Hive location

badtoro

Never kept bees, have three or four old stone ruins of sheds scattered about the land. They have no roof, but four walls standing. Would it be suitable to locate some hives within the shelter of these walls. We are very exposed to the atlantic, I was thinking the shelter might be good. But, would the walls be an issue blocking sunlight getting to the hives, might frost also be an issue?

Apiarist

badtoro wrote: »

Never kept bees, have three or four old stone ruins of sheds scattered about the land. They have no roof, but four walls standing. Would it be suitable to locate some hives within the shelter of these walls. We are very exposed to the atlantic, I was thinking the shelter might be good. But, would the walls be an issue blocking sunlight getting to the hives, might frost also be an issue?

You understanding is correct. It is good to shelter the hives from strong winds, and also not to put them in a permanent shade. Pick a wall that gets more sunshine and put your hives along this wall?

Also, if you could put a roof over one of the sheds, you may try an experiment -- keep a couple of hives in the covered shed and the rest outside. It could be that bees would do better if they live in a dry hive even it means less sunshine.

badtoro

Another option I liked was a little wooden shed or trailer containing a few hives, mostly covered from the elements.

Apiarist

badtoro wrote: »

Another option I liked was a little wooden shed or trailer containing a few hives, mostly covered from the elements.

Great idea. With a trailer, you can also move your bees around to where the flowers are at the moment

Effects

Or maybe just leave them in the one spot, so you don't disrupt them as much.