[Tor]

Hi,

So, I'm starting out in keeping honey bees this year, and due to space/lighting concerns, the hives will go on my back deck. It's roughly rectangular, about 700 sq. ft., and is adjoined to the dining area via a sliding glass door. In fair weather, we sometimes eat outside. How close can I locate a picnic table to a hive? How far should a hive be from a door that we use frequently?

Thanks for the insights!

 

[Tor]

Thanks for all the comments (BTW, XC, I like your blog!).

I'm just very limited in hive placement options. I have space on the west and east of my home. On the west is the sidewalk, street, etc. It's very open to the neighbors, and doesn't get sun till noon. On the east is the deck, and a small yard. The yard may work, but it's VERY damp there. We have clay heavy soil, and the yard turns into a pond every time it rains. My hives have to be elevated because I have had back surgery twice and need to minimize bending over. So they would at least be elevated above the pond.

If I put hives in the yard, then I would lay down landscape fabric and about 6 inches of bark. Do you think that plus raising the hive up to 3 feet would be alright? The hive there would get sun from 8:30 am - 5 pm in the summer, and 8:30-11 am/2-4 pm in the winter. Would this work alright?

My deck gets more constant sunlight year round, but shade in the late afternoon and evening, and is futher elevated. Also, the ground under my deck is much drier, and any hives places there could be watched from windows inside the house (we couldn't really watch a yard hive from the house). There is also a patch of garlic growing right next to the yard where a hive would be there, and I know bees don't care for garlic much, so I'm a little concerned about that.

Sigh. Choices, choices. Since we're just starting out, I'm uncertain how much inviolate space the bees will need around their hives.

 

[Tor]

I think we will go with the deck at first - mainly because it's a drier micro-climate and gets better sun - if the bees end up being a problem so close, the yard it is!

And thank you for the suggestion to find a neighbor to house the bees - but a big reason for us in getting bees is to learn more about them, which would be harder to do with a remote location.

My bees arrive in 3 weeks!