Rosalind
Deeply Rooted
I want to start beekeeping next spring. I was planning on getting my early-spring plants established this year so they'll flower next spring, I want my bees to be plenty well-fed on witch hazels and hellebores. Planted some last weekend, will plant more by June.
Well, this year a neighbor about 3/4 mile down the road also decided to get three big hives to pollinate the farm preserve land, which includes many fruit trees. However, because neighbor is not the sharpest tool in the shed, he has not maintained these trees at all in any way whatsoever. The trees are all falling apart and dying from fungus and whatnot. Also, even if they were all alive and in good condition, you'd maybe need one or two hives at most to pollinate all of them--there's maybe 50 trees, total, spread out over 25 acres. The only other food on the farm preserve land for bees is clover, as the rest of it is used for hay and pasture. The cows eat most of the wildflowers. So now the bees are showing up in everyone's flower garden and bringing their friends.
My question is, will four hives be too many too close together? We've also got a few colonies of native bumblebees around, and I don't want them to starve either. I have plenty of flowers to go around later in the season, but early on they are going to be competing for three witch hazels and six hellebores. There's not much I can do to get more food for them, as I've sort of spent my limit on plants this year. I can start more hellebore seedlings, but...
Well, this year a neighbor about 3/4 mile down the road also decided to get three big hives to pollinate the farm preserve land, which includes many fruit trees. However, because neighbor is not the sharpest tool in the shed, he has not maintained these trees at all in any way whatsoever. The trees are all falling apart and dying from fungus and whatnot. Also, even if they were all alive and in good condition, you'd maybe need one or two hives at most to pollinate all of them--there's maybe 50 trees, total, spread out over 25 acres. The only other food on the farm preserve land for bees is clover, as the rest of it is used for hay and pasture. The cows eat most of the wildflowers. So now the bees are showing up in everyone's flower garden and bringing their friends.
My question is, will four hives be too many too close together? We've also got a few colonies of native bumblebees around, and I don't want them to starve either. I have plenty of flowers to go around later in the season, but early on they are going to be competing for three witch hazels and six hellebores. There's not much I can do to get more food for them, as I've sort of spent my limit on plants this year. I can start more hellebore seedlings, but...