Home Is Where the Bees Are: The Best Land for Beekeeping

Although you can keep bees in urban, suburban, and rural areas, certain types of land and land factors create a more suitable environment for bees and beekeeping than others. Factors such as water, climate, forage, and predators determine how your bees live and produce honey.

Climate and Temperature

Honey bees have adapted to all types of environments, especially in the United States. However, the local climates affect when flowers and plants bloom and how bees live (or don’t live) throughout the winter.

Beekeepers in environments that get cold should avoid placing hives in areas with poor air flow that may create cool, moist conditions that affect how bees winter. You can create windbreaks using shrubbery or fencing that protect the hive entrances from the wind.

Sun exposure and dry conditions are also essential aspects of hives’ livelihoods. When colonies are kept in sunlight, they experience fewer problems with varroa, tracheal mites, small hive beetle, and other insects. However, it’s important to not let the hives overheat in full sun.

Forage

If there is a constant supply of pollen and nectar from spring to fall from fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and bushes, one acre of land should be sufficient for one colony. In your own backyards, you can “feed” your bees by not mowing dandelions, planting pollinator-friendly plants, and avoiding neonicotinoid plants, (which may feed your bees…but then will kill them!).

Open meadowland is the most ideal for beekeeping and allows for the greatest honey yield, especially if there is wetland nearby. Land surrounded by forests and trees is not preferable if the shade limits the growth of plants that bees pollinate, which can hinder honey production. 

Ample and diverse food sources must be available for bees to feed on. There should be plenty of flowers in bloom, supplemented by sugar syrup and pollen supplements from the beekeeper if needed. In North America, willow, aspen, maple, and alder produce the first spring pollen for the first few weeks. 

Next, dandelions bloom for about three weeks, and clover blooms from early July through September. Clover is great for the dry season because it is drought-resistant. Fruit trees produce substantial amounts of nectar and pollen, but after a few weeks, they are gone. Flowers from black locust, basswood, and other trees also create a lot of nectar for bees.

In colder areas, bees must have enough pollen in the summer and fall to sustain themselves through the winter and mid-winter broodrearing. For areas with long, cold winters, early nectar sources are essential for survival and reproduction. Food sources should also be consistent year round—in some areas, there may be a large supply of spring flowers that disappear when the summer comes around.

However, keep in mind that bees fly anywhere from 2 to 3 miles to look for nectar sources, so the food can be spread out and not be directly in your backyard. However, be wary of crops treated with insecticides and pesticides that can be toxic to bees.

Water

A proper water source should be available nearby so your bees don’t have to expend a large amount of energy to fly to a far source. They tend to gravitate to small ponds or creeks. Because bees tend to use the same water source over and over again, it’s important to make sure that the main water source isn’t a hot tub or swimming pool next door.

Bees are notorious for loving to drink from “dirty” water sources, such as muddy puddles or animal feeding troughs. These “dirty” water sources are filled with various nutrients like sodium chloride (salt) that come from organic materials, and the bees use olfactory cues to seek the mineral-rich water out.

If you need to set up your own water source, make sure it’s at least 15 feet away from the hive so the bees can orient themselves around it. You can use a dripping faucet that leaks water to a wooden board or even make a water garden out of a barrel as long as it’s shallow to keep bees from drowning or you’ve put in sticks, corks, or other objects that bees can easily hold on to. 

Nearby Beekeeping

As mentioned in a previous blog, several types of honeybees are more inclined to rob other bees’ hives. After the honey is harvested from the hives and bees are moved to their summer locations, they will be hungry. If there are other hives nearby, the bees can potentially rob these other hives and devastate these colonies.

Spacing out neighboring colonies can also ensure that local resources aren’t depleted quickly while preventing the spread of mites and diseases.

Wherever you live, remember to keep these tips in mind so that your honey bees are in the best shape, whether they live in your city backyard or are on a farmer’s watermelon fields nearby!

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