>How many is too many in one place? I'm envisioning yards of no more than 
>twenty hives. Is this too many for a yard?

The number of hives depends on what is in the area. Here it is more woods 
than field, right now the trees and dandelions are in bloom so things seem 
plentiful but when they pass we need to depend on the open areas which most 
land owners want to mow. Agriculture is on a down swing here, not a lot of 
farms, house lots on 4 to 8 acres with a lot of mowed grass. I am trying to 
work agreements with landowners to let their fields grow until frost so we 
benefit from the goldenrod and other wild flowers. So many want to mow the 
fields down before any nectar production. I have started, within a 
reasonable distance of where the tractor is, to offer free brush hogging if 
they let the fields go until frost. I have got three landowners to agree so 
far.

So I would say how many hives in one place depends on where you live. As 
most to do with beekeeping is making choices for your area.

Karen
Maine 

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