For those of you who have beeyards a distance from your homes:
I hope to grow my bees beyond the space I have at my home. This year, I'll be putting some bees in yards of a few friends, too, but it could get time intensive to travel from house to house for one or two hives at each location. So, now I'm looking for an official beeyard where I can put a number of hives.
Please talk to me about the considerations for finding a good beeyard.
-Liz
We look at forage and water sources for potential bee yards but the main consideration is time. We try to establish yards in a more or less linear fashion to cut down on travel times between yards.
For instance, there is a long country road with 3 yards along it's 16 mile length. At the end of this road we turn onto a highway and within 20mi we have another 7 yards within 1/2mi of the road.
Scott
Thanks, Scott...and, wow, you're so methodical. So you travel at least 40ish miles to reach your furthest yard? How often do you make that trip?
Our main yard (where we graft and take splits to be mated etc) is the third on that country road and we are there 3-4 times a week. The other yards are worked usually about once a week...more often during flows.
Scott
I would stay withing 30 miles unless it's at a friends house and you need an excuse to visit more often... and I also tell them I want to put 20 hives there. If they balk I don't bother. I never put less than 14. If the area can't support 14 hives, they need to be in better pastures.
my main beeyards are 12 miles from where i live.i have 10-15 hives in each yard and have 5 yards that's within 3 miles of each other.i do keep 10 hives at my house :-D ...schawee
Quote from: schawee on March 28, 2011, 12:52:45 PM
my main beeyards are 12 miles from where i live.i have 10-15 hives in each yard and have 5 yards that's within 3 miles of each other.i do keep 10 hives at my house :-D ...schawee
Cut outs and swarms have been good to you looks like. How often do you check your bees in your out yards? And how long does it usually take?
I like easy truck access but completely out of sight on the road.