I think @Peter48 has given excellent advice. I’d suggest positioning the hives as far back from the fence as possible. What about behind the house? I like the idea of being proactive & clearing as much of the fuel away as possible, before the burn. I also like the idea of having a sprinkler ready for when the time comes.
I have discovered for myself that bees can tolerate a LOT of smoke. It would take a lot more smoke than a cold weather burn off can produce to make a colony abscond.
I think it is certainly something to think about. Are you allowed on the property they are going to burn? If so I would maybe think about clearing out the brush (we call it brush in KY… sorry) ahead of time which maybe would prevent some of the smoke and heat from disturbing the bees. Also, is it remotely possible to put a damp towel over the hive to prevent tons of smoke from entering hive. One last thought, what if you put up a semi fireproof temporary wall, would that help?
Hmm. Not sure @anon63823775 was suggesting He wanted a third option. Sounds like he agrees with controlled burns just a bummer it is happening behind his property so close to hives. Unfortunately it sounds like it must happen and will happen regardless of all of this chatter on the subject. The real questions is: what thoughtful suggestions can we make to support @anon63823775 and his livestock during this time.
I say let goats loose. They eat brush like crazy and can clear my woods and make it look like a golf course in days. But they might also knock over the hives and eat the honey so nevermid…
And so I gave my advice on how to help his bees better cope when the prescribed burn is timed to take place. I gave advice on what he could do prior to then in cleaning up the fuel load and gave my opinion that very likely the dirt road will be used as the beginning of the fire line and that likely a local bush fire brigade or two will at night do a very low temperature burn from the dirt road back to his fence line.
From the aerial pic that he posted it seems like a very routine task for National Parks and any bush fire brigades that they decide to have on hand. As I have said previously there are things that as a bee keeper and a property owner he can do.
Last Summer I had a bush fire that got to within 50 metres of my apiary, I had an hours warning of where the back burn was to be put in and all I did was set up misting hoses if needed. the communication between the fire brigade senior officer and me was excellent and they did the ‘hard yards’ to minimize the impact to the apiary. Fire fighter will help to protect any live stock, including bees.
The best thing to reduce the impact to an apiary is to make the fire controlling officer aware of the hives location, do basic clearing up well before hand in the vicinity of the hives. Even draping wet towels over the hive roofs will help, there is a lot that can help in the preparation phase. But odds are the bees will survive better than the bee keeper if he becomes overly stressed out.
Cheers
I follow you your question and it is well thought out. Laws vary here from state to state and I have to admit not knowing the ins and outs where I live in queensland as I was a fire fighter in NSW. In NSW if your property has a shared fence line with a state or national park you could clear combustibles for 5 metres from the fence into the parklands, but no burning at all on the park lands as a civilian. In a fire situation any firefighter can ask a civilian to leave the area for his own safety and that of the fire fighters, if the parson doesn’t go then it becomes a police matter and the police will always back the fire fighter.
I have covered your wet towel idea, it will help in keeping the hive cool and also reduce smoke getting into the hive.
A semi-fireproof material wall in a bad situation is very combustible so I wouldn’t go in that direction. Wet towels and a way of water misting over the hives is a plus as well as clearing any burning materials from around your hives.
Check with you local fire brigade about what you can and can’t do, they are your best first contact for information.
The most important thing in a bush fire is to stay calm and even supply cold water to the firefighters if it is safe to do so. Everyone has their limits so if you are stressing out the best thing for everyone is for you to walk away.
Cheers
So far as the Australian bush goes there is no third option, there is the option 1 of periodical evening low temperature controlled burns with equipment and man power in place before the fire line is started. This keeps the fuel load light in the bush. Option 2 Is where some local governments ignore reality and ban all hazard reduction in their area putting lives and property at risk when the inevitable bush fire starts. The end result is like the California fires a year ago, the Blue Mountain bush fires west of Sydney that I attended and we lost over 70 homes in a single day, and that still haunts me. I’m finished on this thread, sorry…
Lets leave the prescribed burns alone because everyone here has agreed with them.
That said.
@anon63823775 we have to put in fire breaks around our property at least 3m wide. In small development properties (Special Rural rating) that is even wider …I think 4m. I don’t see a fire break inside your fence…do you have one. Maybe prudent even if it is not compulsory to put one in.
There is plenty you can do beside that by mowing to bare ground a 20 or 30m buffer around your hive which would assist back burning should it be required.
One thing you cannot rely on is for the firefighters to be at your place when the fire is there. They could well be fully occupied else where so the more preparation you do the happier you will sleep at night. 
