🐝 Apiary Design & Location

Lay out a virtual apiary and see how spacing, a windbreak, and forage range interact. Real siting balances forage, water, wind protection, hive spacing, and room to grow.

Hive rows face south-east (morning sun)
Trees along the north edge act as a windbreak
Translucent ring shows the forage catchment
Foragers fly out toward the pond and forage edge

Site metrics

Footprint-

Forage area-

Wind exposure-

Apiary layout

Hive count12

Hive spacing3 ft

Windbreak coverage70%

Forage radius2.0 mi

Show forage catchment ring

How it works

Forage catchment scales with the square of the radius bees will fly to reach nectar and pollen:

Area = π × r²

Wind exposure falls as windbreak coverage rises, roughly:

Exposure = 100 × (1 − coverage/100)

Hives keep ≥2-3 ft between colonies (drift/disease) and 4-6 ft between rows (access) — try shrinking spacing to see rows crowd together.