Is it practical for me to have bees?

[krb7694]

I live in town. I live on about a one acre lot. I have a very large fenced in backyard. I have a few ducks, a few bantie chickens & one guinea. We live in my wife's old grandparents house. Her Grandaddy used to have bees about 10 years ago. I am interested in Beekeeping. My question is: I have neighbors. They are all older people. They all love my ducks, chickens & especially my rooster! They also have gardens. Is the city a bad place to keep bees?

I do not want the bees to become a nuisance or anything or sting my neighbors!

If I knew how to post pics I would show you a pic of my backyard.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i268/KRB7694/100_0606.jpg[[/list][/code]

[IndianaBrown]

Your situation sounds perfect for 2 to 6 hives.  I would suggest that you make sure that the neighbors on adjacent lots know that you want to raise bees before you start.  Let them know the benefits to their gardens/flowers.  Let them know that foraging bees are very gentle unless directly threatened.  Make sure that they know the difference between bees and other stining insects so you don't get blamed. And let them know that you will give them some honey once or twice a year.  :)  

Make sure your bees have a water source nearby so they don't get into nearby swimming pools, hot tubs, bird bath's etc.  Try to situate your hives in full to partial sun, facing south or east, where the bee's initial flight path does not cross places where people or pets are often found.  You may want to check to see if there are any local zoning requirements for minimum distances between hives and property lines or buildings.  I would suggest placing them 10' from property lines just to keep your neighbors from getting a suprise when they mow (some bees do not like the sound and vibrations from lawn mowers.)  If your fences are chain link, or if they are under 6' high you may want to build something to cause the bees to fly a bit higher as the leave the hive.

In my case, I have 2 hives on 1/3 of an acre within the city of Indianapolis.  We have small children and have friends with children around often so I have had to make a few compromises between kids and bees.  For water I keep a top feeder on all the time.  http://betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=409 It is easy to check and fill anytime, but taking it off to clean it has to be part of working the hive.  I built a lattice encosure for my hives to make sure that their flight path is overhead.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/29258782@N00/147884530/in/set-72057594137071464/ The lattice allows air and some sunlight through, but the bees do not like to fly through the holes so they go up and over it.  The bees fly up at about a 45degree angle when they leave the hive.  Since the enclosure is at the back of the yard on a slight hill, this works pretty well.  This is not perfect, since I don't have sunlight all day, I have limited myself to room for 2 hives, and (since I put the door on the front) when I have to approach the hives I tend to alert the guard bees and make them nervous.  I may make some adjustments before next year, but this has worked find for me for the first year.
Good luck  :)

[Brian D. Bray]

The connection for the pics didn't work--I think some of your html code got mixed in with the site address.
I too live on 1 acre within city limits.  My hives are on the north side of my orchard about 150 feet back from the road, and 75 feet north of my neighbors house. I have no problems with neighbors or other complaints due to the bees location or bothering them.  I also have chickens, goats, a dog, and pigeons besides the garden and stuff.  I find that the dog gets the most complaints because it often barks at inopportune times, next comes the Roosters who like to have a crowing contest in the morning, third is the goats when they figure out how to get out of the pasture.
Bees have been here since 1974 (when my parents bought it) and in that time I've received zero complaints on the bees--most people don't even know I have them.
Having the bees fenced so that the bees fly overhead in areas of close quarters and then posting that bees existwill go a long way in showing you took reasonable actions to protect the public from nuseance in case anyone does lodge a complaint.  With 1 acre it should be fairly easy to locate you hives far enough from fences to avoid notice or complaints.

[krb7694]

Here we go..I am thinking of putting the hive in the left hand corner before the gate. There is a vacant lot to the left of me and I have neighbors past the back fenceline.

[/img][/list][/list][/uri

//

[Brian D. Bray]

Your's looks so well maintained campared to my place.  My parents were quite ill the last few years of their lives and it became quite run down.  Being handicapped myself it is taking a lot longer than I'd like to repair things.  

You may want to have a 19 foot set back from the property line just in case someone decides to build on the vacant lot.

[ian michael davison]

Hi Krb
You should also consider using some screening around the hives(ABOUT 6FT) This raises the bees flight path above head height. Even the most docile bees can get annoyed if they keep bumping into people that walk through there flight path.

This is particularly important when bees are up against a neighbours fence and they are coming in across his/her propoerty.

Don't forget to find out about any local clubs and associations.

All the best
Ian

[randydrivesabus]

nice yard. as others have said, bees are the least disturbing critters but warning others of their existance in a setting such as yours is appropriate.
it also doesnt look like theres any human traffic areas near to where you will put the hives.

[Michael Bush]

In the last 34 years I had bees in town all of that time.  I now have them both in town and in the country.  They always did well in town.

[KONASDAD]

I live on 1.5 acres in an area INFESTED w/ housing. I have two hives and all is well. My garden exploded this year w/ the bees assistance. My neighbors know nothing except they have more tomatoes than ever. Get a hive, help the planet and have some fun.

[Scadsobees]

I have a 1/2 acre plot in an older development, and have 6 hives.  I have more shrubbery (tall spruce trees, arborvitae) seperating the yards, but I haven't had any complaints.  All (I assume) of the neighbors know, not to mention most of the hood, since I have a sign in the front yard. I have 6 hives.  And 5 kids, a garden, and fruit trees, so the yard is pretty busy.

Your yard looks more open, so you would probably need to configure the flight plan of the bees with fencing, as mentioned earlier, but if the opening of the hive is into your yard, it is only you that would have any problems.

The bigger problem is swarming, and if you pay attention to them you should be able to keep that to a minimum.  In 3 years I've only had 2 swarms(partly because mismanagement), one of which stayed in my yard.  A couple of swarm traps could help that too.

-rick