We moved to an acreage this summer, and we are beginning to work out where we are going to place the various elements of our "farm"...including the bee hives. So I hoping for some suggestions.
The long edge of our property runs east-west, and a small creek runs north-south that divides the front third (house + grass + some trees) from the back two-thirds (currently dense brush). Within a bee's flight-range (from any part of the property) is a good section of the creek and the river it dumps into (all heavy bush), several apple orchards, some vegetable farms, corn/wheat/soya fields and lots of ditches full of flowers...plus all the flowers in the bush portion of our property - so I'm not too concerned about placing the hives relative to food sources.
Our plan for the back is to raise goats, and that is also where I'd like to place the hives. I've found two good spots with decent sun (plus some mid-day shade - it can get pretty hot here in the summer). Both spots are close to the creek (which includes an artisanal well that continually leaks into the creek bed, so it never goes dry), and which are well separated from any spraying our neighbouring farmer would be doing.
The major difference between the two spots is traffic - one site is set ~ 8m/25' back from where I am currently building a bridge and will be putting in a tractor trail. Advantage to this site is access, but its also positioned near where we will be walking/tractoring by every time we head into the back. The second site is located at a similar distance to the creek, is physically closer (by 100m/300') to where we are putting in a large vegetable garden + fruit trees, and is near the end of the road after the bridge. It is also located near where we will be putting in the permanent pen for the goats. So its less convenient, but in a place with lower human traffic (but lots of goat traffic, dung, etc), and is a bit closer to the garden (which we hope the bees will help us out with).
A third option, which I'm not a fan of, is placing the bees in a small valley further back in the property. There isn't a lot of direct sun there, but it is very protected from the wind (the other sites have some protection from trees, but are otherwise high-ish points on the property. It is quite a bit further away from a year-round water source than the other two locations, and is nowhere near any planned trails. In other words, its got good protection from wind, but not much else in terms of my convenience.
What would you recommend? Or does it even matter given my choices?
Thanks
Bryan
The long edge of our property runs east-west, and a small creek runs north-south that divides the front third (house + grass + some trees) from the back two-thirds (currently dense brush). Within a bee's flight-range (from any part of the property) is a good section of the creek and the river it dumps into (all heavy bush), several apple orchards, some vegetable farms, corn/wheat/soya fields and lots of ditches full of flowers...plus all the flowers in the bush portion of our property - so I'm not too concerned about placing the hives relative to food sources.
Our plan for the back is to raise goats, and that is also where I'd like to place the hives. I've found two good spots with decent sun (plus some mid-day shade - it can get pretty hot here in the summer). Both spots are close to the creek (which includes an artisanal well that continually leaks into the creek bed, so it never goes dry), and which are well separated from any spraying our neighbouring farmer would be doing.
The major difference between the two spots is traffic - one site is set ~ 8m/25' back from where I am currently building a bridge and will be putting in a tractor trail. Advantage to this site is access, but its also positioned near where we will be walking/tractoring by every time we head into the back. The second site is located at a similar distance to the creek, is physically closer (by 100m/300') to where we are putting in a large vegetable garden + fruit trees, and is near the end of the road after the bridge. It is also located near where we will be putting in the permanent pen for the goats. So its less convenient, but in a place with lower human traffic (but lots of goat traffic, dung, etc), and is a bit closer to the garden (which we hope the bees will help us out with).
A third option, which I'm not a fan of, is placing the bees in a small valley further back in the property. There isn't a lot of direct sun there, but it is very protected from the wind (the other sites have some protection from trees, but are otherwise high-ish points on the property. It is quite a bit further away from a year-round water source than the other two locations, and is nowhere near any planned trails. In other words, its got good protection from wind, but not much else in terms of my convenience.
What would you recommend? Or does it even matter given my choices?
Thanks
Bryan