I was planning on putting some hives on the edge of a pasture (great nectar and water near by) and was wandering if anyone new if i will have to fence off area for bee yard or will cows leave bees alone and vice versa
Thanks Dave
Fence it off, livestock tend to brush up against the hives to itch an itch,
It's worth fencing them off. They usually don't rub on them but when they do they tip them over.
Horses will knock over hives just as cows when they need something to rub. You may can put them just outside the fence up against the wire if you have room.
Fence them off, cows are nosey and like to rub on everything, trust me on this. If you do fence them off be sure to leave enough room around them to work and add a couple of hives.
If you set it up right the cows will keep the weeds around the front of the hives down.
Fence it off. Not doing so could lead to a grand mess. I have been there.
Fence them off!
...JP
Well looks like the fence them off's are a majority i will get some t posts and barb wire
Thank ya'll sounds like you may have saved me a big mess
Dave
You may want to consider doing it with electric fence. Don't know how problematic bears are in your area but a electric fence in the next best deterrent to a good dog and a high powered rife.
Bovine Psychology 101.
Rule 1 ... If it itches (and it always will) I will find any structure that has a value above $0.00 and total it!! :-D :-D
A bee keeping colleague has cows
they called him from the slaughterhouse beecause the cows stomach was full of larvae and round white balls .
His cow had eaten one of his hives , honey , larvae and last but not least the hive (polystyrene ) :-D
now he keeps them separated. ;)
mvh edward :P
Honey cured meat?
We ain't talkin about the slickest animal on the farm now!
http://www.magnetsource.com/Solutions_Pages/cowmags.html (http://www.magnetsource.com/Solutions_Pages/cowmags.html)
...JP
And the magnets are reusable. :-D Never thought they had something like that out there.
Yep, can't remember when I heard about the magnates, its been a while, maybe some show on the tube. They collect the magnates after slaughter.
Dang cows will eat just about anything!
...JP
My bee yard is smack-dab in the center of my cow pasture. The corners are 4x4 treated posts, but everything else is t-post. I alternated barbed wire with hot wire (solar box). One of the hot wire strands is placed about nose height. It's been a year and so far, so good.
The only trouble I do have on a regular basis is skunks. If you have them in your area, I would recommend 2' "no-climb" fencing with the barbed or hot wire on the outside (and over the top) of that. I plan to add it as soon as I can afford to, or when my honey makes me rich and famous, whichever comes first! :-D
I've heard of others raising their hives high enough to expose the belly of skunks to bees so they can have a place sting or laying a piece of ply wood down with several nails hammered, sharp ends pointed up to detour the scratching in front of a hive. I haven't had any skunk or raccoon problems but if I do the ply wood with nails is on reserve. I have hives that sit on standard factory pallets.
Good plan! We also replaced a bunch of carpet this fall and I'm planning on recycling the old carpet-nail-strip-thingees (sorry, but the actual name escapes me at the moment) by installing them on the fronts of some of my hives.
Quote from: Dave360 on January 14, 2011, 07:59:22 PM
Well looks like the fence them off's are a majority i will get some t posts and barb wire
Thank ya'll sounds like you may have saved me a big mess
Dave
I would like to offer one word of advice about something I had to find out at my expense. If you are not going to electrify it, what ever you do, don't get cheap on the T post you purchase. They offer them in a couple of sizes and the smaller ones are flimsy and break at the ground level.
in my area of ohio i just put brush against the front to stop skunks. the skunks cant get to the bees and it only takes a day or 2 for the ladies to adjust. just do it early so they dont get lost trying to find the hive the first day. no cost and it works.
.22 works fine, just leave them out there as a warning to the other skunks. :evil:
I've had horses eat the entire hive, frames and all...
Quote from: Michael Bush on January 15, 2011, 11:05:28 PMI've had horses eat the entire hive...
Roger Miller I think it was sang, "You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd."
Well I'm telling you you can't pick blackberries (or anything else sweet) in a herd of horses. Had one eat 5 gallons once while my back was turned. :-x
Quote from: Michael Bush on January 15, 2011, 11:05:28 PM
I've had horses eat the entire hive, frames and all...
Read somewhere that bees killed horses. Maybe your horses were just getting revenge.
Quote from: edward on January 15, 2011, 09:07:28 AM
a bee keeping colleague... cows ...had eaten one of his hives , honey , larvae and hive ...
That would make Sweden a land truly flowing with milk AND honey..... :-D
My horses graze in front of the hives all the time. Once in a while you see one get stung and run away. But they will be back there grazing in front of the hive tomorrow with no real problems...
Quote from: kingbee on January 16, 2011, 01:16:12 AM
Quote from: edward on January 15, 2011, 09:07:28 AM
a bee keeping colleague... cows ...had eaten one of his hives , honey , larvae and hive ...
That would make Sweden a land truly flowing with milk AND honey..... :-D
:-D and the girls aren't so bad on the eyes either :catchchick: :-D
mvh edward :P
I could also put the bees at same area but across busy 2 lane highway wich would be better fencing in or across hwy no fencing
needed
Thanks Dave
Quote from: edward on January 16, 2011, 08:39:36 PM
:-D and the girls aren't so bad on the eyes either :catchchick: :-D
mvh edward :P
Pictures worth a 1000 words or 1000 plus views :roll:
Tommyt
Which one would be easier to get at to work your bees?
For me if the fence would make it easier on me to work bees then that is what I would do.