[Joe Nelson]

I live about a mile from a major commercial bee operation. He sells hundreds of nucs and is a major pollinator on the west coast. His home base is close. Just his honey contracts are $250,000 a year.

My question is...is there a saturation point of bee's in a given area? Will I be more prone to swarming? Will I have to feed more than if be wasn't around? We live on the edge of an industrial forest of Douglas Fir. Some weeds in clear cuts, but not a lot of crops nearby. Mostly weeds and blackberries. Lots of grasses and fir trees.

 

[RayMarler]

Yes, there is a saturation point in any area.
No, it should not cause more swarming.
Yes you'll be feeding more.
Fir trees and grass isn't any good for bees. You'll need flowers.
I have similar situation. Commercial operation withing a mile, rice fields and dead open grass fields. I have to feed a lot during the year and am lucky when I get any honey to take.

 

[Andrew Dewey]

Saturation is a concern. If there is not enough natural feed for the bees than the beekeeper gets to provide it. That can get expensive.

An inspector for the state told me I had more bees than the land could handle (in 1 particular yard.) I reduced the number of hives and my honey harvest
increased.

In the long run what this means is that there are places where existing bee density makes adding new hives impractical.

It certainly sounds like there are inadequate feed sources in your area - sorry, not what you were looking to hear.

 

[Tenbears]

You did not say how many hives your yard contains, if you are dealing with only a few hives. although the commercial guy's bees are in competition with your bees you also about 6 square miles that fall beyond reasonable travel distance for his bees. Yes, this will mean you bees will have to travel greater distance to bring home the bacon. but if you are just a hobbyist it is doable without too much trouble. a good indicator is hive comparison with hives in other location.