Before setting up an apiary, there are factors that you need to consider and these include; the available space and the number of hives it can accommodate, the surrounding environment, and the distance from home. The best place would be under trees preferably those that bear flowers so as to provide pollen and nectar to the bees.
Apiary site
It is advisable to fence off the apiary site to prevent intruders from making their way into the apiary site because African bees are aggressive. The fence also prevents animals like cows and goats to cross into the apiary site to disrupt the bees which causes them to begin stinging.
Barbed wire fences are good but they get loose with time and need regular maintenance. It is advisable to use a live fence but with plants that provide nectar and pollen to the bees.
Plant forages around the apiary site to act as a source of feed to the bees.
Its best to locate an apiary site in a forest but in case you have no forest, you can select your site and then modify it. you need to have a bee shade and then hives in the shade or you can have hive stands with each hive stand having its own shade.
Plant fast growing trees like Calliandra.
Trapping wild bees
Spreading hives in a forest increases the chances of colonization. First clean the bee hive and clean the entrances, bait it and suspend the hive on a tree using wires or ropes.
Do regular monitoring of the hive to check out for insects that could colonize the hive before the bees.
Two to three weeks after the bees colonizing the hive, remove it from the tree carefully and transfer it to the apiary site.
