Newbee needs feedback

[digdan]

I found this person who wants me to put bees on her land. I've read a couple books on beekeeping, but I have never actually kept bees before.

The owner of the property suffers from severe arthritis, and needs to be stung by these bees so she can temporarily rid herself of her arthritis. How does one encourge stings, and would being stung too close the hive be bad?

Also, they are piping in irrigation water. The hives will be in a small grove of trees in the Owyhee Desert, so it gets very hot. The location has spotted shade, but the bees will defiantly need water come summer. With a dripping line, what is the best way to provide water for the bees without drowning them?

How far should the water source be from the hives?

How close can the hives be to eachother?

And do coyotes eat honey?

Thanks for your answers in advance!

[Jerry Kinder]

A while back I asked a similar question but about the Mojave desert. I got a lot of help from Walt McBride who frequents this group and runs bees in the Mojave. He suggested putting the water 20 feet or more away from the hive. He found that they like to fly a ways to the water. In one of his remote setups he was going through ~30 gallons of water (in an old water heater) a week for 10 hives. He said they will travel a mile or two to get water, like a cattle watering sites or stream if they can find them. In my desert, the wind blows too hard to take advantage of the spring flowers so keep that in mind out your way. And you want to watch the flowers in the area so you don’t starve your bees in a 1 crop commercial location. Bring them in for your friend’s crop pollination, but move them to a location where they can find food or you will have to feed them to keep them alive. After several messages back and forth with Walt, his original suggestion that my bees were better off in the city than the desert started sinking in. I may try it later, but not in my first year of having bees. Good luck.