Where to put a bee hive...
I'm lucky to have a small field near my house that's not cultivated. It was a perfect place to site our hives.
Over time, we've encouraged more wild-flowers and we're lucky that the area around us is not heavily cultivated, so there are lots of hedges and wild corners for bees to forrage.
Zora's hives are on the roof of her building and you might be surprised to know that towns and cities can be great places for hives. Many country areas that have a lot of farming are actually too well cultivated to have many wild areas - and there can be lots of pesticides used.
In contrast, towns and cities can have lots of parks and domestic gardens providing bees with lots of flowers.
Over time, we've encouraged more wild-flowers and we're lucky that the area around us is not heavily cultivated, so there are lots of hedges and wild corners for bees to forrage.
Zora's hives are on the roof of her building and you might be surprised to know that towns and cities can be great places for hives. Many country areas that have a lot of farming are actually too well cultivated to have many wild areas - and there can be lots of pesticides used.
In contrast, towns and cities can have lots of parks and domestic gardens providing bees with lots of flowers.
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You'll see that rooftop beekeepers don't need to set lots of flowers on the rooftops themselves - often they look quite bare. The bees will forage in a five mile radius of the hives.
This arial view will give you a good idea of just how much greenery and gardens there are in cities!
Below is a little video of my rather idyllic 'bee field' - the field next to our house was not developed and we've left it grow even wilder and the bees just love it. Not just our honey bees, but we see lots of bumble bees too.
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Our hives are under some trees where they get shade from mid-day sun, and probably more importantly for us the south-west winds (we live near the coast).
if you have any problem viewing the video, click here.
if you have any problem viewing the video, click here.