# Bee hive on a sloped roof



## Duncan151 (Aug 3, 2013)

I would be more worried about causing a leak in my roof, than the bees. Plus, they can fly. Bee safe too!


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## Saltybee (Feb 9, 2012)

The roof is not a first. You might consider running nucs instead of full hives. You want 2 queens to have back up brood. Nuc size can be stacked and and the chimney will keep the upright.

I would be a little worried about smoking the bees from the chimney.


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## justusflynns (Aug 2, 2012)

Find someone with some space that will let you use it.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Would be hard on the roof. Find a place outside your yard or build a two meter square enclosure six feet high in a corner of your yard. That would put the bees up over foot traffic and they then come down where there is forage. When foraging, bees are almost never defensive.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

Not the best idea but if you are bound and determine. I would buy or make some roof jacks. Basically a hook that goes over the peak and from the make it so you have a level area. Remember a hive can get heavy. So make sure your roof can support it. I would still do it on the ground. The kids will learn to leave it alone. The bigger problem is the wife. Mine get upset with them at times. 
David


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## pomicultorul (Mar 8, 2012)

One related question please.

I am planning a similar setup with a lot more hives up at approximately 15 feet altitude. Should I worry about the currents/damaging wind during the eventual Dec.- Feb. cleansing flights? (The hives will have in front a three foot wood walkway which I intend to keep clean of snow.)

More simply, am I likely to loose more bees to wind at that altitude than on the ground - in a NY state like climate.

Thank you for your help.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Last summer my hives were suspended by ropes from extension ladders for several weeks, then they were lowered to hive-sized platforms between 7 -15 feet high, that were too small to stand on. So I have some experience trying to work hives from ladders.

I urge you to try and find a place for them on the ground, or at least on a raised platform that you can stand on. It's incredibly dangerous and hard to try and manage bees from a ladder. I am former volunteer firefighter and amateur slate roof repairer so I am perfectly comfortable on ladders and roofs. But the risks I took with the bees and the strain of carrying hive boxes (just mediums) filled with bees and comb up and down the ladder surpasses anything I ever had to do before. 

Bees don't need a big space, and if they are sited correctly near a building the bees will fly primarily up and away, so your children (and neighbors) would be fine. 

Think of the pity that having the boxes on the roof where your children could never have a chance to observe the bees. 

Last year was my first summer for having bees, and the whole of my first few months was colored by the awfulness of not having them on ground level. When they were finally down on waist-high platforms it was such a relief. 

While that height wasn't ideal (mine are down even further now, at knee height) it allowed me to use just a short step ladder to access the platform, and by then I had wised up and made the platform big enough to stand on. Perhaps something like that would work for you to keep the hives up and away from kids and pets, but still basically on the ground. If you make something like a platform put the working space primarily behind the hive, because that's the easiet place to be when tending the hive. And be sure to plan for some additional plunk-down space, either on the platform itself or on a temporary surface like a sturdy table that you set up beside the hive platform when you're working. Inspecting a beehive means you start at the top and take each level off as you work your way down. You need a place to set the upper boxes when you're poking around in the lower ones.

Please reconsider keeping them on slanted roof - unless you can build what is essentially a large balcony to accomodate them and you while working. But even then, having them up where you can't see them flying in and out, seems like you'd be missing half the fun of keeping bees. In the summer I go out every morning with my tea and start the day sitting on a bench near my hives, just to get the feel of the day.

I hope you find a way to have some bees, because they are fascinating, but don't leave the ground to do it!

Enj.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

If you absolutely have to do it that way (see my comment above) I would plan to have the walking space behind the boxes so you are closer to the roof than they are. That way if it happens that you take a quick step to dodge an rude bee, or just put your foot down wrong, you'd fall against the roof above, and not over the edge. If the hive fronts are at the outer edge of the platform, the bees won't care, although you'll lose the ability to do a few front-of-the-hive chores like set up anti-robbing screens, if you can't get in front of them. 

The bees won't mind the wind up there, I think, though if you can I would add something to break it up if it is always strong. It doesn't even have to be a solid wall, even a trellis or a pergola will do. If it's too windy (even on the ground) my bees tend to stay in the hive. 

Using a ladder to access the platform is one thing (inconvenient and extra-tiring) however carrying heavy boxes down a ladder is really dangerous. Since you need to use both hands to support the boxes and the heavy box will be in front of you, you're essentially climbing down blind while leaning backwards to accomodate the bulk of the box in front of you, between you and the ladder. This is a recipe for a back strain, if not a dangerous accident. (And remember while you're doing this the bees are buzzing around you expressing their opinions about honey-stealers carrying off their stores!)

