# Any BeeKeepers out there?



## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Wow, what a mess!

I keep bees but in the year I've had them only been stung ONCE! Mine are in the yard and I haven't had a single problem.

I absolutely don't know WHY they set the hive so close to "your" barn? Really really stupid!

Tell them to close them up one evening and relocate them much much further away, like across their property! They will be fine, or die, who cares. If really worried about them they can put an ad out on CL for a summer foster home, people love bee hives around small farms. It's them or a lawsuit if someone gets hurt.
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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

They are more worried about their money than their neighbors safety and happiness. There just isn't enough land between us, in my OP. There is about 3-4 acres on each lot. They have goats, chickens, turkeys, horses, dogs, and 2 kids, so they would rather risk their neighbors safety with their bees than theirs.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Oh my goodness, they just CAN'T put bees next to stalls/barns/corrals. PERIOD END OF STORY. If the bees swarm into your barn while the horses are stalled, they are gonners.

You also want a nice quiet place to enjoy, why should YOU have to worry about angry trespassing bees?
Mine are on the back of my yard fence, next to one of my 1.5 acre rotational paddocks that I can shut the horses out of when I work mine. I don't have neighbors.

The safety rule for beekeeping is PEOPLE then LIVESTOCK then BEES. Ask her if her mentor has ever mentioned that?
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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

No, it's not right. I don't know where they got the idea that it was OK. Especially after the landlord (their neighbor) told them specifically NOT to put bees there. He was adamant about it for 2 years living there. As I've said, I'm surprised they even got bees when they have a 3 year old. Anyway, stall gates are open to turn out for now. I hate feeding them together because my mare is such a bully, but there is nothing to be done about it right now. Nobody is getting stalled until this is resolved.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Wellll bees are ok if you have kids, and actually watch them... I grew up helping tend my Papa's bees, I think I was 5 the first time I helped and most days we didn't suit up. Most bees are generally docile and we knew better to mess with them.

But you are so right, this is not acceptable and I worry about your horses. God forbid, I hate scaring you and I LOVE my bees, if a predator knocked over the hive or there was a wind storm they'd be in trouble if confined really close by.

How close are they? Like 5 feet? 20? Still doesn't matter, they need to be moved ASAP.
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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

The bees are around 12 feet away from closest stall (that I use. have a 3rd stall I don't use and they are really close to that). The horses turnout I believe is about 100' long-the size of a small arena. If I walk to the far corner of turnout behind stalls, I'm basically right next to bees. So close I could probably get a decent sized branch, poke it through the no climb and knock the hives over (not that I ever would! O.O just giving you a distance estimate).

They kept going on about "the bees have never done that before". They've had the bees for maybe a month. I think this was the first time they removed queens. They have to change out queens every 6 weeks. I don't want to deal with angry bee swarms every six weeks! I guess they have to change them out frequently because it's a desert and if they leave the bees they run the risk of them becoming "africanized".

You make me a little nervous with the thing about storms. They have rottweilers that could knock the boxes over if excited about something at front of property, and we often have strong high winds here in desert. In fact, one of their rottweilers gets stung frequently because of running to gate to bark.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Yep, they need/must go. I'd be ringing your landlord silly.

I love love love bees, we need MORE bees. But stupid people like these is what gets beekeeping in urban environments/neighborhoods outlawed.
Which in many cases is where they are safest from agricultural pesticides. *shakes head*
Good luck!
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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

My landlord has been in on the whole thing and is doing his best to help us. I called the county for the third time and finally got connected to a specialized agent. They are going to see what they can find out and get back to me. I don't get what the big deal is about moving the bees if they do it correctly. I'll keep the thread updated.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

We don't have bees now, but MDH used to work on a bee farm and hopefully this spring we will be getting our first hive. Personally, I have to stay away from the little critters as I am slightly allergic to them -which apparently gets worse with age.  

Anyway, that all said, I don't see why in blazes their mentor would tell them that you can only move them 5 feet or 1 mile. That's bologna. Sure, they might loose a bit of honey production, but if it is the first year, then they're not going to have a production year this go round anyway. 

They should move them. I don't know what the laws are in your area, but here if a neighbour interferes with the use and enjoyment of your property, they can be charged.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I just got dive bombed by the ****ed things when all I was trying to do was hang up hay nets! I wasn't doing anything to attract their attention. I was moving very slowly. They started hovering and then dive bombing my hair. I ran like hell for the house again. This cannot go on. I can't even feed my horses without them bothering me now. This is just ridiculous.


