Beekeeping at your place.

What Your Bees Need

It’s important to choose a good place for a beehive. Whether you have one hive or 10, these factors help create the best possible environment for your bee colonies.

Sunshine

Beehives need at least six hours of full sun per day. A shady corner of the backyard is not good for bees! Lack of direct sun on the hive can cause diseases and general unhealthiness. Sun sun sun!

Still, in the hottest part of the summer, afternoon shade is a plus. A nearby tree that provides dappled shade, a wall to the west side of the yard,  or even a shade cloth are helpful. A lattice fence, or large hedges will also do the job.

Here are a few pictures of how are bee hives can be shaded.

Forage

Honeybees need to eat and store food for their colony, so it’s important that your bees have access to an abundance and variety of flowering plants.

California native plants provide excellent food sources for bees, as do many edible garden crops.Fruit trees are high quality bee forage. Flowering trees from the southern hemisphere like eucalyptus and melaleuca provide important nutrition when nothing else is available in the Los Angeles basin. Besides keeping your bees happy, your garden yields of many fruits and vegetables will increase!

Water

Once spring is fully underway and summer is around the corner, higher temperatures make it necessary to provide a clean and ever-present water source for your bees.

A water source such as a barrel-pond or fountain is required by the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture for bee yards, and it must be kept full at all times. If it dries up, your bees will “forget” where it is, and they’ll have to relocate it all over again once it’s refilled.

Bees also need landing spots so they can drink water without falling or drowning. Water plants are a great solution because they filter the water and provide landing spots. Wine bottle corks will also suffice.

Add mosquitofish to your hive’s water source. These fish will eat mosquito larvae, keep your water clear, and fertilize any water plants. Your local vector control district gives away mosquitofish for free.

Protection from Pests and Predators

Some Los Angeles backyards and estates are prone to skunks and raccoons roaming at night looking for food. These two varmints love to eat bees and everything in the hive: larvae, honey, wax, and all. Usually they do not pose a problem but occasionally some kind of light fencing must be put up, such as reed or wire, as shown below.

 

To find out more about keeping bees at your place, fill in the form and we will get back to you asap!

Or you can call 805-573-6366 to set up a consultation.