Installing electric fencing

I've taken advantage of this unexpected summer-like weather, and after my research on sunny spots last week, I chose a spot for my beehive and installed the electric fencing and the beehive.  I ended up choosing the site to the left of the greenhouse.  That area gets a good amount of sun and dappled light later in the day which the folks in Swanzey, NH. emphasized that some dappled sunlight was good as it can get pretty hot in the hive in midsummer. 

Here it is. You can see (barely) the 4 posts that mark the spot. The length of fencing is 80 feet, but a square didn't work for me so I went with 25 foot length and 15 width which worked out fine from my perspective....except now I want to add on to it already.

I moved my peach tree into the fenced area in the right back corner.  My cherry tree too...that's so small, I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo but it's at the front left corner.  I'm hoping it survived the winter. It's not showing any buds yet.  If it didn't survive, I'll get another one...maybe a larger one. I am buying larger plants and trees these days so I have a chance to see them mature.  That's something I'd never have thought of in my younger days when I thought my life was endless. 

Back to the subject...  I also want two dwarf apple trees, which is why I'd like another electric fence because, without the electric fence, I fear I won't be successful getting any fruit.  I've never had good luck with fruit trees, even before, when I lived in places that had no bear around..  The few I've had haven't produced fruit for me, or something happened to the fruit.  Like last year, the peach tree I had planted in Maine 6 years ago had lots of fruit for the very first time...and a few weeks later, it was stripped clean by something. My tenants will need to deal with that tree this year.

Here, I will try some netting  if I'm lucky enough to see fruit on either the peach or cherry tree.  Because I just moved them, however, I'm not sure I'll get anything this year but it's not impossible so we'll see. Here's the peach tree and you can see where it's positioned within the fenced area.

The fence is called a mesh fence and I bought it, along with the entire setup at a great farm in Harrisville, NH called Wellscroft Fence.  They were terrific and gave me an in-depth overview of this fencing solution for apiaries.  They walked me down to show me their setup, and always, a picture is worth a thousand words.  I was able to see exactly how it went together and got it all done within a few hours when I installed mine this past weekend. 

Notice in the image below...something red and something yellow.  The red item taped to a stake is the battery energizer that electrifies the fence.  It runs off 4 D batteries that need to be replaced monthly. It comes with a metal rod (to the left of the energizer) which goes into the ground and you attach the green clip to that ground rod.  You can just see a yellow wire going from the energizer off to the right.  That yellow wire clip attaches to a clip at the end of the fence and that completes your connection.  If you want to shut down the fence while children are around, for example, just reach over and remove the yellow clip. 

You want this inside the fenced area so that animals can't get to it and break the connect.

That dark object hanging off the fence is the voltage meter that monitors the strength of the current at any given time. According to the guy at Wellscroft Fence, it's a good tool to have around because weather, interference due to high grass touching the fence, and other factors, can interfere with the strength of the current.  So you want to monitor the current to be sure there's enough voltage to deter any animal that tries to get near the beehive.  You don't leave the voltage meter on the fence by the way.  But you hang it when you're taking a reading and there's a little probe that you stick into the ground and that registers how much voltage you have on the meter where lights flash.  Then you remove it until you want to check voltage again.

I set up my hive, or some of it, in the center of my fence.  I ended up laying down some black cloth and covering with wood chips so I wouldn't need to worry about mowing right next to the hive.

And then I baited my fence with some bacon.  The idea is to hope a bear comes now, before the bees arrive.  The bear gets a shock and decides that my yard is not a happy place for them and leave and never come back.  I do wish I had a camera set up so I could see if a bear comes through...but I wouldn't enjoy seeing them shocked.  My carpenter's dog got shocked yesterday and it made me feel awful, but I had warned him and was willing to shut it down while they were here.  But instead the dog got a lesson and she didn't go anywhere near that fence again.  So it works.

Now I'm ready for the bees.  In the meantime, I need to learn how to use the smoker which will take probably a half hour.  And the next month will be used taking a class on adding bees to hives and growing plants in the greenhouse and starting up more gardens.

