I finally got my first bee hive painted,set up and put the bees in on Fri.I have the second coming tomrrow. IF I have the hive 75ft from my orchard will they swarm me everytime I go to the orchard? I am not afraid of the bees and I do have the veil, gloves and suit (BUT I don't want to have all that equipment on just to go to the orchard). How far should it be to keep large numbers of them from investigating me. How far should they be from each other? Thank you Debbie T in NC

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), April 22, 2001

Answers

Congrats Debbie,, the bees dont even want to bother you, unless you bother them. I can stand in front of my hives,, and they will "bounce" off you, cause YOUR in the way, sometimes a curious one will land on you,, just for a rest,, but they wont go after you,, unless you smell "real purty". You can keep hives side by side if you want,, but some recoomend that you rotate the entrance 90 degree from eash other to keep the "drifting" to a minimum. You might want to keep the hives at the corners of the orchard,, so they get all the blossoms,, and to cut down on competition. Bees will collect from the nearest, most plentiful source,, so if you seperate them,, the source may be different, different tree bloooming or whatever

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), April 22, 2001.

Bees won't bother you (most of the time) at 75 feet of so. Just move around normally. There will be a guard bee that will buzz you if you get too close (that's his job), just back off a bit and everything will be fine.

Now be sure to have your county bee inspector inspect your new bees. It is my understanding that this is required by law in all counties in the United States of America, and you will also need a beekeepers permit ($5) available from your county bee inspector. This is in my opinion just another tax (without representation). I ignore it as do a lot of folks that I know. My county has a lot of difficulty keeping a bee inspector because the job is for only one or two weeks a year and pays a whopping $200 a week.

I know of no beekeepers jail, but if there is one I guess that I will end up there sooner or later.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), April 22, 2001.

I'm with you, Ed. In all the bee meetings I've been to, no-one ever told me I HAD to have my bees inspected immediately - never heard of it! They did give me a form to register with the state, but I ignored it. I only have 3 hives, and it's only for my own family, and the bees are far, far away from any other hives (and other dwellings), so I think it's ridiculous to have someone hovering over my shoulder telling me what to do and what not to do - the bees are going to do pretty much what they please, anyway! I realize that the "powers that be" think it will help cut down on disease if they catch it fast, but I have a bee-keeper who has hundreds of hives come once a year or so (because I'm a rank amateur) and check my hives, and so far he's admired the fact that I have no diseases and no die- offs, even without ANY medication whatsoever.

Sorry I strayed so far from the original question - as to that, my bees don't bother me at all no matter how close I am unless I open the cover and start to "fool around", check frames, etc. And if I do it in the middle of a nice, warm day, they don't really bother me much even then - they're mostly all busy getting nectar, God bless 'em!!

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), April 22, 2001.

Bee Inspectors?? they got rid of them in Mich about 10 years ago. Think the rest of the country will be following, which is kinda too bad for the beginner beekeeper,, they were a good source of info.

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), April 22, 2001.

Depending on the type of bee you, some are more aggressive than others. I have Carnolians, a rather mild mannered bee. I can do just about anything around them, including mowing, and they don't bother me. But I suit up if I am going to open the hive.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), April 22, 2001.

Debbie, The bees need about 20-25'fly space in front of their hive. Otherwise they are not usually not too bothered about people out and about. We have an occasional "bad" hive that won't let us anywhere near it in any direction, but usually they just go about their work and leave you alone. Unless, of course, you collide with one, or smash one. As for the inspectors in Michigan, I met the state bee inspector for Michigan at our state fair here in Alaska last year. He seemed to be "alive and active". You sure it was Michigan stan?? :) tang

-- tang (tang@mtaonline.net), April 22, 2001.

Congrats on getting your bees! They're loads of fun to watch and work with. I have mine right in my orchard and am only buzzed occasionally by a guard bee. My current hives (2) have about a 10 foot hive territory space needed. I had to requeen a couple years ago because a bear got into my hive and the queen was killed. Before I requeened my hive had about a 20 foot hive territory space. I have had Italians all along, but each hive can be different and the worker bees are all the offspring of one queen. If you end up with nasty bees, requeen. My hives are about 15 feet apart but I work in an orchard and truck farm where they have bees brought in and there are 2 hives per pallet, each facing a different direction. I don't even have a beesuit (I wear jeans and a sweatshirt and am fine), but I do usually wear my gloves and veil if I'm working the hives. I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to stings! When I first started out 3 years ago I was stung seven times over the course of the summer. Last year I was stung only once and only because I wasn't wearing my gloves when I opened the hive. I never wear protective clothing when I'm just in the orchard working with the trees unless it's black fly season! Have fun!

-- Sheryl (radams@sacoriver.net), April 23, 2001.

I have six hives and work right around in front of them, EXCEPT within several days after going through the hives for maintenance/inspection. Just recently they were attacking me while mowing thirty feet away. I had just been in the hives three days prior. This is rare, however. A week later one of the hives swarmed. They weren't too happy to begin with.

As for registration and inspections: it really depends on your local state regulations. Here in Washington State, we are required to register our hives with the state department of agriculture (no county involvement). There are no inspections and they even dropped the state apiarist position last year for lack of funding, but registration is still required for a nominal fee. With that registration comes informational mailings which are of some value. With the disease and mite problems we are having, I think that registration is good so that all beekeepers can be kept up to date on best management practices.

Positioning your hives is an important consideration. Don't do as I did: put them all in a row. Position them about at random and at least ten feet apart. "Drifting" occurs when bees from one hive gradually "drift" over to another hive with a better smelling queen. Radical differences in honey production between hives in the same yard is often the result of drifting.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), April 24, 2001.

Thank you for all your help! I decided to put the two hives in two different spots. I put them about 50 yards from each of our two ponds -about 400yds apart. Checked on the 1st hive yesterday and was excited that the bees were all out of the transport cage and the queen had been 'released'! They weren't even nasty to me when I lifted the top and put the super frames back in!The second one will be checked on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to this. I have joined a Beekeepers Assc. -the Bee Insector is a member of the the same Assc. and has lived here all his life-his father-his grandfather and great-grandfather were beekeepers. There are also 13 other older gents who have been doing this for some time but I only meet with them once a month!!!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), April 24, 2001.