Probably every person who is interested in beekeeping has heard about a nomad apiary. The pros and cons of such a decision have been fiercely debated for several years. We will give a detailed description listing the advantages and disadvantages so that every novice beekeeper can decide whether this option suits him or is it better to give preference to classical, settled beekeeping.
What it is?
As the name implies, a nomadic apiary on wheels is an economy that does not just stand still, but moves from site to site all the warm time of the year. In some cases, the hives are unloaded for several days or even weeks, and in other long stops they do not, therefore all hives remain in transport. But the bees get freedom of action - they fly around the apiary, collecting honey from the nearest honey plants.
Why transport the bees?
A beginner will probably have a completely predictable question: "Why is this even necessary?" Indeed, hives can perfectly stand still all the warm season, providing the owner with a lot of honey.
The answer is quite simple: a nomad apiary allows you to constantly be present as close to honey plants as possible. After all, it is impossible to find plants that would continuously bloom from May to September, generously endowing bees with pollen and nectar. Some trees, grasses and shrubs bloom in late spring, others in summer, and others in early autumn. Bees have to spend a lot of time and energy to find the appropriate fields and get honey.
Yes, these tiny toilers are able to fly many kilometers, reaching the goal. But how long does it take to get there? And how much nectar does she have to eat to offset energy costs? Nomad apiary can significantly reduce the time and cost of nectar. Beehives loaded in vehicles are transported directly to the place most rich in honey plants at a particular time of the year. For example, in spring, willow, talnik, and vine, the rich melliferous plants, bloom first. Then they are replaced by flowering gardens - cherry, apple, bird cherry, plum give quite a lot of nectar. And a huge number of flowers allows bees to work from morning to evening, collecting valuable raw materials. When they fade, the time comes for acacia and meadow grasses and flowers.
Knowing the geography of the area and the season of flowering of honey plants, the experienced beekeeper will make sure that his nomad apiary with hive-loungers is always in the most suitable place.
The main advantages of nomadic beekeeping
Why are beekeepers willing to spend a lot of effort, time and money, preferring nomadic beekeeping? There are several reasons for this.
To begin with - the season of work of bees extends. After all, an apiary can be transported for tens and even hundreds of kilometers from its usual habitat, shifting significantly to the north and south and ripening to collect the maximum crop.
From here follows the second plus - a significant increase in the volume of honey collected. Studies show that in some cases, honey collection increases to 30%! An excellent indicator for which experienced beekeepers will spare neither strength nor time.
There is the possibility of concluding mutually beneficial transactions with large farms. After all, any farmer wants to get the most rich harvest from his plot. The presence of a mobile apiary in close proximity increases the intensity of pollination, which allows to increase productivity. This is especially true of gardens.
disadvantages
However, giving a description of the nomad apiary and listing its advantages, it should be noted the available disadvantages, so that it is clear why all the beekeepers did not abandon settled beekeeping.
The main disadvantage is serious financial costs. To organize the transportation of bees, you need to have the appropriate transport, which is very expensive. Of course, over time, additional honey compensates for these costs, but it will take a lot of time.
In addition, a settled apiary is basically a passive way of earning. That is, the owner has a great opportunity to work in the main place, doing bees in his spare time, performing large volumes of work on weekends. If you are going to focus on nomadic beekeeping, you will have to leave the main place of employment or hire assistants who will do most of the work on their own, which will result in serious additional costs. After all, bees need to be monitored in an unfamiliar place, often you have to leave hundreds of kilometers from home.
It is necessary to foresee the possibility of any troubles in order to be ready for them. For example, if one of the hives was damaged for some reason, all repair tools should be at hand. A novice rarely manages to take everything necessary and at the same time not turn the car into a warehouse where there will be no room for bees.
Finally, the constant change of terrain negatively affects the bees themselves. Constant transportation leads to their disorientation, which is why the number of dead bees increases significantly. As a result, strong families weaken sharply, while weak families can die.
How to choose a place to stop
It would seem that the answer to this question is quite obvious. It is necessary to choose a place where there is or in the near future a large number of flowering honey plants will appear. Indeed, for the sake of this, the organization of a nomad apiary is being conceived.
