Apiary Site Permission and Landowner Record
Keep an out-apiary arrangement on paper rather than in two people's memories, so it still makes sense when the farm changes hands or you send someone else to do the visit.
BK-10 1 page
Beekeeping · BK-18
Apiary Site Assessment Checklist
A free printable apiary site checklist: compare three candidate sites on neighbours, paths, access, forage, water, shelter and security, with a sketch of each.
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One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
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The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Compare candidate apiary sites on the same points before agreeing to put hives on any of them. A site that looked ideal in February can turn out to sit beside a bridleway, a washing line or a frost hollow.
Who it is for
Beekeepers looking for an out-apiary, associations placing members' hives, and landowners offering ground for bees.
How to use it
- Visit each site and fill in its column on the day, writing what you saw rather than a score.
- Go back on an evening or at a weekend if you can: that is when neighbours are in their gardens and walkers are out.
- Sketch each site with the hives, the flight line, paths and north marked.
- Write the overall view and decision, then record the site you chose on the Apiary Site Permission and Landowner Record.
What is on the sheet
One page, top to bottom:
Printed under the title: Up to three candidate sites compared on the same points, from the neighbours and passers-by to forage, shelter and security, before you agree to put hives on any of them.
What you saw, not a score. No distances or hive numbers are printed: what is close enough to a garden, a path or a stable depends on the site and the bees, and the rules differ from place to place, so check them where you are. Write what you actually saw on each visit.
Write-on lines: Beekeeper · Hives to place · Hive type · Needed by
Also printed: Check on each visit · Site A · Site B · Site C · Site, owner, date visited · Neighbours, gardens, washing lines · Paths, riders, livestock, passers-by · Host household: children, pets, allergies · Access on evenings and weekends · Vehicle access, distance to carry · Forage through the seasons · Water the bees can reach · Shelter, sun, frost or flood risk · Security: theft, vandals, stock · Flight-line screening: hedge, fence · Sprayed crops nearby, and the grower · Sketch: hives, flight line, paths, north · Overall view and decision
Questions
Why are there no minimum distances from houses or paths?
Because there is no single right figure: it depends on the bees, the screening and the lie of the land, and some places set their own rules. The sheet asks you to write how close things actually are, so you can judge each site and check the rules where you are.
How is this different from the landowner permission record?
This sheet comes first: it compares sites before you choose one. The permission record is for the site you chose, and holds what you and the landowner agreed.
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