Where Should I Put My Bee Hives?

Foraging honey bees will work hard to find nectar and pollen sources in their area. It is common knowledge that bees will fly for three to five miles to find nectar and pollen. They can cover a lot of ground.

Honey bees don’t always fly this far; they would much rather fly a shorter distance for nectar and pollen. It is helpful to know what is blooming in your area and which plants matter to bees.

New beekeepers should research what is blooming in their area, when it blooms, and what plants will benefit bees the most. Beekeepers may need to be prepared to supplement with sugar water at certain times (but not when honey supers are on the hive).

Local beekeepers and gardeners can be helpful resources for finding out what beneficial plants for bees are in your area. The best way to reach out to these beekeepers is through a local beekeeping association or a local Facebook group for beekeepers. You may be surprised how many different types of plants are naturally available for bees in your area. 

If you ever see a jar of honey that says wildflower or multi flower or something similar, that means the honey came from bees who foraged naturally in their area. Most bee hives do not need to be placed where an orchard of fruit trees is blooming because the bees will find enough nectar and pollen from the wild trees and plants growing nearby.

You and your neighbors will notice a difference in the productivity of your flowers and vegetable garden as well as your fruit trees as a result of the pollination your honey bees provide. Hive placement with easy access to these resources will mutually benefit you and your honey bees.

Left to their own devices, honey bees are able to forage for their own water and don’t always need to be provided with drinking water. Usually, bees will be able to forage for water from a natural source like a lake, stream, or river. Bees really seem to like to drink from old rain water and muddy streams.

While it helps the beekeeper to have easy access to their hives, it is not ideal for everyone else to have access to your hives. Bee hives should not be accessible to vandals or random people who could damage them intentionally or unintentionally. The best location will be out of reach of anyone or anything that might do them harm.

The bees’ flight path shouldn’t intersect with a sidewalk or regularly traveled footpath. Neighbors and your family members won’t appreciate the bees flying accidentally into their faces or bodies. Bees fly fast in and out of hive entrances and so they need a clear flight path for safety considerations and for productivity. Planting a hedge or building a fence between the colony and a well-traveled space may help direct the bees up and over the space.

When you put your hives in your yard, you want to make sure that you are comfortable with where they are and that you can still use your backyard. You don’t want to have to leave your back door every day and walk through the flight path of your bees.

Check with your neighbors to be sure that you choose an apiary site where bees do not get a direct mosquito spray treatment. Let your neighbors know that you have bees, and if they’ll alert you when they plan to spray insecticides in large amounts, you can do things to protect your bees. Who knows, maybe they’ll even change their practice and not use chemicals that are harmful to bees.

Don’t place hives in a windy spot like on the edge of a lake. If you must, then consider ways to create a wind barrier to protect them. If you live in a place with strong prevailing winds, you’ll need to set up some sort of wind screen.

Similarly, don’t place a beehive in a location that is prone to high-risk natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, mudslides, blizzards, or tornados without some consideration of how you will deal with these events when they happen.

Don’t put your bees in low areas or in a flood zone for obvious reasons. Bees don’t swim very well, and flooding will destroy a hive. Also, wet, shady areas with soggy ground will encourage small hive beetles to take up residence.

This is a complete tangent, but did you know that beekeepers who are in the northern hemisphere are in the complete opposite season as beekeepers in the southern? So beekeepers in Georgia might be sweating it out in July, but beekeepers in Australia are worried about their bees getting too cold.

Bears, skunks, raccoons and some other critters can be a danger to your new beehive. The best location will be in a place that these creatures cannot reach. Cows and Horses may rub on the hives, and Goats may climb on the hives, so livestock pastures might not be the perfect location. There could be some benefit to placing beehives near chickens or other poultry, who may eat some beehive pests.