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Beehive

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  • poppysarah
    poppysarah Posts: 11,522 Forumite
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013pw23/episodes/guide

    This was on not long ago.

    One of the things they said was as well as flowers, to have water in your garden
  • SmallL
    SmallL Posts: 944 Forumite
    I would be quite scared if my neighbor got a beehive but im very very very frightened of bees and wasps!!!!!!
    Then again i don't really go outside much and at a BBQ the smoke would keep them away :)
    Saying that i wouldn't mind too much as iv convinced myself over the years that if they come up to you they just want to make sure your not a tasty flower and after that they will sod off-last year one thought my knee was a flower, i survived that!
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    RAS wrote: »
    One of the best plants is borage; not for nothing do bee-keepers like taking bees to the borrage - it produces loads of nectar at a time when there is very little else and can be cut back for a second run late in the summer.

    Our apiary is like a tall fruit cage; pushing the bees up to 2 metres before they fly out and forcing them up to the same height before they enter. This means that they fly high over the plot so the humans working it are OK.

    One lot are totally laid back Italians who are largely unfazed by awkward humans (like the plot member who has been known to stand right in front of the hive entrance to have a look at them). If we have to undertake gross manouvres they calm down very quickly and head for home immediately.

    The other lot are fiestier and much more defensive; they will buz a human who get immediately in front of their hive and take a lot longer to recover from active management - buzzing round their hive and scenting like mad for a lot longer.

    Neither lot get used as a target for football practice, any powered machinery used nearby or humans pounding past when running.

    The only recent issue has been their discovery of the nearby pond; the water collectors were cueing up on a moss covered stone to drink in the hot weather so we decided not to get between them and their hive. We could however watch them unprotected from about 3 feet the other side.

    We have a fair bit of borage growing wild about the place.
  • gletley
    gletley Posts: 95 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Our garden is very bee, butterfly and bird friendly, we even have a resident hedgehog who hibernates in the hedgehog house my husband made and wanders through all the gardens the rest of the year, but always comes back to sleep in his own bed of a night.
    I've pollen flowers by the mass, plus just put in some small fruit trees. We always keep a section of the grass long and have a wildlife pond, full of frog spawn at the moment and a fish pond seperate, with cascade for the birds, who love a shower and fresh drink.
    The only thing is, from one of the posts I noticed some one said about shade.
    Our garden is south facing, there is a shed at the end of the garden on one side and the greenhouse at the end on the other, the wildlife pond is in the middle, so does spend quite a bit of time in the shade, the garden does still get quite hot.
    Many thanks for all your help, I have contacted the local bee keeping group in Canterbury, but not heard nothing back yet.
  • STOCKWIRE
    STOCKWIRE Posts: 258 Forumite
    gletley wrote: »
    Our garden is very bee, butterfly and bird friendly, we even have a resident hedgehog who hibernates in the hedgehog house my husband made and wanders through all the gardens the rest of the year, but always comes back to sleep in his own bed of a night.
    I've pollen flowers by the mass, plus just put in some small fruit trees. We always keep a section of the grass long and have a wildlife pond, full of frog spawn at the moment and a fish pond seperate, with cascade for the birds, who love a shower and fresh drink.
    The only thing is, from one of the posts I noticed some one said about shade.
    Our garden is south facing, there is a shed at the end of the garden on one side and the greenhouse at the end on the other, the wildlife pond is in the middle, so does spend quite a bit of time in the shade, the garden does still get quite hot.
    Many thanks for all your help, I have contacted the local bee keeping group in Canterbury, but not heard nothing back yet.
    Well unless your garden is a couple of acres I doubt you would be able to grow enough nectar producing plants to sustain a nucleus hive, let alone a full hive, Bees travel up to 3 miles to forage, so unless local beekeeper's are short on space in their apiaries, I cant see them interested in putting one hive in your garden unless you pay them. When hives are moved they are normally moved in groups as you have to move them more than 3 miles every move. So if I were you i would concentrate on encouraging bumblebees and the like.
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