Beginner Bee Yard Planning

[Crofter]

On another thread where we were discussing my not wanting to increase my hive numbers I got to thinking about planning your bee yard. I had to laugh when riverbee was talking about backing into the E fence; I did that but my initial reaction was that I was getting stung through my suit!

I  did not really forsee how much working room you need when you start pulling apart a hive with 4 supers on. The hives next door dont appreciate having foreign hive parts leaned up against their territory. My bees really are not inclined to rob but if they were this would guarantee the start of it.

Last year in splitting and requeening hives I had one in which I could not find the queen. My wife and I had been through it twice so I decided to smoke them all down through an excluder into an empty box. They didnt co operate! I decided to put the excluder on a bottom with a hive body on top, shake the bees out in front and let them run in an let the queen get stranded underneath to be caught on the excluder. Well she didnt show up. I figure she went into the adjacent hive. I split the hive and put a queen in each half and both accepted but the frustration was anything but serenity!

More space between hives would have simplified things greatly for similar chores but this fall I handily slid five hives together, insulated between and common wrapped and capped them. Dandy; but come spring when I want to go in to feed or fuss with them on an individual basis, (without permanently uncovering them), I have euchered myself.

Build bigger, much bigger than you think you need. Hive numbers will fluctuate and a lot of spare equipment must be stored. Most yards will need bear fencing and to do it again I would have at least 6 feet of space between it and nearest hive. Working in tight quarters is frustrating and threatens my fragile sanity!
I have worked on projects with over 5000 men and should know the scramble and confusion in material laydown and temporary fabrication areas; why did I blindside myself?

[Perry]

I set up wire around one of my bee yards for the first time this summer and did the very same thing as Crofter.
I have 5 pallets with 2 hives on each, and on 3 of them I find myself backing into the wire every time. Thankfully I have not got around to hooking up the new charger and battery yet! I have to shut this yard down in the spring anyway, but when I use the fence again I will for sure allow for more room.

[blueblood]

If you have the room, it's a great idea to space them out.  I discovered that I could use the extra room to shake my bees off when harvesting the honey.

[Crofter]

I discovered that I could use the extra room to shake my bees off when harvesting the honey.

That is certainly true. Besides trampling bees on the ground, if you dont have space between the hives there is much more danger of wholesale robbing. We had that happen in sons yard with three of us shaking frames. He is in the same position of having twice as many hives as he envisioned.

[blueblood]

Exactly, I was going to mention the robbing frenzy.  It doesn't eliminate it completely but greatly reduces the time they figure it out that honey is being exposed.  Shaking bees from the honey frames is my favorite method to harvest.

[riverbee]

yes, accidentally hitting the e fence is not one of the top 10 things to do, and voltage will surely set you on your backside, and then some..... and also, might cure (as another member said) your attention deficit disorder....lol, doesn't mine, but have been more mindful. 

great post crofter, very true about planning a bee yard and leaving yourself space to work around them, especially with an e fence.