The direction in which bees leave the hive determines whether they fly over a path, a garden or a road. That can be controlled.

Why it matters

Bees leave the hive on a flat trajectory and climb only gradually. If traffic or a garden path crosses that line, stings and complaints follow.

This is the commonest source of trouble with neighbours — and it is almost entirely preventable.

The most effective solution

A hedge or fence a few metres in front of the hives. The bees must clear it and afterwards fly above head height.

That works better than any device: the bees adjust and the trajectory stays high permanently.

Other measures

• Orienting the entrance away from paths and dwellings
• Planting that forces departure upward
• Raising the hives
• Different orientations per hive; this also reduces drifting

The connection with drifting

Landmarks at the entrance help bees find their own hive.

• Different colours; bees see ultraviolet but barely register red
• Distinctive shapes at the entrance
• Groups with space between rather than a straight row
• Trees and stones as fixed points

Drifting is not only a question of weak and strong colonies: it moves mites and disease between hives, and a queen returning from a mating flight can enter the wrong hive and be killed.

After moving

Setting hives in different orientations and opening entrances in the evening or early morning limits drifting at the new site.

What to tell the neighbours

Where the bees fly, that they do not sting without reason, and that water has been arranged. Informing people in advance prevents more than any measure taken afterwards.