How to Select an Apiary Location

If you are a very fresh beginner, setting up an apiary is one of the first things you will do ahead of receiving your first honeybee colony. And if you have had bees for a year or more, you might find that the need has arisen to set up another apiary some distance away from your first one. Be it for the purpose of moving splits, quarantining a swarm, mating new queens or bringing bees to new forage. Or simply because you have increased the number of colonies and need another apiary to house the surplus.

Wintertime is a very good time to look for and set up new apiaries as the conditions are the least favourable. What I mean by that is that in winter it is cold, damp, windy, and the sun does not rise very high. Any site can be seen for what it is at its very worst. If there is standing water, if the lack of leaves in a hedge is providing insufficient windbreak, if there is a frost pocket etc. Unless absolutely necessary, it is better to first check these factors and take them into account when choosing a new site for an apiary and deciding on the layout within.

What is an Apiary?

An apiary is a place where bees are kept. There are many different types of apiaries. I expect you will have heard terms such as home-apiary, out-apiary and mating-apiary. Where the apiary is located and what it is predominantly used for will dictate how it is set up. An apiary at the back of a suburban garden will look very different from a commercial out-apiary. While a breeder’s mating-apiary or a temporary apiary set up at the edge of a field of oilseed rape in the spring. But they all have to suit, cater for and take into consideration three things: The bees, the beekeeper, and the neighbours.

Home Apiary

A home-apiary usually refers to an apiary in the garden (or on the roof) of the home of the beekeeper. The term can also be used for the main apiary of a beekeeper who does not keep bees at home.

Out Apiary

An out-apiary is an apiary away from the home-apiary, and a beekeeper can have several of those. An out-apiary is usually permanent. But a beekeeper can also have temporary apiaries. For instance if bringing the bees to forage on specific crops such as oilseed rape, beans, heather, etc. A temporary apiary can also be used for housing hives in the process of being moved between two other apiaries. It can also be used in emergencies where hives have to be moved from a site.

Mating Apiary

Some beekeepers who breed queens and bees have specific mating-apiaries to which queens are brought for mating. These are either surrounded by or housing selected colonies to supply drones with specific qualities. This is done to ensure that specific traits are kept. In particular to ensure that the bees do not crossbreed and pick up undesirable traits from other strains of honeybees.

Quarantine Apiary

Another type of out-apiary, temporary or permanent, is one to which swarms are brought for quarantine. They are left there for some time until they have been tested and found to be clear of disease. They can then safely be moved to one of the other apiaries. Read more about swarms here.

Setting up your first apiary

Most first apiaries look more or less the same, and have the same requirements, regardless of where they are located. It is not until later on, after a few years of beekeeping, that you need to consider a second apiary or temporary apiaries, and even further into the future that the need for a mating-apiary would arise.

For your first apiary you will need a site that is sheltered from strong winds, and away from heavy shade, frost pockets and standing water. You will also need a hive-stand or two or three depending on the number of colonies you are starting off with. And bees.

Pros and cons of a Home Apiary

There are both advantages and disadvantages to establishing an apiary in your garden as your first apiary. On the plus-side you have good access. You can observe your bees on a daily basis simply by looking at the hive entrance and the activity around the hives. You can also easily schedule your hive inspections when the weather is favourable.

On the other hand, having the bees so close by often means that you do more frequent inspections. This is something that is not always beneficial to the development of the colony. Also, as the beginner beekeeper is more prone to miss signs of swarming and do not always have the know-how to deal with it, swarms can become a nuisance to the neighbours.

In deciding whether to set up at home, you will have to consider both. If you do establish a home-apiary, or if you set up an apiary in a populated area, it would be a good idea to make sure that you get a mentor that can guide you through the swarming season at least in your first year. Evidently, this is good practice even if you keep your bees in an area without neighbours. It should be our goal not to lose swarms from our colonies.

Location

The location of an apiary is of great importance. However, it is often difficult to assess whether an apiary is going to be suitable in the long-term. Not seldom it is down to trial and error. A site that seem like the perfect spot may need to be abandoned after a few seasons for different reasons. Likewise, a place that may appear doubtful could prove to be just the bees-knees.

Honeybee colonies have a habit of popping up in the most unlikely and seemingly unfavourable locations. This shows that is true that bees are very capable of adapting to different situations. Having said that, it is always good practice to put in a bit of thought, research and work when selecting a site for a new apiary. There are a few things that should be considered before settling on a spot to try out.

