Hi there, Boys & Girls,
I'm a newbie (or would that be newbee?) of sorts with a question:
I kept bees for awhile as a teenager, and now, as an old retired geezer, I recently captured a swarm which had moved into my back yard, so I'm back into the beekeeping hobby. I have a possible issue with neighbors, so I need to retain a low profile. One suggestion I found in a recently purchased beekeeping book is to keep your hive in a garage. This is an attractive possibility for me, with one possible exception: My garage is already occupied with a woodworking shop, with loud power tools and ubiquitous wood dust which GETS INTO EVERYTHING. I would say "sawdust", except that most of it comes from sanding rather than from sawing and is about as fine as Gold Medal flour. Does anyone know anything about compatibility of beehives with these woodworking annoyances? Wiil my wood shop be a good place to keep my honeybees out of sight?
That's it for now,
Dave
Congratulations to returning to the world of beekeeping, Dave! I don't have much information on keeping bees in a garage, but do have some experience with noise and debree...it will depend on the personality of your hive. We have two hives right next to a construction area and the noise has never bothered them. However, on one occassion, we did start the generator and the bees were all over it in a matter of minutes. Generally, though, we week wack, mow, use air nailers, etc., around them with no effect at all.
I have to ask, though, if you really need to keep them in the garage. You don't have your location listed, but I bet if you change that, you might get feedback from someone close to you with knowledge about beekeeping ordinances. You could also just check with your city. In our area, there are requirements about keeping bees a certain footage off of a property line, or in lew of that making sure the bees are against a fence that is at least six feet in height. If you follow your city's guidelines, then you should be okay.
Most people don't even realize there is a bee hive close to them unless it swarms. Keeping them in your garage will not preclude them from this activity, so if you are worried about your neighbors, I would check out the regs regardless of where the bees are living.
Also, if any are gardeners, you may find a very happy response to your bees. And, of course, a smackrel of honey come harvest time goes a long way, too! :-D
Since you are a wood worker, you should be able to hide the hive easy. Put it on the back side of the garage and camouflage it to be hidden. You can also turn the hive entrance through your wall of the garage so the hive is inside but the bees can not get into your garage. And there are several people out there that keep hives on their roofs.
Build a little fence around it. Build a top bar hive and put plants on top of it and make it look like a planter...
Quote from: Michael Bush on August 22, 2010, 12:05:17 AM
Build a top bar hive and put plants on top of it and make it look like a planter...
Good idea!!
If you build a one by four rim that sticks up, you can put shallow pots on it and the pots won't even show...
Thx for all the suggestions. Supplementary info: For starters, I already know I can't satisfy local requirements to site hive at least 300ft. from property line (Who in the name of heaven has property that large?) Local beekeeping suppllies dealer says that there would be a damnsight fewer members of the local beekeeping club if anyone paid any attention to that regulation!
Next, disguising the hive in a number of ways would be quite feasible, but what about the beekeeper? (that would be me.) No chance in the world I'd go unnoticed schlepping around my backyard in a full-on beekeeping suit!
Thanks again,
Skeltron.
P.S. If anyone knows a direct answer to my question about wood dust, I would still like to know.
You can easily get by with just a veil if you have gentle bees... a red flashlight maybe... and night beekeeping. Just kidding. Night is not a good plan.
your hive would have it's opening to the outside. i can't see how the wood dust would be a problem as the hive body would be covered. you could always throw a tarp over it as extra protection.
Quote from: skeltron on August 22, 2010, 11:52:42 PM
Next, disguising the hive in a number of ways would be quite feasible, but what about the beekeeper? (that would be me.) No chance in the world I'd go unnoticed schlepping around my backyard in a full-on beekeeping suit!
Alien hunting? Problems with allergies? I know! Say you're trying out your costume for Halloween and you're going as a beekeeper! The bees can be a prop!
Jill lived in a small city and kept bees in the backyard. It was legal to keep bees in the city, but she kept them hidden and didn't tell anyone about the bees because a neighbor had once found out and complained constantly about every flying insect that passed nearby and said he would sue Jill if she didn't get rid of her hives.
But the mean neighbor moved away, and now Jill had a new neighbor - she decided to never tell him about her hives.
For two years, Jill kept the secret of the hives. When the neighbor noticed bees flying around, Jill pretended they were flies. When the neighbour talked about ecology and environment and how important birds and flowers and bees are, Jill bit her tongue and never mentioned her bees, which she continued to keep hidden in the bushes behind her house. Mostly Jill just avoided visiting with the new neighbor.
Finally, the neighbor was moving away. He said to Jill that he was sorry that they never became good friends, and he was wondering if it was because Jill was afraid of the bees that he had been hiding in his back yard for the past two years.
:-D
Allen...you been reading Aesop again? :-D
Scott
I had bees in town for many years in various places. I never told the neighbors. They would find out eventually but finding out there are bees in your yard after they've been there a year isn't the same as finding out you are GOING to put "millions of bees" in your backyard which they cannot comprehend.