# Two Questions



## BeeSummey208 (Nov 23, 2013)

I am getting back into the beekeeping business(I use that term loosely), with 50 hives this spring. I have a question on paint branding the hive bodies. When I last raised bees 30 year ago in Fresno County, all my hive were stencil painted with my name, home town, and a contact phone number. driving around placer county and the state in general I am not seeing that done anymore is there a reason?

My second question is more on a professional courtesy type question or opinion. I recently purchased a small ranch 13 acres with the intent to have bees on my own property. I noticed after I moved in that the neighbor has allow a local beekeeper to keep about a 100 hives on the property immediately next door. I am concerned that when I bring my hives on my property we might be getting a little overcrowded for the available food stores in the area (mostly wild blackberries). How would you handle this situation or is thee any reason to be concerned. There are not identifying information on the beehives, so I do not know who the hives belong to at this point. I should be able to get the information from my neighbor. My preference is to contact the beekeeper myself and see if he has other options in the area so we are not so crowded together. Thanks for any input on either topic.


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## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

it is all local about how many hives an area will support. but 150 seems like quite a few for most places.


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## Kevtater (May 17, 2013)

Keep in mind you're the newcomer. If someone moved in next to me and asked me to move half my hives so they could have theirs... Well it wouldn't make me too happy...


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

lets cut to the chase.......... You my friend just bought a ranch in what I would call bee hell. Short season for bees and way to much competition. If you got in a plane and looked down I bet you would see more hives than horses,cars, or scrub oak trees. 

John Miller has been parked over there with thousands of hives for a very long time. Since the fall of the soviet union and the move of all the soviet block blokes to the Sacramento area the number of bees worked by Russians and Romanians in that area has exploded to give worse fallout than a bomb over Hiroshima. 

They are real good about NOT marking their equipment. Its getting really bad with it happening ( no marking as required by law) and a lot of dead outs being left around. 

In some of my areas we have another foreigner who feigns lack of English and actually squats without permission. He is constants getting people mad at him. This last summer the county tracked him down and now he has some numbers on the boxes but the dead outs are so atrocious I am about ready to take him ( and the land owners) to small claims court. It might waste a little of my time bit will sure as heck get their attention about getting stuff marked and cleaned up if I even win a dollar. 

If you want to play a soft version of hardball tell the landowner that you will be talking to Placer county about the unmarked hives, If he winces call the county right away and followup every other day. If you want to live with a mad neighbor for the next hundred years haul him up the hill to that tall building in Auburn of off of 80 after getting a few papers served in his lap. Personally I'd sell the place and get a bee yard in a less crowded neighborhood...... 

Anyone on beesource have the name of a good realtor in greenland or the Antartic to help 208 out ????


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## red (Jan 15, 2013)

Honey-4-All, I think you are putting it to mildly. I have spent alot of time the last two years looking for some bee friendly property in Shasta and Teheama counties. Although i'm still looking i'm not sure any exsit these days. Bee people in norther Cali. seem pretty grumpy towards bee neighbors.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Red. With the new county ordinance passed in Shasta county you might as well suspend your search if your already not planted there. The big "5" got their law passed and stepping on someones toes not only will now get your hives given a dose of reality ( you figure that one out) the owner is going to get the boot and a bill....


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## red (Jan 15, 2013)

The big "5" like to summer in my back yard and although my pockets arn't as big my boots are. A dose of reality can drift both directions.


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

I winter next to the big five with no problems. Its all about connections...


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## Jon B (Apr 24, 2013)

Talk with your neighbor and find out if the hives are there all year round. One hundred hives sounds like a possible winter holding yard. I use a holding yard for the winter and then spread my hives out into multiple apiaries for the summer. I usually keep about 20 - 30 hives per location.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Buying a 100k worth of queens a year would cut anyone a little slack... 5 minutes, maybe 10...... Beyond that......... ?


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Yeah, its actually a little more than that.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Money talks Bee Source rocks


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