Possibly getting 100 Native bee hives on my property

[Mark]

Last week my Uncle placed 4 of his native hives on our property and if they go well over the next few months he will probably add another 96!

Basically, my Uncle's native bee hive hobby business is expanding and he asked if he could use some of our land to grow them on. Naturally, I had to clear it through the misses but she had no problem and I figured any bee is a good bee for a gardener like me and I'm happy to have more

Also, for the time being I'm just too busy to run beehives but I have always wanted some (both regular honey and native) so I guess I'm getting a pretty good outcome by helping my Uncle out, getting bees in our garden, but not having to look after them - it's a win win

The reason he didn't place any more hives out then 4 was because he first has to test how they go in the new environment. We have a commercial strawberry farm virtually next door (across a council easement) about 100 metres away and we expect they spray their produce with all sorts of bad stuff so the worry is the native bees might get poisoned. However, I have lots of wild native bees already here so we're hoping the new arrivals will be ok too.

If these first 4 survive and more importantly thrive my Uncle will slowly expand the hives with a view to sell them in the future.

Hives set up on wooden benches with a star picket frame - a very quick to build but stable structure.​

The hives a situated in the shade among tall paperbark trees (my duck dam in the background)​

Here's an example of two different sized native bee hives.​

Close up shot of hive secured with galvanised banding and roof lid.​

Here is the entry/exit point for the bees - see how some honey (pollen) accumulates around the hole... interesting!​

 

[stevo]

hah, awesome. I think it's funny how you can have hives beside each other.

questions....

Not sure if I asked already, does you uncle sell them or is it for producing honey? or what is his hobby business about? You could get some honey out of them for yourself, with your uncles approval ofcourse?

Are you going to start planting more flowers? I've been planting more flowers over time.

 

[Mark]

Not sure if I asked already, does you uncle sell them or is it for producing honey?

He is going to sell the hives in the future so that's why he is building them up now and planning to make 100 (if all goes well) then start selling them. Yes, he also harvests the honey I mentioned it here http://www.selfsufficientculture.com/threads/native-bees.391/#post-2374

You could get some honey out of them for yourself, with your uncles approval ofcourse?

Firstly, I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing in regards to getting honey and secondly I doubt my uncle would be too happy with me playing with his hives

Are you going to start planting more flowers?

Good question and I was only just discussing that very subject last night with Nina. I think I will need to grow more flowering plants here and I intend to do just that especially through winter! However, our orchard does have some great flowering trees (mainly in spring) but also at different times throughout the year. I'm no bee expert but common sense tells me if there's too many bee colonies and not enough food close by they will probably fight or die out... This should be a good experiment!

 

[Steve]

That's all very cool.
Looking forward to seeing how this pans out.
Being slightly alergic to bee stings I don't think I would ever keep them myself but I know how vital those little fellers are. Good job.

Cheers

 

[stevo]

Mark, ahh yeah my bad memory. As a general comment not directed at anyone in particular, The honey is expensive, and you might get the impression there's some money in it, but then you don't get much so you're not going to get rich, hence the need for a huge amount of hives.
Steve, great news for you, they're stingless bees so you can have them!!

The young fella that moved in to my flat/garage is full on allergic to bee stings and was very concerned, he has some kind of medication/pill thing on hand incase he gets stung, but now takes an interest and enjoys the hives, which I think is pretty cool.

Mark, the hive design pictured doesn't look suitable for honey extraction anyway because it looks like just a splitting design. (note - , i'm not trying to upset anyone with these comments, i'm no expert, your uncle would know more than I would, i'm just going on what I have learnt.) The two box design is for splitting and not as easy to extract honey from without disturbing the brood supporting structure.

 

[Steve]

Well that's just awesome then.
I love bees but I always get a shiver if I get too close, same as snakes I guess.
I would welcome these guys with open arms (and honey pots).

 

[stevo]

50 hives coming to your place Steve

PS... Mark, the dam is full???!!

 

[Mark]

Mark, the hive design pictured doesn't look suitable for honey extraction anyway because it looks like just a splitting design. (note - , i'm not trying to upset anyone with these comments, i'm no expert, your uncle would know more than I would, i'm just going on what I have learnt.) The two box design is for splitting and not as easy to extract honey from without disturbing the brood supporting structure.

Oh, well there ya go, perhaps he is only intending to split them and multiply? I'll have to ask him...

PS... Mark, the dam is full???!!

Yep all full Stevo. I'm really happy I was able to solve the leaking issue - it's magic, and a nice place to sit watching the bids have fun

That's all very cool.
Looking forward to seeing how this pans out.
Being slightly alergic to bee stings I don't think I would ever keep them myself but I know how vital those little fellers are. Good job.

Yeah Steve - what Stevo said, these bees are totally harmless and they land on me all the time in the garden.

 

[Karla]

Last week my Uncle placed 4 of his native hives on our property and if they go well over the next few months he will probably add another 96!

Basically, my Uncle's native bee hive hobby business is expanding and he asked if he could use some of our land to grow them on. Naturally, I had to clear it through the misses but she had no problem and I figured any bee is a good bee for a gardener like me and I'm happy to have more

Also, for the time being I'm just too busy to run beehives but I have always wanted some (both regular honey and native) so I guess I'm getting a pretty good outcome by helping my Uncle out, getting bees in our garden, but not having to look after them - it's a win win

The reason he didn't place any more hives out then 4 was because he first has to test how they go in the new environment. We have a commercial strawberry farm virtually next door (across a council easement) about 100 metres away and we expect they spray their produce with all sorts of bad stuff so the worry is the native bees might get poisoned. However, I have lots of wild native bees already here so we're hoping the new arrivals will be ok too.

If these first 4 survive and more importantly thrive my Uncle will slowly expand the hives with a view to sell them in the future.

Hives set up on wooden benches with a star picket frame - a very quick to build but stable structure.​

View attachment 826

The hives a situated in the shade among tall paperbark trees (my duck dam in the background)​

View attachment 823

Here's an example of two different sized native bee hives.​

View attachment 824

Close up shot of hive secured with galvanised banding and roof lid.​

View attachment 822

Here is the entry/exit point for the bees - see how some honey (pollen) accumulates around the hole... interesting!​

View attachment 825

I am addicted to bees!! I can sit and watch them forever. Once set up there isn’t a lot of work. Basically monitoring them and making sure they don’t need anything. With all you have growing they would do great. I catch swarms each year which reduced my costs.