[mrspock]

There's only one location on my lot suitable for hives. The others are all visible to a neighbor that would likely be displeased.

This site only gets sun from 10am to 8pm in the summer, with an hour of shade just after noon as the sun goes behind a spruce.

How screwed am I? Anything I can do to mitigate this?


(Moving hives is not an option as it would result in instant neighbor complaint to bylaw enforcement)

 

[rkr]

In the past 2 yrs, I have seen 4 thriving feral hives on the North side of buildings where they get very little or no direct sunlight . So although it might not be "best" I don't think your "out of business" even on that account.

RKR

 

[bigbore]

Honestly. sounds pretty good to me. that's about what I have...

 

[hemichuck]

I live on the east side of a large wooded hill and my hives get sun from sunup to about 5:00pm and they are thriving.As long as they are not in the shade all day your probably fine.

 

[AmericasBeekeeper]

They will be fine. Just keep an eye out for fungal problems like chalkbrood. That should be enough sun to prevent problems anyway.

 

[mrspock]

Thanks for the peace of mind everyone!

 

[Budster]

I heard that the sun helps keep mites or SHB counts low. (Can't remember which). Also heard that they start working earlier too... Maybe someone will chime in on this...

 

[wfuavenger]

+1 on all of the above. But, bees make their hives in trees in the forest naturally. Plenty of shade there. If they are a weak genetic strain, sun or shade won't matter. Stong genetics lead to healthy and happy bees IMO.

 

[odfrank]

This site only gets sun from 10am to 8pm in the summer, with an hour of shade just after noon as the sun goes behind a spruce.

Isn't that most of the day?

 

[BeeCurious]

Am I screwed?



mrspock dosn't seem to be "screwed" at all.

One hour isn't even a groping of shade! IMO

 

[Fred Bee]

Your perceived problem, isn't a problem at all. Your bees should be just fine there.

 

[Countryboy]

You are screwed badly. Your bees will think they are a feral hive living in a tree. (I've never seen a bee tree that didn't shade the hive either.)

I have seen commercial operations put yards in the woods. If shade negatively impacted their production that much, I'm sure they would move the hives away from the shade.

 

[mrspock]

Isn't that most of the day?

Summer sun in my locale is about 6am to 11pm during the summer.

Currently daylight is from 7am to 9pm.


Is this not normal?

 

[StevenG]

In the past, we were encouraged to provide a little shade for the benefit of the bees in the summer time. Then the small hive beetle arrived, and shade became an enemy to the bee... however, you being in Canada, are you really bothered by the shb? If not, don't worry about the shade issue.

 

[Duboisi]

Summer sun in my locale is about 6am to 11pm during the summer.
Currently daylight is from 7am to 9pm.
Is this not normal?

Something tells me that you live at around 60 degrees north, just like me.

It's not normal for people further south to be able to read the newspaper at 3 o'clock in the morning during summer.

 

[mrspock]

SHB isn't a known pest around here, but things can change quickly.

 

[Ruben]

I have bees in shade and bees in sun. The bees in the shade start working later than the bees in the sun. Both hives make the same amount of honey and all other aspects are also equal. You should be fine.

 

[Countryboy]

Summer sun in my locale is about 6am to 11pm during the summer.

Currently daylight is from 7am to 9pm.


Is this not normal?

Folks near the equator get about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. They think that is normal.

 

[StevenG]

Hey! I'm normal, you're screwed!
or...is it You're normal and I'm screwed! ??
:lpf: