Do's and Don'ts of Beekeeping

Beekeeping can become like the elderly lady with the 50 cats, bee hive numbers keep increasing, bees just keep swarming and defecating until the neighbours complain to council. So:

Rule 1. Three hives spread out on a suburban section is plenty.

A production hive and a 5-frame nuc colony work really well in the town. You take frames of bees and brood from the nuc and use them to replace old frames in the main hive, sometime a bit of brood has to be lost but that really is 'nature' and has to be 'lived with'.

The old frame is then reconditioned and later reused in the nuc box.

Rule 2. Try to have a 2 metre high 'screen' or planting between the hive and the neighbour. The bees will fly higher and the hive won't be right in the face of some bee terrified, allergic to everything, neighbour. (Out of sight - out of mind)

Rule 3. Try to remove frames full of pollen early in spring and replace them with empty frames. This is to stop bee dropping upsetting"the neighbours.

Bees seem to 'clean out' old frames by 'eating' the material then flying to the neighbours before crapping. This is the most common 'bee complaint' made to city councils.

Rule 4. Keep quite bees. Spend your money and buy good young queen/s of a known quiet stock yearly. Introduce new queens into a nuc and when laying, introduce the nuc into the hive after locating the original queen They are a joy to work and if marked are easily seen again.

Rule 5. Check your hive brood box every 10 days from early spring and remove swarm cells. If you find say 10 swarm cells, warn the neighbours that your hive may cast a swarm. Tell them it is not something to be feared (bee generally don't sting when swarming) but to keep away from them until they cluster. They should not ring the council! This swarm could be your next nuc colony. Read books on swarm prevention and plan ahead. A bad beekeeper has hives that swarm often.

Rule 6.Give a jar of honey to neighbours at New Year and the 'shortest day' or any time you feel your bees may have upset your neighbour. Ask them to contact you before contacting the council.

Rule 7. If someone does mention bee droppings, turn the beehive 180 degrees and erect a windbreak (bird netting) type screen to change the bees' flight path. Tell the neighbour what you have done, give a jar of honey and ask them to tell you how successful the changes have been.

Rule 8. Put on new honey boxes early and directly above the queen excluder. Remove the full honey frames for extracting as soon as they are capped. Some beekeepers are removing filled plastic frames, scraping off the honey and wax, then putting the bare wet frame straight back into the first honey super. The honey plus wax goes into a bucket sieve with a fitting lid and is left to filter in a hot sunny spot. You don't need an extractor using this method.

Rule 9. Put back wet supers after sunset. Wet or sticky frames will stimulate bee activity (the bees start looking for the new nectar source) causing concern to your neighbours.

Rule 10. Provide a water supply close to the hive for your bees. This can be a bucket of sand that you add water to as required. If you have problems with a neighbours swimming pool, you may have to temporarily remove your bees until the old field bees are dead (three weeks) and then return your hives but this time add a water source.

Rule 11. Working hives in the summer when your neighbours is out enjoying his garden is not good practice. Consider working your bees early in the morning so they have time to settle down before your neighbours are up.

Rule 12. Apply cool smoke for your hives twice two minutes apart before working them. Work your hives with just a vail. That way you will soon know if the bees are getting out of control. Keep exposed supers covered to prevent robbing,

Enough Rules.

Smile and wave at your neighbours and trade surplus goods etc.

What to do when the Council Officer arrives.

Be friendly and cooperative but don't show him/her around your property. ("Anything you say may be….. and used in evidence against you")

I would advise you to doing something definite, then write a note to all your neighbours telling them what you have done and ASK THEM to let YOU know if they are experiencing any problem with the bees from your pollination hive. You take away the need for the council to be involved. If a neighbour does reply to your enquiry follow rule 7 above.

If things do get right out of hand, get another beekeeper to assist you and listen to his/her advice. It's not a pleasant experience for sure but you should be able to keep one hive on your property.

Fictious complaints

Sometime you will find a new neighbour just does not like bees and will complain to the council, no matter that the bees have been there for twenty years without complaint. This often lead to a petition to the council. In this case you have no option but to remove the beehives. However do this quietly one evening but leave a dummy hive in the original hive's place. If the complaints continue, show the council officer the empty hive. Generally this kills the complaint you should be able to put a hive back in your garden the following spring. Remember out of sight - out of mind..