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Sun or Shade: Where to set up a new colony and boxes?

905 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  ChasWG 
#1 ·
I live in Colorado and it can get pretty cold here in the winter and fairly hot in the direct sun of the Summer months. So as a new bee keeper I wanted to ask where the best location would be to set up the new hive: n the sun or the shade. Or even a mixure of the two?

At the moment the hive gets pretty direct sun most of the day. Its not unti the later part of the day around 4 to 5pm that the sun does hit the boxes at all. I do have a screened bottom board but I'm a bit concerned that as the weather starts to warm up and the sun will really pound down on my hive and possiblly over heat them.

Is it better to have a mix of maybe morning sun and then as the sun gets higher in the sky the hive is shrouded in shadow? Our Summer months here can reach up above 100 degrees F and durning the winter can drop to below 0 degrees F.

Thanks for your help!
 
#2 ·
Ultimately it may not make a huge difference, but I usually place my hives in full sun. The worker bees will start flying earlier in the day. This is most noticeable in the spring and autumn. It sometimes reaches 100 degrees in the middle of the summer here in Utah and my hives do fine as long as they have good ventilation. The way I do this is to drill an entrance hole in the front of every box of the hive.
 
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