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My neighbour wants to keep bees, and so do I. Is this bad? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/beekeeping@lemmy.world
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Ive been planning, and slowly learning about beekeeping for a year, and a couple days ago my neighbour out of nowhere my neighbour said they will keep bees too. Is this something that could possibly have an affect to the bees?

We are spaced apart ~300m

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[–] 4 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Beekeeper here! 300m should be ok, definitely far enough that you don't have to worry about foragers "drifting" into other hives. How many hives are you both planning on keeping? There's only so much forage to go around, especially if you both are planning on keeping 40+ hives for example.

A nearby-ish water source is a good idea to have (natural is fine, they need the minerals), and if the different hives mingle there it's totally fine. Let me know if you have more questions!

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    I never beekept so it would be my first, so no more than two hives. not too sure about my neighbour, but they said they are only doing it for the honey, so probably also two or so. There are water sources around, there is a medium-ish body of water, as well as manny runoff water ditches.

    And as for the questions, how does one know when to and how much to harvest? It feels stupid asking this hah. Thank you!

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Awesome news on the water! For honey harvesting, I usually do it right as goldenrod starts blooming around labor day-ish. Goldenrod is one of the last big wildflower blooms, so I want my bees to pack that in their winter areas as much as possible instead of the smaller honey harvesting frames. Plus, it makes the hive smell like old gym socks lol.

    Timing is going to vary by area and the weather, so I would rely on that more than calendar dates.

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