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That sounds like a good idea, if only to try to reduce heat loss from the hives.
What are average wind speeds at your location? At the bottom of this page bees in high winds????? there is a comment by Michael Bush that bees typically don't fly at wind speeds over 25mph.
Merrill
Merrill
Bonnie, nice to hear from you and hope all is well up north. Sounds like you could do some wind power, wanted to do that to supplement my solar but not enough wind where I live to make it pencil out. Someday we want to do a road trip to Vancouver maybe we could drop by and say hi.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Typical daily winds range from the upper teens to upper 20’s, although it is not uncommon to see wind speeds averaging in the high 20’s and gusting above 30 mph. And higher. There are usually quiet parts of the day, mornings typically, so they'll have fly time. I also plan to spend this spring/summer planting lots of lavender and such on the bluff and anywhere else that won't be developed.
The previous owner of the property told me that there is an interesting effect where the wind coming up the bluff-side of the property keeps going straight up and skips over the first 20' or so. We'll see. I'm going to put an internet-connected wind meter out there and see for myself.
Good news, too - looking at Google maps, there are a couple of very large peach and apple orchards within 1/4 mile. By road, it's about 2 miles, but 'as the bee flies' it's def less than 1/4 mile.
I'm about 40 miles down river from Bonnie, but we can get intense winds here. Directly across the Columbia from us is Vista House and they have recorded gusts as high as 100 mph, though that's only when big storms are coming in.
When we're having a wind storm sustained winds of 30-40 mph are not unusual. The wind is more constant where Bonnie is and I think it's a bit less intense when there is a storm, but it is the wind surfing capital of the world.
I put in an internet connected weather station a few years back. The wind meter is not in the best spot, though it reads better this time of year than in the summer (the trees don't have any leaves to block the wind this time of year). I think we're getting more accurate readings this winter because the cedar tree to the east is gone.
If you want to keep deer from eating your garden, I've heard lavender and thyme work well to keep them away. We have both in a flower bed and the deer don't mess with that area much, though they love munching on my apple trees. Deer are considered a garden pest around here and they are cheeky too. They'll just stand there and look at you when you try to chase them away.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Yes, well, you're talking to a Colorado transplant here and also had a daily deer family that wandered at my place in California. Washington deer have nothing on Boulder deer. Those deer have to stake their claim against elk. And yes, lavender helps. I had a fenced garden in California and planted the outside perimeter with plants that don't appeal to deer - bottle brush (bee favorite), lavender, nasturtiums, rosemary, etc. I'm ON it!
The key, of course, is the fence. Because otherwise, no garden.
Last spring we had warmth early and the honey bees were active earlier than usual. They had a tough time finding food, but I had some thyme plants that bloom in February and the bees were all over those. When the fruit trees starting blooming the bees ignored the fruit trees initially, the thyme was more interesting to them.
Bonnie, it sounds to me like it would be a good idea to consider running a ratcheting strap around each of your hives at your new location.
The nearby fruit orchards sound very promising!
The nearby fruit orchards sound very promising!
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I totally agree re the strap. And without pointing out the exact location of the property, it's easily within this photo - and the orchards should be obvious.
Well, "Columbia River Gorge" as your location is no joke. You're virtually immersed in it. If you're lucky, no radio or cable signals can make their way in. You don't want to know what's going on out here.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
The Bonneville Power Administration has a high speed communication network that runs up the Gorge and they have been leasing bandwidth. Google has a data center just south of Bonnie.
Finding a cell signal can be a trick because of all the hills. My SO's ex lives in the same town as Bonnie (my SO and he are still friends) and he had a lot of trouble doing anything with his cell phone until he connected it via wifi.
I was actually just making a joke, but I appreciate the interesting background nonetheless.
muleferg
Active Member
Electric700
Active Member
muleferg
Active Member
Thanks. Back in the old day the local folks would sell local honey on the side of road to Boone. Lot of folks would come to the mountains from Florida would stop and buy local honey. What they didn't know was it was orange blossom honey from FL. 
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
I've been occasionally finding a honey bee in my house... I live in the middle of the desert in SE NM so I always kinda wondered where they were coming from... now I have one possible source... MY HOUSE! I found a decent sized colony in one one the eaves. This thread has made we want to get some bees... I would just prefer them to be in a bee box and not my house.
I'm counting a bee every 2-5s... not sure how big the colony really is but seems like quite a few. Any suggestions on what I should do? If I buy a flow box how hard would it be to transplant the colony? How much of a mess are they making in my attic? How much would it cost to hire someone to move them? I'm excited and worried... let's call it worcited
Looks like the hive is ~1' x 1' x 1'
I'm counting a bee every 2-5s... not sure how big the colony really is but seems like quite a few. Any suggestions on what I should do? If I buy a flow box how hard would it be to transplant the colony? How much of a mess are they making in my attic? How much would it cost to hire someone to move them? I'm excited and worried... let's call it worcited
Looks like the hive is ~1' x 1' x 1'
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If you get an empty hive, you can wait until they swarm, capture the new queen and deposit her at the hive. She'll probably move in. The original hive will probably keep going though. I believe there are bee keepers who also remove unwanted hives from the wrong places.
When we moved into this house we have a hive of a different sort in the attic over the master bath toilet. It was a yellow jacket hive the exterminator said was one of the largest he'd seen in 25 years.
When we moved into this house we have a hive of a different sort in the attic over the master bath toilet. It was a yellow jacket hive the exterminator said was one of the largest he'd seen in 25 years.
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