[dkofoed]

So - newbee hive placement mistake. I found the (what looked like at the time) perfect location for my hives, at the edge of a grove of trees, facing south. When I set them up in March they had good sunlight for most of the day, if not a bit dappled because of some overhanging branches.

Somehow ... I managed to completely forget about the simple grade 1 discovery that trees grow leaves. Now, because of that oversight, my hives are in the shade for a good chunk of the day (most of the day really). The hives themselves seem to be thriving anyway, busy doing their thing (with little to no pests yet that I can see).

It seems to be the opinion of most folks that hives should be in full sun. Should I consider moving my hives into a sunnier location (I only have 2 right now)? Or should I not bother and just see how it pans out? My main concern would be screwing the bees up by moving them 10 feet over and out into the sun ...

 

[WBVC]

I am close by in Vancouver. New last year to bees. 7 hives in the shade...and believe it or not they have done well...as have the ones in sunnier areas. I was going to move them but they are thriving and the spot they are in works for me. As yours they have shade from trees...not from a solid wall or building...I call it dappled sunlight.

I can't imagine moving them 10 feet would bother them. I moved one of mine farther than that...thought a lot would not find the new placement but most did. In the evening I put a box in the old location and collected less than a cup of bees which a put back in their hive the next morning. They stayed there

 

[treeWinder]

Full sun helps with the SHB, if you don't have any or many up there then the partial shade is fine.

 

[dkofoed]

I guess i'm too new to the game to know whether SHB is a problem in my area or not. Maybe other folks from my area might be able to chime in there? I certainly haven't seen any evidence of that yet, but my hives are only a month and a half old...

Janne - thanks for the feedback!

 

[Beeonefarms]

I would vote leaving them but if you must then just move one and then poll the bees to see if they enjoyed the 10 degree warmth upgrade...but remember summer heat wave hasn't fully hit yet.
Randy

 

[Tenbears]

Partial shade is fine as long as you do not have a problem with moisture, or Small Hive beatles, do your inspections and determine how the girls are doing.

 

[Michael Bush]

All things being equal (and they seldom are) I would go for full sun. Unless full sun is inconvenient for you in the long run...

http://bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#locating

 

[ncbees]

I had the same problem. But a very small amount of pruning solved the problem.

 

[dkofoed]

Mike (Bush) - would you advise moving them at this point though? I do have a nice sunny spot about 20 feet away out from under the trees ... would that be enough to totally confuse them, or could i do something like place a marker in front of their hive now to orient to, and then move the marker with the hives?

 

[Riverderwent]

We had a problem with small hive beetles in some well shaded hives, but had no problem with hives that were nearby but less shady. We moved the shaded hives out into the sun, but still protected from the worst afternoon sun. Beetles subsided. Based on advice from MB, we put a bit of brush or a small limb in the bees' flight path in front of the hive with any relocation, and have not had any noticeable problems with relocations. I would move the hive at night and would particularly not move the hive during daylight hours if there is a virgin queen in the hive who may be on a mating flight.

 

[jim lyon]

In a perfect world one would want good morning sun exposure and some light shade protection from the mid to late afternoon heat. Deep heavy shade isn't particularly good, but the "doppled" shade you describe may well be ideal.

 

[dkofoed]

Thanks ... I might see if I can do some more pruning first (branches are pretty high though!).

Edited the typo to read "dappled" instead of dOppled ... :lpf:

 

[Michael Bush]

>Mike (Bush) - would you advise moving them at this point though? I do have a nice sunny spot about 20 feet away out from under the trees ... would that be enough to totally confuse them

If a hive is not where I want it I would not hesitate at all to move it up to 100 yards. 20 feet they will sort out .
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmoving.htm

>or could i do something like place a marker in front of their hive now to orient to, and then move the marker with the hives?

Just put a branch in front of the new location so they have to fly through it to leave.