Suitable for the bees

First, consider the bees. They will need access to forage and a reasonably sheltered and dry position. In selecting a site, steer clear of any place that is exposed to strong winds unless you can erect shelter. Also avoid places under trees with dense canopy. The treen may provide too much shade and the areas underneath are often quite damp. If possible, avoid the bottom of a slope as it may prove to be a frost pocket or an area where water is left standing after heavy rain.

Trees and bushes do, however, provide good windbreak, as well as forage. So don’t be afraid to place the hives in a clearing in the woods, at the edge of wooded areas or close to hedges. They do also provide landmarks that will help the bees orientate back to their hives. The forage available at any given time of the year is of utmost importance when deciding where to locate an apiary. So in selecting a location, do familiarize yourself with the flora in the area. Ask neighbouring beekeepers and farmers for help in doing this if possible.

Suitable for the beekeeper

Second, consider the beekeeper. She/he will need access to the hives, preferably vehicular. Also needed is space to work comfortably and to be able to walk around the hives. I like to have my apiaries organised so that I can work all the hives in that apiary in the space of about three hours or less. I try to limit the number of colonies per apiary so that this is possible. How many that is depends on how quickly you work. This is not applicable to most beginner beekeepers, but if you get hooked, you will need space for more hives…

In selecting the apiary site, also consider the time it will take you to get to and from the apiary. There is little point from a time-management perspective to have four apiaries with one or two hives in each. Better would be then to have one or two apiaries with maybe four to six hives. In this way, you can spend more time beekeeping and less time travelling to and from the apiaries.  

Suitable for the neighbours

Third, consider the neighbours. Be they humans, other beekeepers, or animals. It is good beekeeping practice not to set up a new apiary too close to another beekeeper’s apiary. If there are livestock in the vicinity of the apiary, the hives should be fenced off. Also, it is good if water is available close to or within the apiary so that the other animals and the bees don’t use the same water source. This is simply because some animals can find the bees annoying and have difficulties drinking without getting entangled with or stung by the bees.

It is also important to be considerate towards other non-beekeeping neighbours and to ensure that they can enjoy outdoor living. This might mean not keeping too many hives in your back garden, keeping very docile bees and being mindful of not arranging the entrances of hives so that the bees fly over your neighbour’s garden, paths where people walk or other public or recreational areas. Usually a jar of honey or two will go a long way to get your neighbours enamoured with the idea of having bees close by. Strange as it may seem, not everyone like bees, and sometimes you just have to give in and move an apiary if your neighbours don’t want the bees close by. Quite often though, it is a good idea to keep the hives out of sight of both neighbours and passers-by. Out of sight, out of mind…

A Little Story About Bee Poop….

About a year or so after I had got my bees my then partner came home with a very entertaining story. He had offered one of our neighbours a lift and on getting into the car the neighbour had pointed to the many rust-coloured little specks on the car and exclaimed ‘Well, what are we going to do about these?’

My partner answered, a little perplexed, ‘What do you mean?’ At which my neighbour again pointed to the specks on the car and said ‘These. I think they come from the new factory. But Pat across the road thinks they are fallout from the Sahara.’ At which my ex insightfully smiled and said ‘Oh, I wouldn’t know.’ Which, coincidentally, he did of course.

Because it was no more fallout from the factories than the Sahara. Only my new bees relieving themselves on the entire fleet of cars in the neighbourhood. Needless to say, neither I nor the bees have since fessed up. So I wouldn’t be surprised if my neighbours are still debating the origins of the debris. I have, however moved some of my colonies from my home apiary. And also made sure to adjust the entrances so that the direct flightpath is not over anyone’s garden.

Difference Between Rural, Suburban and Urban Apiaries

It will have escaped no one that the new craze in beekeeping is rooftop beekeeping. Although it fascinates and intrigues me, and I love looking at pictures from all around the world of beehives and their keepers on rooftops, I have absolutely no experience of urban beekeeping. I keep my bees in suburban and rural apiaries. I like the freedom that it offers me as a beekeeper.

Each of these settings: rural, suburban and urban, have very specific requirements. And it is important that you also consider these when setting up an apiary in any of those locations. For instance, you will have to decide how many colonies it is appropriate to keep in any one place. Not just in terms of availability of forage, but also in consideration of your neighbours. Then you also have to decide what types of bees to keep in each apiary. My best-behaved ones I keep at my home apiary. Any colony with behaviour undesirable around children and neighbours is swiftly moved to an out-apiary without neighbours. It is then assessed and if necessary requeened.

In my out-apiaries, I have different selection criteria. High yield and low swarming tendencies are my main priorities there, so I don’t mind if the bees are a little better at defending themselves there than in my home-apiary.

