Good Day,
I'm interested in starting keeping bee's and I had a few questions. I'm interested in Warre Hives from the standpoint of bee happiness / lack of messing with the
bees. I'm looking primarily for pollination / personal enjoyment with the benefit of some random
honey on occasion. I've seen many posts about bee huts, but they always seem to be with a Langstroth hive under said hut. Since the Warre hive has a roof with vent and a quilt box built into the hive i was wondering if there is any benefit to putting them under a constructed
shelter. I'm planning on putting the hives dispersed around ~20 acres directly under some
trees (to shade from summer sun), and was thinking to build a small (4-6' tall) north wind wall to shield from north winds in the winter (zone 5a). Just for reference I am also planning on putting in a three season flower garden around each hive, and randomly around the rest of the property. I added the worlds worst picture (ever created) to sort of show the idea i'm thinking of. (please note that even though the picture shows it, the tree would not be to the South...it would be to the West (due West), and the
hugel bed would be 120 degree wrap around on the North side, and covered in useful plants for bees.) So back to the heart of the question.
1. Does a Warre Hive benefit from a hut?
2. Would a hut be more beneficial than the tree / hugel combo?
3. Assuming the answers to both those questions is no, is there anything else that
should be included in a bee haven?
Thank you for your time,
Colter