Cheers
Hi @anon63823775. Our living situation is similar to yours. One of my apiaries is just 10m away from the National Park border.
National Parks marked the hives’ location on their maps, so when they do a reduction burn in future, they take extra care.
Last time they burned, they had firefighters patrol our border day and night so the fire didn’t jump onto our land. I feel they take good care of us.
Talk to them. You may find they are listening to your concerns.
Nowadays they burn off the strip next to our land first, quite a while before they do the bigger sections of the National Park.
They can never give us an exact date for the burn, as they have to wait for the right conditions.
It has been a robust discussion about bee hives that aren’t even in position yet. Why not find a different location to place the bee hives? well back from the intended burn off.
Well said Jeff and missed by most of the readers that HW has no bee hives yet. As I said earlier the hazard reduction could be all over and done with before HW even gets his hives to assemble.
I notice the overhead photo has been removed for whatever reason, but it did help put the whole thing into perspective I think.
I gave my advice as a bee keeper and as a retired bush fire brigade member and having watched a bush fire at the back of my apiary, I had excellent communication with the fire fighters on the site that did a great job.
Hi Jeff. I reckon HillWallaby had about enough of us.
He DID explain in his original post the hive position as the only one possible for his situation.
But he also had lots of advice on possible action he could take in case National Parks doesn’t consider his situation.
I just hope WA National Parks is as cooperative as NSW National Parks.
We sort of have a deal around here. They protect our hives and in return we do our best to not let swarms escape into the NP.
Fine with me, as I don’t want my good queens to take off to the wilderness anyway.
I do understand NP position, but their main concern is to protect adjacent private property, even though they have to do these fuel reduction burns.
It helps to have a direct wire to the top ranger for sure.
Funny thing is, you can give them a jar of honey, but they have to file report it, so it never can be a bribe.
But the local firies you can call up, they appreciate beer and honey. The honey being accepted with greater appreciation.
I also have a great concern about planned burnings very soon. My bees rely on NP forage and I wonder what will be left for them, or if they hate the burn smell. We didn’t have a burn in 5 years.
I have seen reduction burns go high up into the trees.
I understand why you would not want to lose a swarm to the NP (or to anywhere actually) but struggling to understand why the National Parks do not want swarms in their area. I don’t actually have to worry since I don’t live too close to a NP but was just curious.
We used to have commercial beekeepers bring hives up here and apparently swarms escaped. They find tree hollows that otherwise would house native bees , birds and I’m not sure what other native animals.
One swarm is no problem, but over the years, that swarm will cast many more. I believe, we have an extremely healthy honey bee population in our NP.
I caught a swarm from a tree between my apiaries, and they are very different to my bees. The bees look bigger to me. Anyway, they are great honey producers now that I have them in boxes.
Coming back to your thoughts @Ahrenswish, the NP ranger I am dealing with has a real concern for native wildlife. Swarms in the National Park will push out natives.
And then there are those who say, let your bees swarm, it’s natural. Yes, it is. But not in Australia.
I saw the google earth photo of the property before it was pulled down. I saw lots of alternative places for bee hives. HW is concerned about hives being visible from the street. There would be nothing wrong with erecting a small visual barrier, which could also be used for growing food like chokos for example, or even flowers.
I think all the information given to HW was valid and valuable advice which I hope he will take into his planing. I thought where wanted to put his hives when he gets them made was his preferred location. There is much we bee keepers living in a bush location can do to mitigate the risks, or even just home owners. We can all accumulate combustible materials that can be an issue if the ‘red devil’ comes too close.
Cheers, Peter
National Parks and State Parks in Australia attempt to keep the parklands ‘natural’, so any imported flora and fauna is not wanted in them. At the moment there is baiting to eradicate foxes in this area as well as a rabbit program.
Hope that explains it for you.
Cheers, Peter
Some years ago we had a planned winter burn about 50-80m away from the apiary. Never crossed my mind it would harm the bees. However because it was in winter the smoke lingered on for over a week and the slight breeze blew the smoke towards the hives. We lost 2 out of 4 hives. One hive was found with no bees, the other with a lot of dead bees.
You say it is a new hive so I assume just the brood box. Can you maybe move it somewhere else temporarily, even on a shed maybe if it safe? If you move it a short distance you have to put a branch in front of the entrance to reorientate.
if there’s another burn later on and the hive is full with a honey super it’s trickier to move if you don’t have car access.
I suggest to monitor the smoke and maybe at least put a screen or something to minimise smoke entering the hive.
