In a message dated 96-04-24 09:25:51 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Bob W
Maccione) writes:
 
>  This is my first year in beekeeping and I have the following two
>questions.  (for the record I am taking a local Ag Bee Keeping course
>before the bees get here but would like to get the hive ready ahead
>of time).
>
>  1:  I would like to put the hive in an area with some pine trees.
>This area doesn't get a whole lot of sun and I'm planning on putting a wind
>break on the north side.  Is it a better idea to put the hive in a sunnier
>area?
 
   In the south, you need some shade, or bees will spend their summers
carrying water. However, bees in deep shade do not forage well, and they will
eat you alive when you try to open the hives. (I have one bee yard where I
was thinking today, that I need to do a little chain sawing to open them up a
bit.  The  trees are now in full leaf, and they are just too dark to get out
to work. In another, more sunny yard nearby, the bees were out working at 7
am, while this one had bees just waking up at 11.
 
   A windbreak is extremely important in winter.  Hives exposed to the wind
will eat up their honey in a hurry, justs trying to keep warm.  Hives exposed
in the spring will not fly well, and will be retarded in buildup, especially
if there is a lot a windy weather.
 
>  2: Color:  I'm leaning on a light shade of green to make the hive less
>obvious.  My SO wants to paint the hive light yellow but if we go with
>white or light green she then wants to paint something on the side (what
>I have _no_ idea).   Does anyone see problems in this area?
>
 
   A hive that is not noticed is unlikely to be vandalized.  I like to blend
them in, so white is a  terrible color.  I like a variety of neutral,
inconspicuous colors, and try not to place two hives of the same color
alongside each other, with entrances facing the same way.  This helps bees
orient.  A hobbyist beekeeper here lined up eighteen pretty white hives in a
nice neat row, all facing south, and about 16 inches apart.  By midsummer,
several of the middle hives were dead, as the foragers drifted to the end
hives, which swarmed repeately.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC  29554
 
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