Rural Beekeeping and Spraying

If you decide to keep your bees in a rural area it is imperative that you develop a good rapport with the surrounding farmers. Spraying on farms can have devastating effects of honeybee colonies. Bees in urban and suburban settings generally do not have a problem with this but rural bees often do. I unfortunately experienced this myself one year, along with a friend of mine.

In one of our apiaries, several colonies were severely depleted after a farmer sprayed some unknown substance. It rendered several colonies barely viable going into winter. Despite having a good relationship with the farmer on whose land the apiary is located, another farmer was responsible for the spraying. In these instances, prevention is always better than cure. It is important that there is a dialogue between farmer and beekeeper so that we can inform the farmers of the behaviour of the honeybee and the potential impact of irresponsible spraying. Sometimes though, these things are just down to misunderstandings. I recently spoke to a farmer who thought that only the hives that were located at the edge of the field of oilseed rape needed to be closed up while spraying. Not the ones in the adjacent field also. 

Consider Different Locations

If you are offered a site to set up an apiary on, do take some time to walk around and figure out where would be the best place to put the hives. Don’t be afraid to point out where you consider would be the best place. Even if the person offering the site have suggested another location. I once was offered a site on a farm. Unfortunately I was too shy to ask the farmer for a spot other than the one he offered me. I put the bees where he had suggested, between a public road and a path where he would regularly drive his cattle. Within two years I had to move them to another location.

It turns out the farmer had convinced his new wife to come and help out with the cattle. This particular day, the bees were not at all impressed with the commotion caused by the stampede. The farmer’s wife got stung. As if that was not bad enough, the farmer told me he had to suffer for it too. She was all picture, no sound for the rest of the day, he grumpily reported. And so, another location on the farm was selected and I begun the arduous task of moving my hives. I could have spared myself all this extra work by asking for another more suitable site to begin with.

In setting up a new apiary, it is also a good principle to allow space for expansion. Beekeeping is addictive and one colony soon becomes two, and four and seven… 

Apiary Signage

There are some very beautiful, humorous and informative signs available for beekeepers to alert people to the fact that bees are kept in an area. The thinking is that if you let people know about the presence of bees, they will be more careful and vigilant. If someone gets stung, at least they were warned.

On the other hand, advertising that there are bees in the area may attract people who are intent on causing mischief; vandalising or thieving. For this reason, I have opted not to erect signs at my out-apiaries. Instead I have chosen to follow the old saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’. I believe it provides me with a better insurance policy than would a sign saying: ‘beware of bees’. I make sure that my apiaries are not visible from public roads and that the colours of the hives blend into the environment. Talking about insurance policies, make sure to join your local beekeeper’s association to avail of the insurance they offer their members.

However, while I’m not keen on Apiary signage I do think it is a good idea to mark your beekeeping equipment with a name and number. Also, leave your details and phone number somewhere close to the hives in case someone needs to contact you.

Set up Joint Apiaries

If you are a beginner setting up an apiary, it might suit you to set up your first apiary together with another beginner. The first few years of beekeeping can be very testing. If you have someone with you during inspections you can share both the experience and the learning as well as helping one another. Sometimes you will need a hand lifting a heavy super, finding an elusive queen, doing an artificial swarm or maybe just a second opinion on something you noticed during an inspection.

Sharing an apiary does not necessarily mean sharing the hives. You could keep your own colonies side by side in the same apiary. I used to share a few apiaries with my mentor. Not only do we save on petrol, we also spent some quality time together and helped each other out when needed. Beekeeping is often both backbreaking and solitary work, and this is a nice break from that. We kept our own hives separated in the apiary.

A little caveat here, especially if you are setting up with someone that you don’t know very well, is to have a clear understanding and agreement of how you will work. Perhaps also put a time-limit on it. Do this so that one person does not end up having to do all the work. And as a get-out clause in case things are not working out. Sometimes people are just more difficult to work with than bees!

To finish up…

Finding a good location for a new apiary is very important. Take your time and consider all the options before moving your bees to the spot. Think about how you are going to get in and out, if there are neighbours or livestock to take into account, and take in the vegetation and the landscape to ensure that you have adequate forage, shelter and light. Once you have found your perfect spot, read this blog (coming soon) to learn how to best set up your new apiary.

If you have trouble finding a suitable spot, don’t hesitate to contact your local association and let them know that you are looking for a site to keep bees. They may be able to point you in the right direction. Also try local Facebook groups, there are often people with gardens looking for someone to put beehives in them…

Hanna Bäckmo

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