Installing apiaries in an area accessible to vehicles
The accessibility of the apiary with vehicles is crucial for the efficiency of the beekeeper's work and to ensure timely intervention in the hives when needed.
All apiaries should be easily accessible with vehicles in all seasons of the year.
The advantages of the accessibility are numerous:
- the apiary can be visited more frequently,
- help could be obtained more quickly,
- loading and unloading can be safer,
- hives can be retrieved more quickly in case of fire.
Combine the proximity of the road with a passage behind the hives.
Check regional regulations to identify the minimum distance from roads and prefer secondary roads to main roads to limit vehicle pollution.
Parking the vehicles a few metres (2-3 metres) from the hives is optimal. In this way, loading and unloading of any type of materials and tools (smokers, frames, honeycombs, nutrients, hives themselves during transfers) will be easier and smoother.
Furthermore, it will be easier to make timely interventions in case of need for emergency nutrition or transfer of the apiary to avoid risks of phytosanitary treatments or other. The use of mulch under the hives can prevent agricultural vehicles from going too close to the hives. It is also important to safeguard the apiary from theft and keep the vehicle passage area clear to avoid accidents and punctures.
Warnings: May depend on the regulations in force in the given country.
Please check out the B-THENET Platform for the Best Beekeeping Practices tailored to each country in the national language, co-developed with practicing beekeepers in the National B-THENET Centres of those countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden).
BEST PRACTICES AND INNOVATIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE BEEKEEPING
Ongoing | 2022-2026
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden