do float. Nevertheless, they don’t essentially float the best means up.

Looking for a brand new apiary location in midwinter can assist exclude some websites the place flooding is likely to be a difficulty.

In distinction, figuring out appropriate forage in midwinter is harder. In my expertise the solely methods to establish whether or not an space has appropriate year-round forage are to:

• be taught what the main forage sorts are (even once they’re not in flower), after which spend time reconnoitering seemingly areas .
• ask different beekeepers .

However the place do you begin trying?

Close to … however not too close to

In case you are searching for an out apiary i.e. one situated far out of your ‘residence’ apiary then it is sensible to go looking a minimum of 3 miles away. It is because, though bees can return to a hive from additional away, if their originating hive is moved a minimum of three miles they reorientate to the brand new location. This implies you may make up nucs or transfer mating hives to the out apiary with out the chance of the flying bees returning to their unique location.

However, in case you are searching for your first apiary, it is sensible to decide on an space shut sufficient to residence in order that journey doesn’t turn into a giant a part of your beekeeping. It’s shocking how typically you overlook issues, or how typically you simply must nip again to the bees to do one thing trivial.

A few of my apiaries are 130 miles from residence and I write lists of what I must take with me. Simply ‘nipping again’ just isn’t an choice … all my colony manipulations need to be accomplished throughout scheduled visits.

Establishing a brand new apiary

There’s another factor to contemplate when fascinated with the overall space during which to seek for an appropriate apiary website … the place do different beekeepers preserve their bees?

Ask a number of the ‘outdated fingers’ in your affiliation. They may not let you know precisely the place their bees are, however they’re seemingly to have the ability to offer you some basic pointers.

As well as, preserve your eyes peeled when you find yourself out and about in your travels.

I get pleasure from strolling and it’s shocking the variety of area margins, copses and tough land the place you will discover a number of hives tucked away out of plain sight. Take a word of the place they’re after which begin to focus in on areas that is likely to be appropriate for you.

Google it

Google and Microsoft each have glorious mapping services and these can assist you discover a appropriate location for an apiary.

If you recognize the place your own home apiary is and/or the situation of different hives within the space, you’ll be able to plot the potential foraging vary of bees from these apiaries, and search for seemingly trying gaps.

The next instance is fully hypothetical. It’s based mostly upon an apiary of mine (blue circle) in Warwickshire, now vacated. The purple circles mark different apiaries and the black circle is the restrict past which I wasn’t ready to journey .

Spheres of affect

In case you discover seemingly trying gaps within the overlapping circles they is likely to be a great place to begin your detailed seek for an apiary. 

It’s additionally value noting that the excessive decision satellite tv for pc photographs obtainable from Google and Microsoft permit a way more detailed seek for appropriate apiary websites. Such a on-line looking can’t substitute strolling round a number of fields, however they may nicely enable you determine which aspect of the sphere to begin at.

Search for entry tracks that fade away to nothing, large area margins, corners of agricultural land that stay unploughed, giant clearings in small woods or copses and so on.

A possible entry monitor to a brand new apiary?

Keep in mind, you may need to do that within the ‘off season’ so it’s value studying to establish seemingly forage (or a minimum of potential forage) when the realm appears to be like quite a bit much less bee-friendly than it might in midseason.

Hello-res can assist (you and the unhealthy guys)

And likewise search for indicators that different beekeepers have already positioned hives within the space.

I can see you …

Within the areas with the very best decision mapping it’s attainable to ‘discover’ hives which may be invisible from a cursory drive previous or stroll via an space. It’s value utilizing each Microsoft and Google maps for these detailed searches as they use totally different satellite tv for pc photographs (and replace them comparatively continuously) and so particulars may be seen on one which might be invisible on the opposite.

The photograph above reveals a number of hives in a area on a Google satellite tv for pc photographs. The photograph beneath reveals the Microsoft picture of the identical website.

I can see much more of you …

The half dozen hives seen within the first of those two footage wouldn’t have stopped me searching for an appropriate apiary close by. The fifteen or extra extra hives within the lee of the hedge (hidden in shade within the first image) means that the realm is likely to be saturated with bees and that I ought to look elsewhere.

