New to the hobby have 2 nucs coming in April. We own about 15 acres inside a large wooded tract of land. Probably about 300 acres. They will have water available the hives will be located in a clearing area I have created over the years. Will bees do well in this type of natural environment? It's not like they will have large crop fields. Any thoughts would be appreciated
yes. other than a few examples, more nectar available than large crop fields. and timing is more spread out. what type of trees dominate your landscape? try to get hives where the sun hits them first thing in the morning, with a wind block to the northwest.
My main yard is in the middle of 40 acres of mixed hardwood and they do fine. Full sun isn't an option even if you wanted to, so go with what you have and don't worry about it. Not sure how much my hives get from the ag crops anyway but if you have one that likes to propolis they'll have plenty of raw materials to work with.
Bees love trees! Two of my yards are in the timbers around my area. They're my best yards. Wind protection- morning sun - afternoon and evening shade- basswoods in July. One word of caution though- Get them up a couple feet off the ground and keep weeds and brush trimmed around them. Less moisture. Easier on your woodwork and on the bees.
Bees don't need crop land. Unless you got an old time farmer neighbor that still cuts his alphalpha only twice a year
I recall hearing of a comparison of the quantity of forager resources by acreage between flowering plants vs. trees. The resource availability in the trees way outweighs the plants. No doubt species and region play a part but my takeaway was an acre of trees (that provide bee forage) is better than an acre of flowers (that provide forage).
I agree that from a forage standpoint, I prefer a wooded environment more than ag fields. However, I have such a problem with SHB in my area, I have to have full sun, which often forces me onto fields. You might not have such an SHB issue in your area.
Bees love trees! I "used" to plant "bee crops" thinking that was a good thing to do then watched the foragers fly over them into the woods. Asked a State Forester who was here on the farm evaluating for an old growth Hickory and Oak thing the state was doing. He explained in depth all the different bushes, shrubs, and trees that start providing forage for bees starting in February and continuing till June. Towards the fall, other species of "wooded" plants start again. My hives are located just inside a tree line so morning sun hits them, but have shade for hot weather and also a windbreak.
This sure sounds encouraging, as to tree types there are oaks red and white maple cherry cedar poplar some dogwood, ash borer did most ash trees in pines. It's a mixed bag out there
maples are your pollen to build up in the spring. try to time your max population to capitalize on the poplar flow. its huge if the flowers don't get washed out.
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