# How many acres does a single beehive need?



## beelovely

Hi,
Is one acre enough for 1 colony? I know they would travel miles and so, but let's say you live in a big city and I have this large acre garden, I could buy more land but I need to know how many acres does a beehive needs. 
Thanks


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## jbraun

One of the reasons that bees forage over a large area is so they can gather different nectar sources. They can't survive with a single nectar and need all of the complex sugars that multiple flowers produce. To accomplish this they have evolved a communication dance to tell other bees where good sources are located. The waggle dance is measured in hundreds of feet so a single acre is miniscule for them. Bees don't care who owns the land where the flowers are located.


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## Westhill

If you live in a big city there may be more forage than you think. Cities often have a lot of flowering trees that bees love, planted along the streets and in parks. There are plenty of New York City beekeepers whose bees get lots of nectar from flowers that most people never notice because they're high overhead.


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## jakec

ive been wondering how many acres of the same plants would it take to be worth moving a hive or 2 out on to get a honey crop? I know this isn't the same as the OP question but related enough I think.


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## FlowerPlanter

>How many acres does a single beehive need? 

A hive will forage an area up to 8000 acres.

It depends on the area, in an average forest/farm land area you can keep around 20 hives in one place. Since your in the desert I imagine it would be less, you do have quit a few irrigated gardens in desert cities like Kuwait. Your bees might always be able to find flowers.

I think you should start with 2 or 3 and see how they do and move up from there.

>ive been wondering how many acres of the same plants would it take to be worth moving a hive or 2 out on to get a honey crop?

It would depend on the crop, some crops can produce hundreds of pound of honey per acres, sweet clover comes to mind.


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## beelovely

By the way guys, thanks for replying though, through my search (took me a long time more than a week lol) 
Found this. https://www.kelleybees.com/Blog/1/Healthy-Bees/186/How-Much-Land-to-Feed-One-Bee-Colony

How one acre is sufficient with continuous bloom. So I'll be starting a planning doing a plant growth chart. Thanks and goodbye


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## Ravenseye

And yet, I've seen thousands and thousands of bees fly right over local sources....in bloom and typically favored by bees, to reach a source elsewhere. Bees will be bees.


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## Michael Bush

>Is one acre enough for 1 colony? I know the would travel miles and so, but let's say you live in a big city and I have this large acre garden, I could buy more land but I need to know how many acres does a beehive needs.

They need at least 4 square feet...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#howmanyhivesoneacre


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