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## Rob55 (Mar 6, 2014)

FlyGap said:


> Wow, what a mess!
> 
> I keep bees but in the year I've had them only been stung ONCE! Mine are in the yard and I haven't had a single problem.
> 
> ...


My son works bees. He moves wild hives for free to locate them on property he manages. He likes the bees. The people who call him like them gone. He moves them all the time. They do not die.
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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

The situation is completely out of hand. I just called the neighbor telling her that it is out of hand. I explained that I had found sources online (other than this forum) that say it is OK to move bees less distance than a mile. She told me "I am not dealing with this everyday. You can talk to my husband." And hung up on my without even giving me a chance to explain that the bees had been coming after me today when I wasn't doing anything to provoke and they really needed to be moved.
Then on the brink of tears I called the landlord. He is going to have dealings with them from now on. I am not even going to try anymore. They have turned out to be just offle horrible selfish people. I don't know why anyone would put bees above someone else' safety. As the landlord said, they just don't want the bees near their animals. They would rather risk their neighbors safety and their neighbors animals. I guess I'd better keep an eye out for another place to live and spend a lot of time in prayer. This is only my 3rd week here.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

WOOHOO!! YES! The bees are being moved! :happydance: :clap: Our landlord called them up and had it out with them (just a bit). They are moving the bees within next few days. I have to say our landlord is pretty awesome. Really nice people.
This whole fiasco threw off my riding program yet another week. Oh well. At least my horse has been in turn out and not sitting in a stall. Back to jumping in a few days then! :wink:


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

(Here's a "reprint" of my answer to this question from another thread, which I am including for reference in case anyone else gets this kind of problem.)

Hey H2524, we're beekeepers and I wanted to chime in here.

First of all, it's really inconsiderate of your neighbour to keep hives so close to your boundary that they interfere with your use of your own property. It may or may not be illegal depending on your local legislation, so check. Either way, can you complain to your town bureaucracies because of nuisance? Also another thing - check with your department of agriculture. In many countries you have to have a license to keep bees and hives need to get inspected on a regular basis for disease and mismanagement. If your neighbour wasn't licensed in a place where licenses are required, they could be fined and/or the bees taken off them. You can basically ask at your department of agriculture about nuisance beehives and whether they have a beekeeper register and can deal with it.

I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't licensed. I say that because part of proper bee management is to re-queen the hives with specially bred gentle queens every 12-24 months because otherwise hives re-queen themselves with increasingly aggressive queens (and therefore produce more aggressive workers) because of interbreeding with feral drones.

We have four hives in our orchard, next to the area that contains my horse tie rail, and have not had any issue with bees bothering us. I also often hang washing on lines in the orchard and don't get bothered unless I'm really close (within 3m) to a hive that hasn't been re-queened in a while. I've only been attacked once by a bee when not actually taking the hives apart, and that was a freak event, I think I must have accidentally partly squashed it or something when watering my vegetables, and boy did it go for me then, you should have seen me run! Got stung right on the rim of a nostril and my nose looked like a potato the next day. The bee pursued me stingless (they lose the sting immediately they sting you, and it dooms them to death because it tears up their abdomen) for another 400 metres and I was still running even though I knew this fact, because of the pain and because I wasn't sure if the original bee had any friends with her! Anyway, never another problem, just a one-off there.

It's not good to keep bee hives close to areas where horses are paddocked, because horses close to hives can get attacked, especially if they are sweating. That's why we have the hives near the utility area where I tie the horses when I'm working with them, and not right next to their actual paddocks. This way I will know if a problem is developing, stop a horse getting into trouble, and make a mental note to re-queen ASAP - which is what I would do if I suddenly got bothered by my bees.

Moving bee hives: The hive entrances have to be plugged up after dark when all the bees are "home" and then the hive has to be moved at least 2km to stop all the workers returning to the original hive position. The other alternative is to move the hive 1-2 m each evening until it is far enough away. You can't do that obviously, but if your neighbours won't, and you have no luck with your authorities, and there is no other way to stop this unacceptable situation then you can bait the bees on your side of the fence with a product called Ant-Rid (sugary liquid with borax in it). Place it in drops on a plate close to the target hive on your side of the fence to prevent non-target insects getting killed by the stuff. Stay away for a while because within a hour the bees will be all over the bait in droves and get quite aggressive. Borax isn't particularly toxic to people, so people won't be killed eating whatever trace they stick in the honey bees are making before they die within a day of eating. Repeat the procedure until no more bees.


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