this just out:

Reduced density and visually complex apiaries reduce parasite load and promote honey production and overwintering survival in honey bees
TL Dynes, JA Berry, KS Delaplane, BJ Brosi… - PLOS ONE, 2019

they state:

> hives in the LD apiary [low density] configuration were placed 10m apart … at three different heights above the ground (6, 200, 400 cm) …. 

> Our results suggest that by lowering the apiary density and making colonies visually distinctive, beekeepers can increase colony productivity, reduce overwinter mortality, and potentially reduce the spread of diseases within the apiary through reduced drift. These steps are relatively modest and should be possible to implement in many beekeeping operations.

note:

They placed hives 13 feet off the ground and 33 feet apart! How can anyone call these steps modest or even practical in an actual apiary? Unless they are suggesting some other configuration, which their results would then not be valid for.

Peter L Borst
Ithaca, NY

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