In locations, the element on these satellite tv for pc photographs is superb. Right here’s the Google picture of my first bee shed inside a fenced space additionally containing half a dozen hives.

My bee shed

Remember that anybody can view these photographs and that they due to this fact probably pose a safety threat . If you have already got a longtime apiary test to see how seen it’s … you is likely to be shocked (and dissatisfied).

Boots on the bottom

When you’ve carried out sufficient homework it’s time to begin visiting a number of seemingly trying places to see in the event that they is likely to be appropriate.

Clearly you shouldn’t trespass (and the freedom to roam rights in Scotland are an enormous bonus right here) however it’s often fairly simple to find out whether or not an space is a non-starter or has some actual promise.

A website that regarded good in concept, however not in apply

You would possibly want use your creativeness. What’s going to it appear like on a dry Might afternoon, slightly than a dreich morning in January?

The location above regarded semi-promising on the map. Nevertheless, the conifers had been bigger than I’d anticipated and the positioning would have been too shaded.

When will the solar first seem? In hilly areas you’ll be able to calculate when the solar will seem and disappear over the horizon utilizing a mixture of this instrument to find out the trajectory of the solar and this instrument to calculate the horizon.

How good is entry? Keep in mind, you may want entry late night or early morning to maneuver hives. If it’s near the farmhouse/stately residence that may not be attainable.

And, conversely, how safe is the positioning prone to be?

Is there protected parking close by?

Are you able to drive proper as much as the (seemingly spot for the) hives, or will there be carrying concerned?

In both case, how tender is the bottom? Will you want wellies, a hivebarrow, a Toyota Hilux or a canoe?

Is the realm prone to be a frost pocket? In that case, look elsewhere.

What’s the shelter like within the path of the prevailing climate?

Is there adequate house? You would possibly begin with simply a few hives, but when your ambition is to have a dozen this makes extra calls for on the house and forage wanted.

Time spent in reconnaissance and so on.

I try to work out all the above earlier than I strategy the landowner .

Slightly than asking Can I put some bees in your land?, when the reply is likely to be affirmative however you is likely to be supplied an unsuitable location, it’s higher to ask ”Can I put some hives within the north-west nook of the sphere with the big lifeless oak tree in it?”

You’ve already labored out that entry is nice and the bottom is nicely drained, you’ll be able to face the hives in a south easterly path to get the morning solar, there’s glorious shelter to the west, the positioning isn’t ignored and there aren’t any footpaths or bridleways close by.

Good large area margins … however is {that a} footpath?

By all means justify your option to the landowner, and contemplate different places if supplied. Nevertheless, don’t simply settle for someplace with out contemplating all the professionals and cons first.

You most likely have a a lot better thought of what your bees want. You actually have a greater thought of what you (because the beekeeper) want. Don’t lose sight of those in your discussions.

A jar or two of honey to sweeten the deal all the time helps. You must anticipate to pay a floor hire which it is best to agree whenever you begin.

Alternate contact particulars and inform the landowner your car registration in order that they don’t mistake you for a poacher or flytipper … and congratulate your self on a job nicely carried out.

Last issues

Most of what I’ve written above largely applies to discovering apiary websites in rural areas. That’s as a result of these are the places I’ve used for 95% of my beekeeping. I’ve by no means stored bees on an allotment and the bees I’ve stored in gardens have been – and nonetheless are – in gardens surrounded by open countryside or farmland.

Within the latter instances I talked to the landowner first, typically after they purchased honey from me after which requested whether or not I used to be searching for one other website for hives. I clarify intimately the kind of location(s) I’m searching for after which have a guided tour of their land.

In case you clarify upfront that you really want a south-east going through sunny website you’ll be able to keep away from sounding too destructive once they give you a closely shaded damp nook behind the compost bins .

The seek for an appropriate apiary location can take weeks or months … otherwise you would possibly discover it on the very first gateway you cease at.

It’s actually nicely value investing time to find an appropriate website. A nicely chosen apiary will make your beekeeping a way more pleasurable expertise and may make your bees much more productive.