Temporary Mating Yards for Isolation

[Adam Foster Collins]

There are only about 200 beekeepers in Nova Scotia. The vast majority of the colonies are in specific, fruit-growing areas. So there are likely a lot of areas in this province that have little-to-no honeybees.

I have a close friend who lives about an hour from here. I've spent time at his place a lot over the years, and have never seen a single honeybee anywhere - and I've looked hard, at all times of the year, and all over the place.We do things like camp and fish out there, so we're all over the area.

So I wondered about using his place for a period just to set up a mating yard. My thought is that I could set up a drone yard, with colonies loaded with drones from colonies I like, and that I could set up mating nucs in the area as well. Once the queens are mated, I could move out again as I feel there are better areas for foraging.

Is this temporary/mobile approach something any of you practice? Do you have any thoughts on this approach?

Thanks,

Adam

[Vance G]

I have a seven mile radius of isolation where I am trying basically the same thing. If it is your best option and not prohibitively far, why not?