roof top beekeeping

organicgrl37 · January 08, 2007, 11:10:12 PM

Just wondering if anyone has tried roof top hives. I live in the city and have an extremely small yard. In other words my neighbors are right on top of me. I don't feel safe having a hive on the ground. People mess with my trash cans if I leave them out, what is going to stop them from messing with the hives. I have heard of people putting hives on their roof. What do you all think?

pdmattox · January 08, 2007, 11:39:16 PM

I think a upstars porch would work if you have it. The roof might get to hot i think.

Michael Bush · January 08, 2007, 11:42:55 PM

>what is going to stop them from messing with the hives

The stingers on the bees are usually a bit of a deterrent...

organicgrl37 · January 08, 2007, 11:57:17 PM

Quote from: pdmattox on January 08, 2007, 11:39:16 PM
I think a upstars porch would work if you have it. The roof might get to hot i think.

i was thinking of building a small shelter to contain the hives from blazing sun and driving wind and rains/snow. I can't remember where I read it but there wa an article about a fellow having rooftop hives in NYC I think. No upper porch, living in a flat roof one level "slab" house in Cleveland.

Zoot · January 09, 2007, 02:33:28 AM

There is a small but very dedicated group of beekeepers in Manhatten, virtually all of whom are "rooftop" beekeepers. As in seriously rooftop. There used to be a site somewhere that an aquaintance used to run that passed as sort of a forum for the group..not sure if it's still up and running. Had a lot of information relevant to the unique environment. He kept 3 or 4 hives outside his penthouse on Riverside and W. 98th st., 60th floor. An amazing number of rooftops in NY are "green" now, either by virtue of the residents gardens or by the growing urban practice (often by management) of planting whole rooftops to cut down on runoff.

Kirk-o · January 09, 2007, 11:39:19 AM

I have bees in Los Angeles and I've had them right on Sunset Blvd if you can put yhem on a roof good if not put them in your yard I guess you can do things to help the people not run into the bees fence bushes to get them up in the air to avoid people and the most important part is your communication skills with your neighboors
kirko

randydrivesabus · January 09, 2007, 11:51:33 AM

A flat roof sounds like a good place for bee hives....maybe with some kind of wind block.

Kathyp · January 09, 2007, 12:36:31 PM

google rooftop beekeeping. there are a bunch of articles. maybe you'll get some good ideas.

Robo · January 09, 2007, 09:59:32 PM

I have a few hives on the garage roof because of bear.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=4209.msg23652;topicseen#msg23652

I've had no issues with heat, and they do have some protection from the wind.

indypartridge · January 11, 2007, 08:36:10 AM

I met some beekeepers in Indy last fall who kept bees on a flat portion of their church's roof. Nice setup. There was a walk-out door, so no climbing involved, and the location they had selected was partially sheltered so it was not in full sun all day. (They had allowed several of us hobby beekeepers to use their church kitchen for a honey extraction "party", and gave us a tour of their hive setup afterwards.)

ToniBee · January 11, 2007, 07:36:00 PM

I have two hives on my flat city roof, going through their second winter now, and I would be happy to share my experiences with anyone who'd like to hear about them.

I was seriously worried about heat and wind up there, but thus far it seems OK. There is some evidence that the higher temperatures may actually interfere with varroa reproduction, but I do still have mites.

Most of my attempts to provide shelter from the sun have not worked out -- it's hard to create a structure that can withstand the wind up there -- but I place large containers with plants near the hives. I also put "BeeCool" units on, which has made other beekeepers smile (but I am a worried mother...)

My hives are painted dark green to absorb as much winter sun as possible, but I am seriously considering a gradual swap-out to white boxes by August.

Oh well, I can go on. Please feel free to email me if you want more of this. I've blogged the whole thing at citybees.blogspot.com, as someone here has kindly mentioned.

I've received a lot of help from other beekeepers, and would welcome a chance to pay the community back.

bee man · January 12, 2007, 01:26:24 AM

There is a small but very dedicated group of beekeepers in Manhatten. and they sell there honey, it is called roof top honey, or they call it ny roof top honey, it was just on tv.

Cindi · January 12, 2007, 10:31:51 AM

Such a neat way of beekeeping, on roofs. Whooda thunk?

I wonder if the varroa mite is not prominent on the rooftop because there would not be a lot of other bees from infected colonies travelling up so high. I bet that robbing does not occur very much up at that height? Great day. Cindi

organicgrl37 · January 14, 2007, 11:37:20 PM

Quote from: ToniBee on January 11, 2007, 07:36:00 PM
I have two hives on my flat city roof, going through their second winter now, and I would be happy to share my experiences with anyone who'd like to hear about them.

I was seriously worried about heat and wind up there, but thus far it seems OK. There is some evidence that the higher temperatures may actually interfere with varroa reproduction, but I do still have mites.

Most of my attempts to provide shelter from the sun have not worked out -- it's hard to create a structure that can withstand the wind up there -- but I place large containers with plants near the hives. I also put "BeeCool" units on, which has made other beekeepers smile (but I am a worried mother...)

My hives are painted dark green to absorb as much winter sun as possible, but I am seriously considering a gradual swap-out to white boxes by August.

Oh well, I can go on. Please feel free to email me if you want more of this. I've blogged the whole thing at citybees.blogspot.com, as someone here has kindly mentioned.

I've received a lot of help from other beekeepers, and would welcome a chance to pay the community back.

sounds very interesting,I would love to hear more. I am still trying to figure if I could work it or not. Problems = 1. lack of shade, full sun 2. having to climb ladder to reach roof. This is a huge problem, I really think I will just have to wait until I can have a bee yard :'(

Zoot · January 15, 2007, 11:13:09 PM

Cindi,

Actually, my friend in NY finally got discouraged due to the mite problem. He was trying to do minimal medicating and was having no luck with his alternative management techniques. He also had occasional robbing issues - a huge building right accross from him had a large number of hives on it's roof.

Cindi · January 16, 2007, 11:56:39 PM

Zoot, what a bummer. That poor fellow. It can be discouraging when one tries so hard to make things work and they simply don't. I guess the other colonies on the other roof were just too powerful for the hives that fellow kept and took over. Sad thing. Great day. Cindi

Zoot · January 17, 2007, 01:04:11 AM

Cindi,

You're way too kind. Tieman was (is I guess) a rich, Irish trust-funder with millions to fool around with. He did take it rather hard (the demise of his bees) and would have genuinely appreciated your sympathy but I always find myself thankful it was him and not one of his brothers; in the traditional way of the old West Side, they would have gone over and burned the other hives, (possibly the building) maybe even roughed up the owners. Some things just work out for the best.