However, there are certain pitfalls that you must know about. Moreover, they are regulated not only by the benefit for the beekeeper, but also by the safety for bees, people around and consumers of honey.
For example, you can not get up at a distance of less than 3 kilometers from another stationary apiary or 1.5 kilometers from a nomadic one. Everything is clear here: the bees will simply interfere with each other, conflicts will arise, because of which not one of the beekeepers will get the desired result.
The next requirement is that parking should be located no closer than 100 meters from children’s, educational and medical institutions, railways and tracks. Otherwise, bees can pose a certain danger to others.
Finally, the distance from the apiary to the chemical or confectionery industry should be more than 500 meters. Otherwise, emissions from chemical production will affect flowers and nectar - accordingly, the bees will pickle and collect honey that is hazardous to the health of the consumer. Well, the bees will simply fly to the confectionery sweets, not allowing the local employees to work fully.
Of course, the chosen place should not be treated with chemical poisons or fertilizers, which can be dangerous for bees.
We organize the optimal placement
So, you arrived at the place with your mobile apiary. The site is rich in honey plants - diverse or identical. How to act?
First you need to mark up the territory - at least mentally. It is advisable to install the hives as close to the bribe as possible, which is logical - the less time the bees spend on the path, the more honey they can collect. They should be located at the same distance from the bribe, preferably parallel to it. Experienced beekeepers specially paint the hives in different colors, so that it is easier for the bees to navigate, so that they do not get confused, do not climb into other people's hives.
Near the stopping place there should be a source of water - a pond, river, stream. Otherwise, you have to organize it yourself - for a long time, bees cannot do without water.
Transportation rules
It should be said right away that bees should be transported only at night, after sunset, when the whole family gathered in a hive. After that, the letok closes, and the hive is transported. Moving too large is undesirable - experts advise limiting night transportation to 30 kilometers. With proper preparation of the route, this is quite enough. But at the same time, you can’t make the first stop less than a kilometer from your usual habitat. In this case, the risk is high that the bees, having found an old place, simply return there, leaving the hives empty.
Before transporting, it is very important to securely fix the hives with a cord or wire. They should not sway, as this can become a source of stress for bees - they will become more aggressive, and performance will be drastically reduced.
For transportation, it is advisable to use hives of a special shape - with a flat roof. This allows you to make bee houses in two tiers, significantly saving space. Of course, in this case of reliable fixation, special attention should be paid - an overturned hive with a flying off lid will cause many serious problems for beekeepers.
Which breed of bees is preferred
Now we come to another important question: "What breed of bees is best for a nomad apiary?" Here, all experts agree that the Carpathian bee will be the best choice. It has several important advantages.
One of them is the presence of a long proboscis - up to 7 millimeters. This allows bees to collect honey from almost any honey plant, including those that are inaccessible to other breeds. By this indicator, they are second only to Caucasian bees.
However, unlike the latter, the Carpathian can boast a peaceful character - they rarely attack beekeepers. Therefore, even during a honey collection, specialists often do without a smoker. In addition, Carpathian bees easily tolerate transportation and moderate shaking.
Suitable transport for transportation
The next important question is: "Which car is perfect for a nomad apiary?". There are quite a few options here, but they are all quite expensive. Therefore, work without hands can not do.
Have you just started beekeeping with a small nomad apiary? An option that at this stage satisfies all the requirements can be a regular trailer. For a larger apiary, any truck whose body is modernized for transporting bees and convenient honey collection is suitable. In some cases, the shells of old buses are used. Additional holes are cut in the sides, guides are arranged, making it easy to fix the hives. Of course, all that is superfluous is removed. Although such a transport for a nomadic apiary does not look too elegant, it is convenient, practical and, what is extremely important, it is relatively inexpensive.
Conclusion
Our article is drawing to a close. Now you know enough about nomadic beekeeping, its pros and cons. And you can also arrange a move, choose a suitable place and get the maximum honey from your toilers. Good luck!