[ankklackning]

I wanted to ask how timberland areas work for beehive apiary locations, compared to the normal open land? What do you think about this?

I'm guessing there's more potential for predators, but what about other things, like stability of year round pollen sorces, honey production compared to open farm fields, etc?

Thanks.

 

[Murdock]

Some trees are a major source of pollen & nectar in early spring. Propolis is also an important tree product. I think the major contribution for woodlands is cavity space, especially old growth with dead trees/limbs. Finding shelter and water are the first requirements for survival of a swarm.

 

[Tigger19687]

If in the middle of true timberland with only that for 7 miles then i would say no, it's not good.
It all depends on what food sources will be with in 3 miles.

 

[username00101]

what is a timberland?

You mean a FOREST?

 

[Gray Goose]

I think Not optimal.

GG

 

[Akademee]

If there is poplar around, you bet, thinks like oak trees and pines, not so much, they need flowering trees to provide nectar. Field flowers tend to provide actually quite little nectar, so they are on the look out for those flowering trees.

 

[crofter]

Timberland

what is a timberland?

You mean a FOREST?

That is a new term to me also. Much too broad a term in either case anyways. A lot of our land here, once you get a few miles away from the great lakes, is boreal forest with mostly evergreen trees. If the bees have to fly very far for suitable forage it is very inefficient.
Any proposed area for bees would have to be appraised on an individual basis. Gray Goose statement "Not Optimal" describes it well.

 

[JWPalmer]

Frank, we use the term "timberland" to describe managed forests. In VA, this usually means large tracts of a single species (pine) grown for pulpwood and lumber. I wonder if there are places that grow tulip poplar specificaly, as this is where I would want my bees in the Spring.

 

[crofter]

Frank, we use the term "timberland" to describe managed forests. In VA, this usually means large tracts of a single species (pine) grown for pulpwood and lumber. I wonder if there are places that grow tulip poplar specificaly, as this is where I would want my bees in the Spring.

Around here that would probably be called a plantation. Monoculture. Your commonly called tulip poplar is no relation to what a poplar is here. Ours only gives pollen but in either case it would only be a short term yield of any signifigance. Same reason bees have to be trucked out of the almonds when the bloom is over or they would starve.
In some dry summers aphids just overrun the trees and the bees go wild over their sweet excrement. Honey dew. The resulting honey is often not well accepted. Again, only a short term deal under certain conditions.

If you dont have a succession of nectar sources from early spring thru autumn the bees could have problems.

 

[JWPalmer]

Welcome to my world. Once our tulip poplar flow is over, we harvest and feed. One of the reasons a 40# yield per hive is considered good.
We also call them pine plantations, but the term now seems to have negative connotations here in the South.

 

[zabadoh]

You can check the estimated bee forage value of a location in Beescape

 

[William Bagwell]

I get,
53 Nesting
1 Insecticide
56 Spr. Floral
50 Sum. Floral
40 Fall Floral

I think this is pretty good?
Oh, thanks for posting! Always great to have a new toy

 

[Gray Goose]

Agree Frank

"If you dont have a succession of nectar sources from early spring thru autumn the bees could have problems. "

Ideally you have from willows and Maple to Goldenrod and asters with many blooms in-between.

trees, open Felds/pastures/ some hay fields, wet and dry areas. the more varied the better.

GG

 

[JWPalmer]

Hmm. I don't know how accurate the info is. I just ran my apiary and got the following values:

Nesting 51 (High))
Insecticide 17 (Low)
Spring Floral 52 (Medium)
Summer Floral 47 (Medium)
Fall Floral 38 (High)

Nesting and insecticide are probably pretty accurate. Spring floral should be high. Summer and Fall should be low. We have a dearth here that starts in June and does not let up until late August. After that the nectar is enough to meet the bees' immediate needs, but not enough to store for winter.

 

[William Bagwell]

Ah, did not find the pop-up menus my first visit. So it looks like mine is great. Though based on last year it is grossly exaggerating Summer. Rare to have wet summer here, typically dry with 4 or 5 extremely dry verses 2 wet ones since 1993 when we moved here.

 

[jnqpblk]

Me, kept hives on a 40 acre privately owned clear cut that bordered a much larger timber company's land.
Produced a fairly light colored tasty honey, (my belief, predominantly thistle). For the most part, hives did well there.
"Kept hives on ..." that is until a truly kind bear decided to swing by, topple hives, and remove plastic foundations and lick the meager remains, all without any real damage to the bodies and other parts.
Weak hives when bear came by, but since it did come by, I permanently removed hives from the property, though I had had 'em there for a few years total, with bear damage only that one time.

 

[username00101]

In some dry summers aphids just overrun the trees and the bees go wild over their sweet excrement. Honey dew.

Do you only see honey dew on dry summers? Is it any particular part of the summer?