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348 Posts
I think the most important thing you said was: "5% here and a 5% there, really adds up when your talking about overall hive survivability." There's no single silver bullet for colony health, so you do multiple little things which tilt the scale in your favor. BUT, while I'm in 100% agreement with everything you wrote, I don't put my hives in full sun. Oh yes, I understand that from honey production to dealing with SHB, full sun is better, but it's important to note there are often trade-offs that need to be considered.
For me, there are two significant issues: 1) I'm keep bees for fun, not income. 2) I live in the woods. So if I only get 40 lbs of honey per hive instead of 60+ lbs, that's fine with me. And more than that, I like having my hives where I can see and enjoy them daily. For me, I trade-off the advantage full sun gives for the advantage of "extra attention" paid to my colonies by having them close.
So my point is that there are numerous "5% solutions" available and if we choose to disregard an "easy one" such as full sun, we need to plan on compensating with other ones in order to keep healthy, productive colonies.
For me, there are two significant issues: 1) I'm keep bees for fun, not income. 2) I live in the woods. So if I only get 40 lbs of honey per hive instead of 60+ lbs, that's fine with me. And more than that, I like having my hives where I can see and enjoy them daily. For me, I trade-off the advantage full sun gives for the advantage of "extra attention" paid to my colonies by having them close.
So my point is that there are numerous "5% solutions" available and if we choose to disregard an "easy one" such as full sun, we need to plan on compensating with other ones in order to keep healthy, productive colonies.
