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Starting out

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Kris^:
About spraying orchards:  I have fruit trees located about 50 feet from my hive.  When I spray them, I do it at night after the bees have returned to the hive.  I close up the entrance and cover the whole hive with a sheet of plastic.  I choose a still night with no wind to avoid drifting, and just target my spraying to avoid overspray as much as I can.  I give it about 10 hours to dry and remove the plastic and blockage from the hive the next morning.  When I spray my cabbage and other non-flowering crops set farther away from the hive, I don't bother blocking the entrance or anything, because the bees rarely go over there, but I still avoid drift and do it at night.

My spray schedule doesn't include spraying blossoms, so the bees won't seek out the trees.  I spray when leaves first bud in spring, right after blossoms drop and fruit sets, and then again a few weeks before harvest.  Sometimes I spray in between.  I was a little late with my second spraying this year -- out of initial fear of harming the bees -- and got some wormies in the apples, so they'll have spots this year.  

This summer we'll also be doing two or three sprayings in our acre of potted mums we plant each year.  We have commercial equipment to spray that with, and can usually do it in one evening.  The mum field is located over 100 yards from the hive, and I'll follow the same night-time blocking and covering procedure when we spray there.  As a rule, the mums are out of the field and to market by the time they start blooming, so I don't see them as an attractive site for the bees, either.

The bees don't seem any the worse off for the spraying so far.

Beth Kirkley:
Like was mentioned, the dogs should be fine. If they do go sniffing too much at the hive, the bees will give them a good sting and the dogs won't go back. I have two outdoor cats, and they like to follow me everywhere. Last summer was the begining of my beekeeping, and one of the cats learned a good lesson - the bees are not fun little bugs. She was walking around the hive, and all was fine. But then she decided to stick a paw inside to play with the bees. Several came out and went after her. Only one stung her, but she ran off like a bucking bronco with a little bee rider on her back. She was hissing and throwing a fit the whole time while running off. I'm sure it hurt. But she was fine afterwards, and remains a safe distance from the hive while I get in it now. She just comes and watches me from about 20 feet off.

Beth

Liz:
Thanks for the help guys! It has really put my mind at ease.

  In response to the beemaster- Yes I am from the UK, Scotland to be precise, and i'm not planning on getting any bees until next spring.

Luckily we don't spray our fruit at all, so the bees wont be in much danger. We already have a couple of wild hives in our garden as well, so we know it's pretty suitable. So I'm planning on informing myself about bees as much as possible for next year.

beemaster:
Liz

Even when dealing with Treed honeybees (assuming the are honeybees) it is always nice to have a better understanding of their nature and foraging patterns - it will give you much insight to them as their colonies grow and expand.

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