I was reading Keeping Bees today and in the section about selecting a site and designing your apiary, it suggested many things including putting your hives on a firm cement pad.
Has anyone here done that? I was considering it, but does the cement reflect too much sun, do the bees not prefer it, does it get too sticky if honey or necter is spilt? Anything you can think of that would say, "Don't do this because . . ."
I guess it all depends on what type of cement you use. If you use the smooth type that goes in a garage than it would be easy to clean up but might reflect to much sun. And the rough type is the other way around, to hard to clean up but absorbs the harsh sun rays. bye
My bees were on cinder blocks on a cement pad. I had no problems with weeds blocking entrances, no brood diseases, and very low mite counts. I picked up screened bottom boards but never got around to installing them. None of the wax ever got soggy, and they made a decent crop for the short season I had them. I'm not so sure bees are as particular as to location as we seem to be. Spilled honey is cleaned up rather quickly by the bees themselves, but I wouldn't suggest leaving any wax laying around. You might end up with a chisel and hammer trying to get it off the cement.
So cement is ok. bye
All of my hives are on 2 ft x 2 ft x 2 in thick patio stones (cement). I love them. When I set up a new hive I just level the qround (with a slight slope towards the front of the hive for hive drainage), lay down the patio stone, set two concrete blocks on top and set the hive on top of that.
If the ground is a little uneven the patio stone evens it out and prevents any moisture or weeds from coming up through. I haven't had any problems with the sun creating too much heat or any honey spills on the concrete as the bees do in fact clean it up in a hurry. I also believe that the concrete retains a little of the day's heat to keep the hive a little bit warmer into the beginning of the night.
I like the concrete/slab ground cover too.
I have an area of roughly 4x4 m in the corner of the garden, surrounded by fences at two sides. It catches the sun during the morning.
Bees seem to love it.
Each hive is located on a stand about 60 cm above the ground.
Main reason for this is to be gentle to my back when working on the hives.
I also think it helps to keep varoa under control. When I started the colony I got suffered from varoa.
Did the usual treatment, acid treatment in spring and since that no varoa anymore.
I think a clean floor space under and around the hive in combination of having hives higher than usual from the ground helps to get rid of varoa that drop out of hives.
I've got a yard that has 16 4-way pallets of bees on an old house slab and love it! No problems from heat and I don't have to mow around them!
Scott
My current layout
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/jammer13/ (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/jammer13/)
The girls didn't fly today, but they were glad (I think) for the bee yard. I have my bees on a concrete slab with a roof over them. With Isaac beeing down in lower La, we have had wind and rain some yesterday and all day today. Not as bad as Schawee or JP but the girls stayed on the landing boards. They did get a mist when the rain blowed hard. Well I was going to add a pic but couldn't find it. Will try to get some and post when rain ever quits. Ok got out between showers today and took a couple pics.
Joe
(http://s9.postimage.org/o9dq8nppn/8_29_12_003.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/o9dq8nppn/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/euwmtdczt/8_29_12_005.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/euwmtdczt/)
Thats nice Joe. Sitting through horrorcane Sandy I'm thinking I need to build a B house for the hives next year.
Cheers,
Drew
At my old place I used a shed that was not completely finished and cut holes on the sides of the shed to slide the bottom boards through. I might do it again, it also can help camo your hives especially if your in a residential area. If you use good venting, it could work