Urban Farm And Beehives

photo by lunaranja

I was finally able to set up a meeting with the property owner with the two abandoned beehives in his backyard early December.  I wasn’t able to go, but my beekeeping partner kept the appointment.  This is what she found:

• I had suspected that a certain beekeeper in the area had been the one who abandoned the hives, and surprise, surprise, I was right.
• The bees had survived last winter without any winter preparations.
• The hives had swarmed three times last spring.

We will see if the bees survive the winter as it has been a cold one, but frankly, I am not willing to take these 2 hives on as the homeowner is a 30 minute drive away.  If we lived in the country, I don’t think I’d mind a 30 minute drive on less-traveled streets, but I don’t like driving and hauling equipment through an urban area.  I was hoping he would let us manage the bees in our backyard, but he wants to keep these hives on his property which is understandable.

Would you manage these hives?  What do you think?  I welcome your input as I am still of two minds about this issue.  Please let me know your opinion by leaving a comment below.  Thank you.

photo courtesy of AYakuban

Well,  I spoke with the homeowner of the yard with the abandoned beehives.  If you will recall from my last post, the beekeeper basically stopped checking in on the beehives she placed in his yard FOR THE LAST YEAR.  I had tried to find a good day, weather-wise for the bees, to visit the hives. Unfortunately, we are supposed to have showers/rain the next couple of days which would not be good for opening the hive.

I did ask the homeowner some questions:

1. Were the hives treated with any chemicals?
2. What’s the temperament of the bees?
3. Do the bees have any known pests or diseases?

He wasn’t sure about questions 1 and 3, but he thought no to both questions.  As we spoke on the phone, he kept telling me when bees entered the hive. As for the general mood of the bees, he thought they were mellow as he had young kids underfoot.  I heard the kid crashing around in the background.

He was concerned because he said some thing had been trying to get into the hives.  I asked him if he saw paw prints on the hive entrances.  He didn’t recall any muddy paw prints, but described the holes dug around the hives. Skunks!!!  I mentioned I hoped the hives were at least 16 inches (or about 40 cm) off the ground as the skunks would have to get u on their hind legs to snuffle around the entrances.  This would expose the skunk’s belly to the bees’ stingers.  He said he put a bunch of rocks around to discourage the skunks.

This issue had me thinking about the arrangements beekeepers might make with any potential home owners.  Someone had written a comment to my last post saying the homeowner had jurisdiction especially if the hives have been neglected for many months.

What kind of agreements should beekeepers make with homeowners?  Does anyone know of any contracts out there pertaining to this kind of arrangement?  If so let me know by leaving a comment below.  When we get to check out the hives, I will report on that too, of course. Thanks! ~Mil

A while back, I received a comment concerning the influx of new beekeepers (scroll down to comments) who’ve gotten into the game because it’s the new urban cool. Sometimes, it is just a wish that never comes to pass, and other times, folks put a lot of energy into making it come true.

The commenter wrote of the problems she’s seen in the past couple of years as the newly eager flock to keep bees.  She is concerned about the fallout from so many people keeping bees who are inexperienced, ignorant, or not dedicated to learning well how to keep bees.  For instance, she worried that many new beekeepers would realize they don’t like it, leaving in their wake abandoned hives.  I admit I was in a bit of denial.  Who the heck would spend the money and invest the time to keep bees only to give it up after a year or two???

Enter my own close-to-home example.  After getting back from Europe, someone asked me if I wouldn’t mind harvesting the honey from her friends’ two backyard hives.  I asked, “Where’s the beekeeper?”  She said that the beekeeper wasn’t there, as it was one of those “honey for space in your backyard” deals, and the absent beekeeper wasn’t responding to her friends’ (the owners of the backyard) many phone calls and pleas.  In fact, she became angry at his requests!

I was hesitant.  I didn’t want the beekeeper to get angry with me for taking her equipment or “her honey” off the property.  I asked how long this beekeeper had neglected these hives, and I was told that she hadn’t checked the bees in a year.  Her friend was so angry at the beekeeper’s surly and irresponsible behavior that he was not going to let her onto his property anymore.  As far as he was concerned, the hiveware and bees were now his to do with as he pleased.

I am concerned about these bees. I was just out in my own bee yard recently getting our bees ready for the winter.  Were those other bees going to get through winter?  I asked my contact to ask her friend some questions:  Had the bees been treated with chemicals?  What is their temperament?  Do they suffer from any known diseases? Have the owners of the property really seen bees coming in and out of the entrance? She said the owners had seen bees at the entrance, so now I am waiting to hear answers to the other questions.

When I hear, I will let you know.  In the meantime, if you want to keep bees, please consider what beekeeper Rita wrote in my Beekeeping Tips post: Take a full year to fully explore this hobby before taking the plunge.  Very wise words indeed.

Share your wisdom with me.  What would you do in this situation?  Please let me know by leaving a comment below.