I know very little about beekeeping but I am intrigued by it. John Seymour's book "The Self-sufficient Life and how to live it" has a chapter on beekeeping but it assumes you live in the country.
My backyard is about 50 x 20, with a little L shaped bit that I want to put a chicken coop in. Is that too small to keep a small bee hive? Kids and cats play back there, and we eat meals there in the summer.
My backyard is about 50 x 20, with a little L shaped bit that I want to put a chicken coop in. Is that too small to keep a small bee hive? Kids and cats play back there, and we eat meals there in the summer.
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Los Angeles
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Wed, January 7, 2004 - 10:22 AMI don't really know. I don't have hives myself. But I have seen them on people's porches! so I think that proximity isn't really a problem unless your dog or kids harrass them and allergic to stings. How about putting the hive on your roof? I have an even smaller backyard than you so I'm looking for a community garden that will take my hive. One thing you need to consider is what your bees will be able to collect. If you live in a concrete jungle there might not be enough flowers. Another reason why a commmunity garden would be a good location. -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Sun, February 15, 2004 - 10:12 AMBees have an average three mile travel radius. Thats a lot of area and even if you live in a large city there are plenty of flowers. A few cities have ordinances about beekeeping you might want to check yours. I know that the mayor of Chicago has bees on several rooftops in his city. If you have the ability to do this make sure they won't get too hot. Your only problems might be proximity to a fresh water supply (although you could provide one), meddling neighbors, and vandals. You could probably keep a beehive in your living room and never get stung, as long as you stay out of their flight path. Honeybees don't want to sting you because they will die. The only reason they would is in defense of the hive. -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Sun, February 15, 2004 - 10:21 AMOh, and if you want to keep a chicken coop in your yard along with the bees... the chickens will probably eat the bees. I'd be more worried about the proximity to the chicken feces that the bee hive. -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Wed, January 3, 2007 - 7:37 PMcheck out the city ordinance on LIVESTOCK..most cities do not allow it...
however, I live in a city that does not have an ordinance on it...
so its kind of a deal where if they dont say its illegal, then its not -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Wed, January 3, 2007 - 7:44 PMTHere's no technical reason from the bees' perspective why they can't do well in the city. THey dont use your backyard, they use your neighbors' back yards, so don't worry about your own.
I'd suggest not using that book, though- there is some REALLY bad old advice when it comes to the use of chemicals and medicines in the hive, which doesn't help the bees in the long run. There are some really good resources for organic beekeeping online especially for organic and 'smallcell' and top-bar or foundationless beekeeping, which are superior methods (over conventional AMerican beekeeping) from a disease resistance/bee health standpoint. James and I mentioned a few of them here in this thread:
beesbuzz.tribe.net/thread/c...e8beffa8c
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Wed, January 3, 2007 - 10:41 PMEven when cities have an ordinance against keeping bees within city limits.....oftentimes the ordinance isn't enforced unless someone files a complaint. So, if your city does have such an ordinance ....it would be a good idea (and a good idea anyway) to be in the open and get straight with the neighbors so that you're less likely to have problems down the line. It's such a hassle and disappointment to get the hives set up and then find out that a neighbor is paranoid of bees or claims to have an allergy to bee stings.....better to check all that out from the start. Set the hives up in a area as far away from the neighbors as possible where they won't interfere with anyone.....and then be sure to share some honey with the neighbors after extracting. People quite enjoy being able to point to the beehives and tell their guests that the honey they are eating was harvested from on site bees.
I've known people who built structures to hide the presence of their beehives. I would advise against this....cause if someone does find out about the bees it puts you in a negative light. And, it's not too much fun keeping and working bees when it's "a secret mission."
Bees can do quite well in cities. There aren't likely to be many other beekeepers in the heart of the city....so your bees may have more forage to themselves. And, in cities like San Francisco.....there can be park areas that are heavily planted with eucalyptus trees and other such excellent nectar sources. -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Sun, January 21, 2007 - 7:44 AMWhat about having a bee hive in Texas, where killer bees have been reported---and attacks upon livestock and humans? -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Sat, January 27, 2007 - 6:32 AMWhat about having a bee hive in Texas, where killer bees have been reported---and attacks upon livestock and humans?
