Beekeeping for Happy Neighbors

Where to put your colonies

• Away from property lines
• Build screens so colonies are out of sight. Use fencing, buildings or shrubbery
• Have screens tall enough to direct flight paths at least 6 feet high
• Keep away from occupied buildings, but if close, away from entrances and walkways
• Use neutral colors for your colonies
• Place on substantial hive stands
• Leave enough room between the screens and the hives to work around the colonies
• Avoid having droppings fall on neighbors
• Face natural flight paths away from neighbors, your yard or garden, no matter the height of the screen

Provide Water At all times

• Place colonies near a natural water source if possible
• If a natural source isn’t available, provide a permanent water source that does not go dry, including water gardens, automatic livestock water devices, dripping faucets, drip irrigation pipes and the like. NEVER let a water source run dry.

Population

• On a typical city lot the number of colonies should remain reasonable... one or two is suggested, more than five is not. This includes nucs, top bar hives and standard 10 or 8 frame hives
• If hives are kept on roof tops this number may be increased, but doubled may be too many. On larger lots, city or suburban, these numbers may be proportionally increased

Beekeeping

• Colonies must be registered with the state apiary division of the department of agriculture, and any other agency requiring registration
• If inspection is part of registration, colonies should be inspected as often as required vAll colonies must be in moveable frame hives
• Do not work colonies when neighbors are outside
• Do not work colonies when the weather is not favorable
• Do not work colonies at night
• Do not leave unused beekeeping equipment or hive debris anywhere outside where bees can find it
• Only work colonies during the best part of the day…mid morning to mid afternoon
• Requeen aggressive colonies, immediately
• All queens should be marked
• If colonies are kept on land not owned by the beekeeper, but with permission of the owner, the beekeeper should have a sign conspicuously posted giving contact information
• Avoid robbing situations, stop robbing immediately if it begins
• Prevent swarming
• Make certain your insurance coverage includes coverage for honey bees
• Keep good records of all your activities, you may need them later
• The beekeeper should belong to a local beekeeping organization
• The beekeeper should have taken a beekeeping class, and be able to offer proof
• Extracting facilities should be bee-tight so bees are not escaping from the building
• Extracted honey supers should not be left outside on vehicles or in piles inviting bee visitation