Choose yards wisely!

[Perry]

Here is a bit of a story to highlight yard locations.
A few years ago I did a cut-out, and the colony that was saved was placed in the back yard of what have now become friends of ours.
Now, their yard has to be one of the most picturesque  in the area, it is more of a park in reality. A creek runs through it, several bridges crossing it along with a beautiful gazebo perched over the creek as well. You really have to see it to appreciate it. I have just the one hive there. Their daughter is almost the same age as my son and a year or two ago she did a science project on honey bees that included videos and my answering her questions. She even got tagged twice when I initially dropped off the hive, and like a trooper it only set her back about 5 minutes and she was right back out there.
We have had some heavy rain in the last week so I did a drive by a few days ago and saw that the creek had  filled in with washed out gravel and mud, and had overflowed right around my hive (which was slightly elevated on 4 x 4's). I made a note that I should either raise it some more or move it out entirely which I was reluctant to do because they enjoy it being there.
They have been really good to me, selling my honey at a restaurant they own, and not taking any proceeds at all.
I got a call from them this morning (we have a severe rainfall warning today) that the town would not be able to address the creek on their property until a later date, so it was agreed that I should move the hive out.

[Papakeith]

that stinks.
Can you move it out for now and put it back on an elevated stand come Springtime?

[Perry]

That's probably what I'll do. Funny thing, this location gets hardly any sun, maybe a couple hours at best because of the trees. It is also (maybe as a result) one of my more testy hives, usually good for a sting or two. Surprisingly though, it has also proven to be one of my more productive hives, allowing me to pull 2 nucs off of it in each of the last 2 years, and still giving me a medium super of honey to boot.

[riverbee]

perry,
very nice yard!...........my HO is that the hive is placed to close to the creek on the bank.....i say that because i could never place hives that close to our river on the bank, and not expect a problem, either with rains or flooding.  also have some small creeks, the same.

good decision to move it out, and like pk said, i think i would use an elevated stand or set it back a little further?

[Perry]

I would normally not have placed it that close to a creek, but it was about the only spot in the entire yard that gets any sunshine at all.

[lazy shooter]

I like the look of the feeder on top.  It gives the impression of a stove pipe keeping the girls warm.  It looks cool. 

In my esteemed opinion, after three whole years of beekeeping, I like to keep bees so that they get at least half a day of sunshine.  I don't want to fool with those danged small hive beetles.  So far, they have not been an issue.  Actually, to date, I have only seen two of them in over three years.  But, I had one hive near a water melon patch that only got about three hours of sun per day, and it did well.  Hmmmm, maybe I am wrong about this. 

[Perry]

Actually, that isn't a feeder. That is a chunk of granite for a weight. I used to go to the local headstone place and they would give me these granite cores they had left over after drilling out the holes for urns to go in. Kinda creepy maybe, but they are heavy as all get out. You are certainly not the first to think they were feeders.

[riverbee]

LOL!!!!
perry i  thought you just happened to find a perfectly shaped rock/stone in that creek and set it on top!!!

[Slowmodem]

That is a beautiful yard.  You'll have to post a picture of it in the spring on a sunny day and everything is blooming!

 

[Paul Reyes]

Sorry that you have to move your hives, you right you have to choose your yard wisely and consider a number of things. But on the other side that's a nice yard.