My bees are wild caught in a swarm trap,and unless you are trying to break into the hive and something else they don't like,(loud noises like a lawnmower)they are not a problem,All native bees in tx have now crossbred with the killer bee strain and are slowly becoming more tolerate and not so easy to upset.That being said I never open my hive w/o wearing a bee suit.One time a couple of bees got after one of my dogs ,but they never bothered each other after that incident.In other words the dog learned to leave them alone.My hive sets in my back yard well away from anything that could bother them.Killer bees are not a problem unless you start pissing them off...
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Thu, August 19, 2004 - 4:12 PMJennifer, Hi,
I kept bees for twenty years starting when i was young until i was thirty. Depending on where you live, the city ordinaces in regards to beekeeping, the seaonal honey flows in your area and the type of honey bees you keep will all factor into a backyard beehive. I have always followed the rule that two hives are better than one in that you will have brood to bolster a queenless hive (in that event) until a new queen can arrive by mail.
In any event, please stock up on beekeeping specific books like "Getting Started With Bees" by Dadant Publishing so that you have a grasp of some of the considerations involved and have all the gear needed. Finding a sucessful hobiest beekeeper in your own area is a very wise course of action as well. If you do take up bees, i welcome you to the greatest hoby i have ever been in.
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Wed, January 23, 2008 - 8:21 PMKeeping bees in the City is in many ways superior to keeping bees in the country, especially in Southern California where we may go 8 months without rain. A bee will fly 3-5 miles in one direction to find nectar, pollen, water, or plant extracts and return to the hive. A normal neighborhood is filled with people that like to replace their annual (and even perennial) flowers with freshly blooming versions several times a year. Street trees are also a large source of pollen and nectar for bees. With year-round sources of nectar, a hive in the city can produce more surplus honey than a hive in rural areas. Also, if you are curious, you would call this "Wildflower" honey.
Your best book to start would be either Beekeeping for Dummies (found on Amazon) OR First Lessons in Beekeeping by Dadant. I recommend Beekeeping for Dummies to all new/potential beekeepers. It has a good general overview of beekeeping as well as explanations on how to physically start a hive. After that I recommend joining one or two of your nearest Beekeeping Associations/clubs. This is where you will find beekeepers to answer your multitude of questions and listen to various techniques to successfully maintaining your hives as a hobbiest/backyard beekeeper, sideliner, or commercial beekeeper. I am the president of the Beekeepers Association of Southern California (BASC) who meet on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7pm in La Mirada. www.bascbees.org Keeping bees in the City is in many ways superior to keeping bees in the country, especially in Southern California where we may go 8 months without rain. A bee will fly 3-5 miles in one direction to find nectar, pollen, water, or plant extracts and return to the hive. A normal neighborhood is filled with people that like to replace their annual (and even perennial) flowers with freshly blooming versions several times a year. Street trees are also a large source of pollen and nectar for bees. With year-round sources of nectar, a hive in the city can produce more surplus honey than a hive in rural areas. Also, if you are curious, you would call this "Wildflower" honey.
Your best book to start would be either Beekeeping for Dummies (found on Amazon) OR First Lessons in Beekeeping by Dadant. I recommend Beekeeping for Dummies to all new/potential beekeepers. It has a good general overview of beekeeping as well as explanations on how to physically start a hive. After that I recommend joining one or two of your nearest Beekeeping Associations/clubs. This is where you will find beekeepers to answer your multitude of questions and listen to various techniques to successfully maintaining your hives as a hobbiest/backyard beekeeper, sideliner, or commercial beekeeper. I am the president of the Beekeepers Association of Southern California (BASC) who meet on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7pm in La Mirada. www.bascbees.org -
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Re: Beekeeping in the city?
Thu, January 24, 2008 - 9:48 AMBeekeeping for Dummies is all about chemical dependant beekeeping. I read it before getting started, and almost didn't keep bees because of all the chemicals that book said were nessisary. Fortunatly, I was interested in Top Bar Hives, which are easy to build, and originally designed for development work in Africa. I have two TBHs and use chemical free methods, and am loving beekeeping.
If one is truly interested in chemical free beekeeping, check out,
pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/O...keepers/
This is a Yahoo group devoted to chemical free beekeeping, it has about 1600 members and is international in scope. It has many Langstoth and THB keepers. The volume of mail can get pretty heavy sometimes so I recomend daily digest or web only settings.
www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
Michael Bush is a long time chemical free beekeeper, he has done a lot of work on small cell beekeeping which makes bees more resistant to varroa mites, he has Top Bar Hive plans, and load of great info, he's been keeping bees for over 30 years.
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