Does anyone keep honeybees? Do they have any adverse affect on the horses or other animals? I know they are not aggressive, and not prone to stinging unless provoked (unlike yellowjackets!) but thought I’d ask before charging off to get them.
I don’t keep bees but my dad had a bee keeper that would place hives in one of our pastures. AFAIK, there were no adverse effects. I’ve ridden close to the hives and the bees pretty much ignored us. The bee keeper maintained the hives and gave my dad honey in return for allowing him to keep the hives on his place.
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neighbor has a few hives, our dog thinks her job is to eat all bees that come into her yard
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We have hives; they are in a place where we can avoid going through their flight path and there are no problems. It’s wonderful to have them here … our garden explodes thanks to their pollination help. If you don’t have any bee keeping experience, you may find it worthwhile to get involved with your local beekeeping club, and find a mentor to help you get started.
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I used to live on a commercial apple orchard and each year before the trees blossomed they would get a delivery of bees. They arrived in their hives on the back of a tractor trailer that would park underneath our windows while waiting to unload. You could literally hear the truckload of bees buzzing in a low humming drone. I looked forward to “bee day” every year as it was the true arrival of spring. The delivery was always after dark for some reason, I often wondered why.
When they placed the hives around the farm, the bees never bothered anyone. And that’s all I know about bees, lol.
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I had the same arrangement as wireweiners’s dad. A nice Sikh gentleman put some hives - aka bee gums or bee boxes, in SC 
- behind an old vacant house on our farm. I was near them pretty frequently, because I used to go out there to smoke cigarettes (I gave up smoking in my house years before I gave up smoking entirely). They were never a problem. And the beekeeper would leave the occasional jar of honey on my front porch.
My first bees are arriving in 2 weeks! I’m so excited!!
I wouldn’t worry about stinging/nuisance if you have room to move them out of the way somewhat, but you do have to be committed to checking on them regularly, feeding them in spring/fall, and testing/treating for mites. Not super time consuming, but things that will need to be done to keep them alive and healthy.
If you can take a one-day class, that’s recommended by most beekeepers before buying anything.
My husband was an amateur beekeeper, had as many as 15 hives at one time. No issues with the horses and we had the straightest cucumbers in the county.
In general, no issues with horses…or humans, for that matter. My other half is a second year Beek and I’m her humble assistant. It’s a fascinating thing to keep bees. If you are interested in beekeeping, I’ll also suggest you take a class and also join your local beekeeper’s association, attending their monthly meetings. That’s a great way to learn and get mentored. A valuable forum site is BeeSource…easy to find…and one of the preeminent beekeepers in the US actually lives up your way.
BTW, just like horse trainers…where there’s 10 beeks…there’s 11 opinions 
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This is where I took my class and ordered my bees: http://www.betterbee.com/ and lots of people in the Northeast use them and take classes from them.
FWIW, it may be too late to get started this year. I ordered my bees in January for arrival very soon. I think their beginner beekeeping classes ended in the first week in March or so. But if you are interested, it’s a good time to go to meetings and/or do some reading. I found the one-day class really helpful after I had done my own reading/research…so this could be your planning year, and take a class in the winter…bees arrive in April/May next year.
You could also use the year to improve your habitat for future bees. Depending on where you live there may be tons of good habitat, but adding plants that bees love will help your bees thrive in the future.
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Bumble Bees are also important pollinators and can be kept in an apiary.
Hilary I have 3 hives. 100 yards from the back of the house and 30-40 yards from my arena. We hack regularly hack past them within 5-10 yards. Horses have never been stung. I’ve never been stung except once when the top was off and we were pulling out sections and moving them around. Stay out of he flight path in and out of their door and you’re good. Bee stings do not hurt like wasps!
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Yeah, at fullerbees we keeping honey bees and also provide the supplies of bee hive, honey bees and many more so come up at for getting more. And I think there is no adverse affect on the horse and other animals.
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