Beekeeping, bee gardens, bee research, bee pictures, and honey appreciation.
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!
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!
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.
Okay that makes sense, thank you, im slowly getting ready for my first hive, hopefully il have one after winter :)
That's exciting!!! Hit me up if you have more questions :)
no, they will be fine generally.
to put it into perspective a 300m radius circle has an area of ~28 ha, if both hives fly that distance 56 ha less the overlap, say 1/3 the area rounded up to 20ha, that still leaves in excesses 36ha for the bees.
In New Zealand it's considered fair summer coverage for upto 1 hive per ha
Thank you!
It should not bee a problem.
Are you or your neighbor one of these two guys?