What can be expected if one turns farm animals loose in the same area as the apiary? Am I going to have to fence the apiary in and the animals out? Sure would like to hear "no". It's a lot of work to build a new fence through a wooded area !
Ed
Printable View
What can be expected if one turns farm animals loose in the same area as the apiary? Am I going to have to fence the apiary in and the animals out? Sure would like to hear "no". It's a lot of work to build a new fence through a wooded area !
Ed
Cows like to scratch/rub their bodies against objects. So if you don't fence them out from the hives, you may have problems with the hives getting tipped over. :eek:
I have seen cows contained by just 2 strands of electrified fence wire on T posts. Solar chargers are readily available. However, goats have a reputation for being escape artists, so you may need a better fence. :scratch:
Half of my yards sit within the fence of pastures, might have a problem once in a while but over all no problem at all.
Except with horses, you have to fence them out, they will chew on the boxes to eat the paint
I had a problem with cows, mostly curious calves that would nudge the boxes. I caught them one day and watched as a calf would nudge the hive then turn and high tail it after taking some warning shots across the bow from the bees. I have rolled up to find hives knocked off their SBB and the top deep separated from the bottom deep.
As for goats, they could pose a problem by using your hives as a jungle gym and jumping across the tops and pooping and peeing on them in the process.
Like Radar said, a couple wires strung around your beehives should be enough, and if they are in the woods you won't even have to drive posts! I have two strands of barbed wire around my little bee yard and have not had a problem with cows anymore.
Would you rather build a simple fence or have to put together hives that got knocked over and deal with some ticked off bees and perhaps a dead queen which would be bad this time of year!
I know someone who had their hives in the same yard with a goat. The goat would as mentioned above climb all over them. The problem came when the goat started butting one of the hives. The bees killed it. This guy said he saw it happen and the bees were pouring out of the hive and the goat kept head butting it. He did his best to seperate them but the goat didn't make it. Most likely it is a rare case but something to consider.
Mike
Thanks everyone. You know, I "kind of" knew that I should fence the apiary in, but I was just hopeing that someone had a magic solution. My goats will walk under an elecctric fence when the ground is wet (but they are dry) and it does not shock them. It's the thick hair. I guess they are bored because they tear up everything ! So, wire and posts are in my future.
Thanks,
Ed
Buy four cattle panels. Use a T post on each end and one in the middle. At one corner do not tie wire each panel to the post. Use a couple of snap latches to hold the panel closed. Unsnap the latches and it is the gate. It's fast and easy. Cattle panels can be had from 16 feet up to 20 feet or larger.
I was along cows herd for two years and they didn't Disturbed at all.
The main problem was that they reduce the amount of flowers
and i had significant less honey relative to next area with the same vegetation
but with no hungry cows !!
Randi, Israel
Goats like to climb...OMG I can see it now....
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazy shooter
I will go by the supply house today and take a look at those. Thanks.
Yes, my goats end up at the highest point and would certainly get on top of the hives. I was just hopeful they would do it only once :). Too much risk of a disaster either to the bees or the goats. I'll just do it the right (hard) way.
Ed
I also kept a yard of bees in my brothers yard, where he had kept a pasture of cattle and goats. Never had a problem with either the goats or cows.
If you ask me, you would just be wasting your money building a fence around your yard to keep livestock out. If you were talking about bears, thats a different story.
Ian, nothing wrong with taking preventitive measures!! Especially when one only has a handful of hives. If I had a few hundred hives it wouldnt bother me as much to lose even half my hives because I could split the heck out of them and get the numbers back up.
A sideliner guy in the town where I keep my bees has a couple hundred hives now and he has fenced the yard with a hot wire to keep out the cattle.
I guess each circumstance is different. But i would think that with goats jumping on hives everyday the bees wouldnt be to fun to work and in a constant pissy mood!
Cheers to that!
I hate opening gates, especially if they do not need to be there, lol
I know lots of guys who fence in their yards, but mostly for bears
If you have the time and money, I guess you can keep the cows out too
But they do keep the grass down, at no charge
I agree with this one for sure, opening gates is a pain in any aspect!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
Rii-iight...goats doing anything only once. We used to have toggenburgs. How many times did Ezzy and Djali eat my wife's crab apple tree... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GED
Goats are incredibly smart, but like most people, they lack in the common sense department. They can do the dumbest things sometimes.........how ever, sheep..........now there is the dumbest animal not only in the barnyard, but in the animal world.
I can bet the farm that your goats will end up on top of your hives somehow and they will some how knock your lids off, knock over hives and all. I agree on using four foot high field fence around your hives, or two strands of electric fence to make sure they get zapped.
If you really want to save money though, just put the hives on a good sturdy stand and ratchet strap them down really good. Then the goats can tap dance on top all they want, until they get stung enough times that they might consider staying away, but that probably won't happen! LOL
I have a new problem myself, a feral potbelly pig my neighbor across the way has decided to let loose. I wonder what it will do if it smells honey and the girls are clustered and cold?
pigs hate being stung
My wife is right then, I hate getting stung also!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
I was running 30 boer goats and two horses with my 30 hives last year in the same field, they never bothered the hives. I have seen the goats get stung on occasion if they get too close. Sold most of the goats this year but the five I have left had much rather get out of the field and get on the porch and see what I'm doing than bother the bees.
Tim