What is a safe distance

CapeCod · January 27, 2008, 04:00:10 PM

I have look and can not find info on how far is the minimal distance to keep your hive from general traffic like kids,,meter readers,,postman ect....
I have a 1/3 acre lot in a residential neighborhood.
1 neighbor that would be a problem would be here from Sept-Aug and gone the rest of the year with 3 young loud ative kids.
Cape Cod Mass

mgates61 · January 27, 2008, 04:05:46 PM

Bee MAster had some pics of his hives and they were right next to his sidewalk. Then again he works to educate his neighbors about the bees. Most that I have sen are quite a ways from regular people trafic.

sean · January 27, 2008, 04:12:22 PM

personally, i would place the hive/s where no-one is likely to come into contact with it/them unless by design.

JP · January 27, 2008, 04:26:14 PM

Cape cod, just remember this, others may not share your same enthusiasm over bees. You may need to place signs in your yard warning them that there are honeybee hives in the area, and I would definitely inform your neighbors that you are keeping them, and ask them/educate them on any concerns. The main thing is that others cannot get right next to your hives or when operating mowers etc...near your hives if the bees are in a bad mood. Other than that, educate, have fun and give honey to your neighbors every season, this goes a long way.

Sincerely, JP

CapeCod · January 27, 2008, 04:42:37 PM

Thanks guys for all the info,,,I have notified 2 neighbor of my new hobby and they do back me but???? 2 of my neighors speak "0" english and that was my concern.

Michael Bush · January 27, 2008, 06:09:26 PM

>I have look and can not find info on how far is the minimal distance to keep your hive from general traffic like kids,,meter readers,,postman ect....
I have a 1/3 acre lot in a residential neighborhood.
1 neighbor that would be a problem would be here from Sept-Aug and gone the rest of the year with 3 young loud ative kids.

The main thing is to have something to get them up above head level so people aren't in the line of traffic. Once the bees get up they stay there, so a six foot or more fence around the hives would do, or face the hives towards a building so they have to go up before they can go over the top of the hives. A top entrance will also help keep them higher.

If you don't face them towards the path, the guard bees won't see people walking by.

I've had bees as close as 10 feet or so from my back door without a problem. But I've had bees get very "hot" and luckily they weren't that close.

JP · January 27, 2008, 06:30:24 PM

M.B. raises a very good point about flight path. The hives at my house are in front of an eight foot fence to keep their flight path high.

Hope this helps, JP

Moonshae · January 27, 2008, 08:12:20 PM

One of my next door neighbors has 4 kids under the age of 8, the other has one. I'm on .19 acres. This past year was no issue...the neighbors with 4 kids didn't even notice our bees until the fall. I have a 6' fence surrounding my hives, the bees fly up and over and stay up. I haven't flaunted them by keeping them in the front yard, though. Both next door neighbors know about them, but none of the others, I'd imagine.

Scadsobees · January 28, 2008, 10:01:40 AM

I have 5 kids, 4 are boys (loud and active :-P) under the age of 9 :-D and hives in the backyard and in the house...I have about 1/2 acre lot in the suburbs. The only stings we get are from stupidity, mostly mine, or from trying to catch them on flowers.

We have lots of trees back there, so the bees go mostly straight up before flying off. That can be achieved by a well placed fence. I think that all of my neighbors know about them.

My biggest concern was all of the pools in the area, but so far it hasn't been a problem. Second concern is swarming, and I've been able to avoid that for the most part.

KONASDAD · January 28, 2008, 10:49:07 AM

State of NJ recommends 25 ft from public pathways, access points etc for urban environments. People just dont believe how little one or two hives will not impact their lives. Just put the entrance near a bush of fence and they fly up and away from any foot traffic. During a heavu flow, they will reurn lower, but they will totaaly ignmore verything during a heavy flow if its not at the hive.

Until your neighbors see how docile an EHB hive is, they wont believe it. I didn't until I put the hive far from my house and now regret it.