Perhaps if you had a roof-platform that was accessed by a door or casement window opening directly on to the platfrom from inside it would be OK. Otherwise, I think the logistics will take a lot of fun out of beekeeping.

I am in northern NY, and my bees, so far this winter have only gone out once or twice. It's been terribly cold so that might have something to do with it - and that will probably change this month as we get to daily highs that are generally above O degrees C. I doubt if many of the bees have gone out even once They just seem content to stay in and eat sugar and honey. Perhaps they've managed to find some tiny bee-sized WiFi and are surfing the internet and playing video games. I hear Varroa Exterminator is popular with the younger bees.

When you get your bees set up, it would be fun to see some pics.

Edited to add this: if you have a lot of snow that may present some problems when it starts to slide off in sheets. Perhaps your roofs are a different pitch than ours, but we get roaring avalanches that could easily knock over and carry a hive over the edge. You'd need to make sure your hives couldn't be broken loose - or the boxes pushed apart by heavy sliding snow.
Enjambres


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I produced an 800 lb. crop on a roof in 1975 and never again put hives on a roof.


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## mrbrown66 (Feb 2, 2014)

Thanks everyone. You've made me realise that half the joy of keeping bees is seeing them in action. Suddenly I'm finding little nooks where they could go instead. Does it matter too much if it's not a direct sun position ? Sydney is hot in summer and mild in winter 10-12 celsius at a minimum.


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## yantabulla (Jan 9, 2011)

Mr Brown66,

Mate, 

Beekeeping is complicated enough without having to balance on a sloped roof. Surely you have a few spaces in your backyard for a couple of hives. Roof top beekeeping in Sydney is ultra trendy but it is much easier on the ground. 

Have you looked up the NSW Amateur Beekeepers Association branch for Sydney. They would be able to give you good information for the Sydney area and some of their members have experience in inner city beekeeping.

Direct sun is good but early morning sun then afternoon shade is also OK.

Good luck,

Yanta


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

*My Rooftop Apiary*


Installing the first nucs in 2012. Notice how clean and shiny all the new gear is, particularly my new Ultra Breeze bee suit:











My 85 year-old and 70-year beekeeper (started when he was 15 years-old) neighbor, Ted, watching the fun. Ted is the one who suggested I put my beehives on my roof, and in fact had kept bees on that very roof before I moved into the house:




















I started with the traditional cinder blocks to hold the tops down. I later switched to nylon tie-downs to save weight. Due to their location, the hives are exposed to some serious winds (up to 80 MPH gusts) with practically no wind-break, but so far the winds haven't caused problems:











The near roof is an 8 degree slope, the far roof is about a 15 degree slope. The cinder blocks form a step up to the far roof. They will be replaced soon with a set of wood steps for easier access:











Summer of the second year:












Mid-July, showing plywood and sheets of corrugated roofing material in place for shade. Due to our intense high altitude sunshine (Denver is at 5400'), it gets brutally hot on that black tar paper roof in the summertime. The solar gain is huge, and the roof surface becomes _almost_ too hot to touch. I run screened bottom boards with the inserts removed mid-June through mid-August, and never have any bearding:











Early winter of the second year (had to combine a few hives for winter). I wrapped the weaker hives in Colony Quilt hive wrap:











Today, February 2, 2014, It was 1F degree at sunrise:











I have thermometers in each hive placed at the top of the frames in the uppermost super (you can see the wire to the sensor in some of the hives). The middle hive in this photo showed a temperature of 85.5F despite the 1F ambient morning air. Warmer than the interior of my house!:











I have 1.5 acres, so I do have room to keep my hives on the ground, but I prefer them on the roof. The roof location keeps the bees up and out of the way of visitors, and the hives get full sun from sunrise to sundown. The elevated location does add some challenges such as hauling gear up and down the access stairs, unmitigated exposure to the full extremes of our highly variable Colorado weather, I can't go on the steeper roof when covered with snow, and the sloped roof surface means anything needing a level surface requires an angled platform to be built. I haven't harvested honey, yet, so maybe I will change my mind when I have haul a bunch of honey down to the ground.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

mrbrown66 said:


> Does it matter too much if it's not a direct sun position ? Sydney is hot in summer and mild in winter 10-12 celsius at a minimum.


