Comments on: Beekeeping at my Home Kitchen Garden

By: gary n debbie

gary n debbie — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:00:49 +0000

hi just happened on your blog site and it has a mass of information ,we keep bees and chickens grow our own tomatoes at home in england thankyou very much for sharing and i will be popping back from time to time as my wife is very interested in canning products regads gary

By: Honey Bees are in My Home Kitchen Garden | Your Home Kitchen Garden

Honey Bees are in My Home Kitchen Garden | Your Home Kitchen Garden — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:01:16 +0000

[...] garden this year. As I reported about six weeks ago, I rebooted my effort to get a beehive started (Beekeeping at my Home Kitchen Garden) after last year’s discouragement. However, because of budget constraints, I was planning [...]

By: admin

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:44:25 +0000

To work the hive, you need space to maneuver on all sides while carrying one of the boxes that makes up a “layer” of the hive. As well, it’s really useful to have a level area within a pace of the hive where you can set down those hive sections (supers and brood chambers). Especially in temperate climates, it’s good to have the hive where it gets some sun (especially morning sun is good) as the warmth will get bees active on cooler days. Full sun all day isn’t a great idea… the bees actually cool the hive by buzzing their wings, but on a hot sunny day they simply won’t be able to keep up.

Finally, it’s good to have a “flyway” of six to ten feet in front of the hive’s entrance. They buzz in and out at high speed, and on some days there will be a cloud of bees in front of the hive. It’s important to have enough space to walk past the hive without disrupting the flyway and quite possibly receiving disciplinary action from the bees.

I hope none of that is too restrictive to prevent you from adding bees. If you can put the hive on a platform above your garden, you solve some of the problems. However, the platform needs to provide a work area and a place to set down supers and brood chambers. Lifting a super full of honey down from a raised platform may be very challenging.

All that said, I hope you can find a way to fit in a hive. Raising bees is a fascinating experience.

By: Angela Davis

Angela Davis — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:24:53 +0000

I really want bees this year but I’m not sure I have any room. My lot is pretty small and I don’t know what kind of space is needed around then. Maybe I’ll reach out to someone. Thanks & good luck!