[prattatx]

We have kept Italian and Russian honey bees in our suburban backyard. Both came out of their hive, flew up 20 feet and left the yard, and even the neighborhood we think, most of the day. Stable base, near a source of water, and in the sun worked best for them not swarming on us. A lawn mower bumping into a stand meant 20 mins of angry bees, then back to business. Moving the hive on a pole would make me nervous for 20 minutes.

What killed two hives outright (we think) are lawn services going after mosquitoes in the neighborhood. Didn’t kill them but weakened the hive. They were subsequently taken over by fire ants and small hive beetles, each time after a split.

Bee keeping is so easy and fun and can be done through the mail. I agree with you, duke, if we could solve for allergies, beekeeping could easily be as commonplace as growing tomatoes.