If it is hot you might want to put them in the shade. If you were to put them on the roof I would be concerned as to what type of roof it is and if you could use the chimney for shade. I wouldn't be worried about the wind. At the very least I would use a roof ladder to make it walkable and construct a permanent dumb waiter to get the hive parts up and down.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Shinbone, the sharp corners are going to dig into the asphalt and ruin you roof. I would use an upside down skid and then nail supports to the skid to make up for the angle of the roof.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

> Does it matter too much if it's not a direct sun position ? 

Since _small hive beetles_ are a problem in Australia, a full sun location is preferable to partial shade. See this SHB page from the Victoria Department of Agriculture:

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agricultu...s/ag1080-small-hive-beetle--a-beekeeping-pest


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Ace - Thanks for your input. I edited my post to add a photo showing the shading I use and a little more info about the wind exposure based on your comment.


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

shinbone,

Happy to see your set up. I considered something like that some years ago but I'm afraid of a fall. Be careful up on the roof. Out of curiosity, do you have a bear problem?

Steve


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

BCS - No bears in the 3 years I have lived here, although we have had a mountain lion come through the neighborhood. I have had raccoons up on the roof "inspecting" the hives at night. So far, though, no problems from critters. 

You do have to be careful about accidently stepping off the edge of the roof, which would be a tragic disaster. I work the hives mostly from the back, so only infrequently am close to the edge of the roof near the front of the hives. I did alot of mountain climbing years ago, so I am experienced and comfortable at height. I could see how the height alone could deter many from this type of apiary set up.


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## Saltybee (Feb 9, 2012)

Not much of a theft problem up there. Really easy to mow around.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

@Shinbone,

I know you have said your hives were on a rooftop, but somehow I was picturing a flat roof top!

I hadn't thought of roofs with low pitches like yours because I was picturing my own and typical roofs here in the East which have steeper pitches to shed heavy snow loads. Although of course we do have plenty of flatter roofs, as well. Confirmation bias at work! 

Although I am in my 60s I wouldn't hesitate to use roofs like yours - providing I had a permanent staircase from the ground and then up to the higher roof. 

Your experience in climbing will have trained you to be _constantly aware of the edges_, I hope.

You might consider having a permanently (or at least seasonally) installed roof ladder on the steeper roof to give you an emergency working space during the winter. We have two: one leads to our woodstove chimney which neeeds cleaning a few times per winter and the other leads to the mast that holds our cell-phone repeater antenna which from time to time needs re-tweaking to keep our internet signal strong enough to d/l great pictures like yours. Of course we have slate roofs so they need to be there year round as there is no walking on slate, like you can on asphalt. Ours are single spans with hook brackets that reach over the peak and extend down to nearly the edge of the eave. We use an extension ladder with a standoff to get up to them. It's a little dicey moving on and off the extension ladder, but once you're on the roof ladder which is lying flat on the roof plane, its very comfortable.

Thank for the excellent pictures. I think it's so much fun to see other peoples' apiaries.

Enj.


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## justusflynns (Aug 2, 2012)

> The bigger problem is the wife. Mine get upset with them at times.


How many wives do you have? Just curious.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've had bee hives in the backyard for the last 40 years with only once some bees hot enough that it was not convenient. There are two issues with the hives on a sloped roof. The first is damage to the roof. Roofs are not made to walk on. The second is carrying a full super down a ladder. It weighs up to 60 pounds (assuming a Langstroth medium depth super) and there is no convenient place to carry it. Over your head is about the only option...


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rooftop-B...843&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=roof+top+beekeeping


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

The book cover has a picture of a flat roof which in most cases can be walked on for maintenance. No sloped asphalt roof is meant to have foot traffic. The warmer it is the worse it is for wear. Except for the appearance it would be good for your roof to cover the traffic areas with white rolled roofing. Another option would be plywood.


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## D Semple (Jun 18, 2010)

Acebird said:


> No sloped asphalt roof is meant to have foot traffic. The warmer it is the worse it is for wear. Except for the appearance it would be good for your roof to cover the traffic areas with white rolled roofing. Another option would be plywood.


Your right about sloped roofs not being meant for foot traffic, but it's very poor advice to cover walk areas of a sloped with roll roof membrane or plywood, because neither would be "shingle lapped" properly causing the edges to catch dirt and debris and the extra nails used to hold them in place would start leaking every time it rained. Also plywood would mold quickly and become very slipper in most parts of the country. 

Don


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