Getting ready for electric fencing

Because of where I live, surrounded by woods, I have to think about the bear(s) who came through last year and ate my peaches (not that many as it's a new tree, but still) and it broke a major branch which I hope hasn't ruined that tree.  They rascals then ate and trampled my strawberry patch.  I know they'll be back.

I can't tell you the amount of time I've spent thinking about where to place my beehive and then protecting it.  I've learned that a sunny spot is essential, my first challenge, as I'm surrounded by trees and hills that block sun.

In my beekeeping class yesterday, the Swanzey, NH outfit, Imagine that Honey, spent some time on the placement of hives.  They emphasized that dappled sunlight is the goal so that there is a certain amount of shade cover in those hot summer months. 

So, beginning today, I am going to monitor the sunlight around my yard and try to settle on the placement of the hives within a few weeks.  I will monitor the time on a spreadsheet every hour today and again next week, choosing several sites in my yard, for bees or for gardening.  That will tell me how many hours of sun I get in each spot.  I will need to do this weekly for a while to see how the sun moves across the sky and how that changes the amount of sun in these spots.

For bees, sun is essential.  Coverage is important too...they need protection from the wind.  There's a spot at the left side of my shed is good.  It gets decent sun and also protection from the big hill in back and the shed off to its right.. But is it too close to the house where there is more people traffic?  You can't see it in this image but the garden area is just about 4 feet to your left.  Too close probably.

Legend:
Dark grey - full shade
Light grey - dappled or lightly shaded
Yellow - sunny
I was out from 2-3 so I will fill that timespan in tomorrow.

 

Accessibility is also important, especially in the winter when I need to get to the hive to check it ..I want it close enough so that I can keep a path shoveled and get to it if I need to during winter months. Again, the left side of the greenhouse seems like it would work.

I'm also seeing, through my chart, that the left side of the greenhouse would be a good candidate. And if I place the hive just right, I'll be able to see it all winter from the couch in the living room. This is the site I'm leaning towards at the moment as it seems to fit the sunlight need, shelter, accessibility and out of the way of kids and other animal traffic.

Both of these shots were taken around 9AM today.

By the end of the  month, it's now March 12th, I want my hive placed outside with the fencing (another installment to come) in place and baited so that it can potentially scare off any bear who may come by before the bees arrive.  I'm told I want the bear to come and get zapped so they don't come back.  I will probably move my peach tree and cherry tree into that fenced area to protect them from the bear. In another year, I will fence off  another section of yard so that I can grow more fruit trees. But, I think I have enough projects for this year!

Ordering the bees

I also ordered the bees in January after listening and reading advise about needing to order them early or chances are I wouldn't be able to find any.

Many beekeepers buy 2 or 3 pound packages of bees to start out.  But by doing that, it takes a year to get honey.  The bees need a year to build up the hive for there to be enough bees to produce enough honey for them and me.  The first year, the concern is to produce enough honey to feed the bees throughout the winter.

The second year, there should be enough of honey for the bees and the beekeeper keeps the rest. These 2-3# packages cost somewhere between $80-100.  Most seem to steer the beginner to the gentler bees which are Italian and Russian. Mine are going to be Queen grafted from Danish Buckfast mother, mated in MA with VSH Carniolan-Italian drones!  I learned that there are all kinds of strains on bee, like people, with different personalities, and other traits. Since this is all new to me, I will have nothing to compare them with and I trust that it won't really be a factor in this venture.

I just wanted honey the first year, if possible, so I ended up buying a Nuc (short for Nucleus) which has bees already making honey on frames or foundations. It's essentially a small working beehive.

With a Nuc, you just remove the empty frames from your box (or deep hive) and replace them with your purchased Nucs. My Nuc is going to be five frames, which is a great start.  So, I will remove 5 of these frames and replace them with frames that have bees and honey all over it and put those in my new hive. 

The nuc cost me $130 which I thought was very reasonable...considering it's only about $30 more than the packages and I won't have to wait a year for honey (hopefully, if things go well).

I have sent my down payment to Boston Honey Company and will need to pick up the bees in Holliston, Mass. sometime in mid to late April.  They will let me know.


Lots to do before then. Bears are out of hibernation now, I've heard, so once this snow melts enough, I will get the electric fencing installed to protect my hive.  We'll talk about that next time.