Bee Yard Layouts (Tip)

If you are raising your own queen bees then you know how important it is to have good drone stock in range. Or maybe your planning to setup more yards this year. In this article I want to share a tip on laying out your yards. Bees fly roughly 2 miles from the hive and with this knowledge I took it a step farther. Just to make sure my bees were able to reach each other from different yards.

In order to follow these steps I am about to share with you. The following will be needed.

1. A county map ( Of your bee yard county)
2. Translucent Plastic Folders
3. Thumb Tacs
4. Drawing Compass
5. Scissors

Now on your county map look for the "Scale Information". This area is usually located in one of the corners of the map. You are looking to see how big 2 miles is on your map. For instance on my map 2 inchs is 2 miles. So with that information I can now set my drawing compass and begin preparing my circles.

Now as you have probably noticed I suggested Translucent Plastic Folders for this project. This is just what I could find that had color. The color stands out more than just clear sheets. So I cut the folders into sheets. Then using the compass I set with my map scale. I draw a circle for each of my bee yards on the translucent sheets. Then using the scissors I cut them out.

After finding your bee yards on your map. Place the circle over your yard. Usually the drawing compass leaves a hole in the middle of your circle. This hole will mark your bee yard. This is where I used thumb tacs but then I realize not everyone has there county maps on the wall. So in this case I suggest clear box tape. Though this would be a permanet solution.

We have finished laying out our yards. Now look how easy it is to see where your bees can reach from their hives. You can now see which hives are linked together and which ones do not reach one another. It helps to know where your bees can fly. Not only for breeding reasons but for foraging too. Now you can see if they are reaching that field of sweet clover or whatever it may be.

Comments

JC's Queen Rearing Series...A Guide To Raising Your Own Queen Honey Bees

As a beekeeper, the key to a sustainable apiary is genetics. Most all beekeepers know that the queen is he heart of the colony but do not know how important her genetics are. It's also important to work with genetics from your region. Every year southern beekeepers send 1000's of bee packages up to the northern states and each year, many of those same colonies dies because they are not used to the climate change. This Queen rearing Series will teach you how to raise your own queen bees from the very beginning of the process. Before you start though, check out and download my queen rearing calendar (Below). Self-Generating Queen Rearing Calendar Download Calendar here Queen Rear Calendar Wheel: https://sustainablehive.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/queen_rearing_calendar_wheel-2-pages.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1Iv4z1k2qsP0fjt8dpk7oR-DldUwkSP9PF8-GsyLwX-3uGTeR47duDqhU Step 1... Building A Cell Starter / Setting Up A Finisher Colony Step 2... Grafting Day......

Making Wax Queen Cell Cups

As a beekeeper I like to be able to make what I need for my bees. By doing this I know what I am getting which is a plus in my book. I would like to teach you how to make your own wax cups to raise your queen bees in. This is not a difficult task but it can get messy if your not careful. Whats needed to complete wax cups: 1. 100% Pure bees wax melted 2. 5/16 dowel rod About 6" long 3. A cup of cold water 4. Sandpaper or sander 5. 1 Jz-Bz plastic queen cup We will start by shaping the tip of the dowel rod. You need to round the tip somewhat and bevel in the sides. It needs to look like the bottom of a cell (nicely rounded). The bees will reject anything they do not like. Just remember practices makes perfect, right? If you fail try something a little different. Spend some time shaping the end of your dowel with sandpaper or electric sander. Just don't take off to much. Use your Jz-Bz queen cup for a reference on the size. Once you get...

Queen Rearing Calendar

This queen rearing calendar has a feature that most do not. It's self generating! You simply enter your planned grafting date and the calendar lays out the dates with all the steps. It's easy. The calendar is setup for using a cell starter but gives you lots of information regardless the method used to raise your queens. Download yours and give it a try. Download Now!

JC's Bee Blog

Search This Blog