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.