Bees and Bee Hives

[valhalla]

Note that I'm not allergic to bee stings, although they can annoy me when I get the stinger shoved way into my feet! 

Why did I preface this with the above?  I thought it would be a good idea to contact a bee keeper and put some hives in the back yard - figured the keeper would win with extra bees and honey and I'd win with all of the bees around my plants.

Enter my poor allergic spouse, who reminded me of the stings and pointed out that there are small children on both sides of us.

My question to all of you is, will the proximity of hives increase the likelyhood of the kids getting stung?  I figured adults can fend for themselves, but I don't want the little ones getting hurt. 

As always, thanks, as I know this group will have the answer and the reasons why!

[ezsha]

Actually, it might be an excellent opportunity to allow your young neighbors to learn more about bees... you might ask your beekeeper about this, and inquire whether he's willing to teach the little ones near you more about them, for both educational purposes, and to protect his/her hive.

The beekeepers I've met have always been more than willing to help educate the public.

[Donna]

Preparing To Keep Bees

Honey bees can be kept almost anywhere there are flowering plants that produce nectar and pollen. Choose a site for bee hives that is discrete, sheltered from winds and partially shaded. Avoid low spots in a yard where cold, damp air accumulates in winter.

Be considerate of non-beekeeping neighbors. Place hives so that bee flight paths do not cross sidewalks, playgrounds or other public areas. In dry weather, bees may collect water at neighbors' swimming pools or water spigots. Avoid this by giving your bees a water source in your yard such as a container with floating wood or styrofoam chips. The floating objects prevent bees from drowning.

Stings

Anyone who keeps bees will inevitably get stung. Consider this before you invest in a beekeeping hobby. You can greatly reduce stinging if you use gentle, commercially reared queens, wear a veil, use a smoker and handle bees gently. Experienced beekeepers can handle thousands or even millions of bees daily and receive very few stings.

A bee sting will cause intense local pain, reddening and swelling. This is a normal reaction and does not, in itself, indicate a serious allergic response. With time, many beekeepers no longer redden or swell when they are stung (however, it still hurts!). An extremely small fraction of the human population is genuinely allergic to bee stings. These individuals experience breathing difficulty, unconsciousness or even death if they are stung and should carry with them an emergency kit of injectable epinephrine, available by prescription from a physician.

[Donna]

What are the effects of a Backyard Hive in an urban or suburban environment? (on the neighbors, the dogs, the kids)

Q. I am in the process of learning more about beekeeping, as I am thinking about starting a hive. I live in the Phoenix area and would be keeping a hive in my backyard. Apart from swarming, I am curious about how much the bees would "travel." I notice that in the summer when swimming in the backyard we have the occasional bee around our pool (which tend to sometimes hover around our heads). I also have a dog. My question is how much, in keeping a hive in the backyard, would a person would notice bees
flying around the backyard (how many bees, and how much it would bother the
neighbors)? Thank you!

 

A.
These are great questions that should be considered when thinking of beekeeping in your backyard.
Here is the best way to determine the impact of the "bee presence" in your particular environment.
The bees are on a mission, there is no reason for them to loiter around your backyard or your neighbors yard. The bees want to get to the most efficient nectar flow in the area. There will be a path, or a spray of bees emitting from the hive entrance. Usually this is about ten feet in front of the landing board. This path is the main visual part of the hive that is noticable. The stream or path of the bees disperse in many directions about ten feet away.
To plan the hive location, look for a place in the yard where you can position the hive entrance so it is pointed away from where people walk or where neighbors have a view into your yard.
If the nectar flow happens to be your neighbors crab apple tree, the bees will go for that tree and there will be a lot of bees on the neighbors' tree. But there should be bees on flowing trees, so I don't think the neighbors will think it is out of place. When the neighbors' tree stops flowing, the bees will go somewhere else and the neighbors will rarely even see a bee, unless they have other flowering plants.
When neighbors will notice your bees is when they have left soda cans out on the patio. They might notice that there are 15 bees around the coke can rather then 1 or 2 bees.
If the neighbors do notice the hive, usually they are happy to hear how much the bees have helped out your garden and fruit trees, how great the honey is from the local area and when you bring them a jar of honey and a comb for their kids they are quite content.
I have also found that if you explain that you have a different type of hive, like a bird house its a "garden pollinator hive" this helps. "Oh yes, I have this little "garden pollination hive", it's not a real bee hive, it is mostly used by organic gardeners and people that have apple trees" This line usually works, to calm their fears.
The big factor in your environment is the swimming pool. As with collecting nectar, the bees will also go to the nearest source of water. If the bees go to the swimming pool, they will fall into the water and could be a sting factor to kids in the pool. The remedy for this is to put a water source right next to the hive. Bees also love fountains. Give them a fountain and they won't even think of the pool
Dogs will usually avoid the bees. Some dogs bite bees and do get stung in the mouth and drool a lot. Some aggressive bees might go after the dog if he/she is running messing around the hive, and then they learn to keep away.
If your bees do swarm, it will be a big visual moment. This moment is usually short lived, maybe only a few minutes. Then the bees will be in a tree nearby in a clump and in a day or so the bees will be off into the wild blue yonder.
I hope this helps and you can join in the fun!

[valhalla]

Thanks!  I didn't even have a chance to get to my meeting before I got answers.  I know that Rich is going to say no pretty firmly to this and it is the stinging factor.  I'll yield because of the wimpering and whining factor 

We need a "no Whining" smiley.

[kaySyr]

Janet 

I live with a beekeeper and we have hives on our property in NY.   He also had hives on our previous property in Mass.  One thing I found when we moved and went to secure insurance for the new mortgage is that some insurance companies (Geico) will not insure you if you have bee hives.  So check before placing them.

We have lived with bee hives for a long time.  In regards to dogs - I had a samoyed (white) and a keeshond mix (black) - the samoyed was able to take the top off of the hive,  the black dog couldn't get near the hive (think Bear!).  In any case both of them learned to stay away from the hives and flight paths fairly quickly.   

My kids did not get stung by honey bees unless they stepped on them.  They learned to put honey on their fingers and feed tired bees and watch them fly off replenished.

Kay

[Tokira]

My kids did not get stung by honey bees unless they stepped on them.  They learned to put honey on their fingers and feed tired bees and watch them fly off replenished.
Kay

That is really nice!
As most here know, I am a Garden Cashier at our local Home Depot in the summer.  Several times now, one of our local traveling bees has decided that the horizontal slots in our cash register drawers look like the entrances to their hives, and repeatedly try to get into them.  They eventually move on, but it's kinda sad seeing them so confused.  They usually just keep very busy working on all our flowers.
Carol
WV

[Paul Hamilton]

When I was growing up in rural Connecticut, one of our neighbors had bee hives.  We did see more honeybees in our yard than before he started his hives, but they were never a problem.  Nobody ever got stung by them.  I concluded that honeybees are mellow - they have to be really provoked, as in a hive defence, in order to sting.  It makes sense, because the act of stinging kills the bee.  Yellow jackets sting much more often and require little provocation.

Paul