An apiary arranged in a forest has its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is that the insect conditions are close to natural, and the minus is the high probability of the apiary being destroyed by bears. About the features of the maintenance of the apiary and how to discourage it from wild animals, read below.

Features of keeping apiary in the forest

Historically, the first apiaries began to be equipped precisely in forests and honeybees were kept in hollows of trees or in specially prepared decks. Much later, hives began to be used.

The main features of the content of bees in the forest:

1. The choice of insect breed should be approached very carefully, since not every swarm can take root in the forest.
2. Apiaries located in forests cannot be left without protection from wild animals, hunters and mushroom pickers.
3. An apiary passport should be kept - a document reflecting control over the health of insects. It can be conducted independently, recording all autumn and spring examinations of families, or together with a veterinarian.

Important! When installing hives in the forest, it is necessary to use portable lightweight structures so that in case of an unforeseen situation (attack by animals, bad weather, etc.) they can be easily moved.

What is the difference between an apiary in a forest and a home one?

A point located in the forest is primarily distinguished by the quality and quantity of products received. A rationally placed apiary allows bees to use more honey plants. Unlike home maintenance, the beekeeper will not have to confront neighbors who will interfere with his activities.In the forest, it is less likely that insects will fall on meadows or gardens immediately after poisoning pests with chemically toxic drugs

Features of accommodation

When the breed of bees is selected, thorough preparation for the placement of beehives should be made. The terrain plays an important role for the health of workers, as well as the quantity and quality of the crop.

Did you know? A bee will never sting a person, even if it is in a rage.

How to choose a place

When placing hives in the forest, first of all you need to start by choosing a location. The first and most important criterion is the diversity of flora - the territory is examined for the presence of honey plants, analyzing when and which herbs bloom and for how long this period lasts. Studying the diversity of grass cover is not enough, because in the forest the main sources of nectar and pollen are trees (maple, linden, elm, willow). It is most reasonable to go to the forestry to resolve this issue, since it is unlikely to conduct such an inspection on your own.The second, important factor is the distance to natural reservoirs - there should not be water on the way of the bee to the honey plants. High humidity has a bad effect on the immunity state of bees. In addition, insects that are too tired and overloaded with nectar do not, in most cases, just fly back because they are drowning. Deciduous forests are best for creating apiaries.

Did you know? For a day, one working bee can visit about 7 thousand flowers.

A few rules for placing an apiary in the forest:

1. The highest productivity of an apiary located in the forest is observed when localized at the edge of the forest, and not deep in the massif. The fact is that from the edges of the insects there is access to all nearby meadows and fields, but in the depths of the forest there is no such possibility, plus it is quite cool and the humidity is much higher.
2. When choosing a location, one should take into account the direction of the winds, and protect the hives from them from the north with dense shrubs.
3. There should be good access to the territory where the point is located - insects will need to be inspected in spring and autumn, as well as be able to transport hives for the winter to the premises. Given this, you need to choose a place to which you can drive by car.
4. In too dense forests, getting honey will never be great, because under the trees growing at a sufficient distance from each other, there are more different bushes and herbaceous plants. With excessive thickening of the lower tiers of the branches, the melliferous forbs are scarce, because they do not receive enough light.
5. You need to position the apiary on the most even area - this will save energy on installing the hives in even rows. Lowlands, marshy and shady areas are not suitable for apiary placement - the microclimate in such zones is harmful for bees.
6. In the forest, you can leave the hives all year round or take them out only for the summer, and take them indoors for the winter.
7. The distance to industrial crops should be taken into account - they are constantly treated with herbicides from harmful insects and diseases, which can destroy the whole swarm.

How to place beehives

When placing hives, it is necessary to build wooden stands under them 30–50 cm high above ground level. The basic rule of placement is the orientation of the slots to the cardinal points. They should be turned to the southeast or southwest - these directions are more “warm”, and also allow the bees to navigate in temporary space, tracking the intensity of sunlight. On approaching the hives themselves, there should be no obstacles.

Important! In order not to look for a way to scare away the bear, it is better to immediately find out about the possible dangers of this kind among foresters right at the stage of choosing the area. It is quite difficult to discourage the beast and far from always loud sounds can do this, but other inhabitants of the forest can suffer from this.

How to scare away a bear from an apiary?

The bear ruins the hives, eating not only bee products, but also brood. The animal usually picks up the first hive that has come and carries it to a certain distance from the location of the apiary. Often, the owners of such lands find devastated beehives near ponds.

There are several effective ways to scare away an animal from an apiary:

1. Using electric shepherd - is a fence made of wire 3 m high, mounted on poles. A current is supplied to it. The voltage is high, but in direct contact with the electric shepherd the animal will not suffer, but only scare away. The same techniques are used when grazing cows in the summer, horses, so that they do not leave a specific territory.
2. Stretching from the bear - as a deterrence, you can use the firecrackers “Lemon” (just like a grenade of the same name, it works when pulling checks). This type of protection involves the phased fixing on each side of the apiary of two supports, to which a twine is attached, tied with its ends to the checks of the pyrotechnic devices. The stretch is always in tension, and when exposed to mechanical stress, pulls out checks from firecrackers. The beast will run away from loud noise.
3. High fence construction - for its construction you need to use smooth sheet metal. Such a fence cannot be overcome by the beast, since it will have nothing to cling to with its claws and teeth. To increase the efficiency of the structure, boards with nails protruding upward are laid out around the perimeter of the fence.

Choosing a way to fight a wild beast, you need to take into account the degree of its influence on other inhabitants of the forest - the activity of the beekeeper should not violate the symbiosis in the natural zone. The safest method is electroshepherd. But it may not always be effective. If none of the above methods helped, you should transport the apiary to another location.

Beginner Beekeeper Tips

Some useful tips for beginning beekeepers:

1. When planning the number of bee colonies in an apiary, take into account the proximity of the location of the food supply - insects should not starve, and flights over a distance of more than 2 km will wear out their body too quickly.
2. Be sure to make sure that your apiary is located away from other people's land with bees and wild hives. Otherwise, with a small bribe, theft will begin, and the weakest families will die.
3. Do not place dots near confectioneries or bakery products. A sweet smell will distract the bees from collecting nectar.
4. Also, always consider the possibility of self-sowing directly in the apiary of honey plants or planting trees. If there is such an opportunity, arrange the beds so that they grow and bloom plants throughout the warm period, that is, some have faded - others have entered this phase. In this case, the bees will have enough food to winter, and you will have good honey collection.

Forest apiary has its advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage is the presence of bears in such territories. But if you wisely approach the choice of area for placing hives, then the bribes of honey products in the forest zone will be much higher than in the conditions of a home apiary.