How significant is the direction the entrance faces?

Does it really make a difference?

My hives are aligned with my fence and the entrances face south-ish. (They are shadowed by the house very early in the morning so there is no point in them facing due East.) I am wondering if I should place them at an angle to the fence so they face nearer SE. It will look a little odd, but if it makes a big difference to how much forage they collect, it may be worth it.

I also note that honeybees seem uninterested in cold blossoms - presumably because they have no scent. When our apple tree is in blossom, but shadowed by a larger tree, the bees only go to the blossom in sun, and gradually work across the tree as the sun shifts in the sky. So I am slightly sceptical that an early start is useful.

It's not the scent that attracts them - it's the availability of pollen and nectar - flowers give nectar only at certain temperatures so if it's too cold the bees don't bother visiting them.
Nowadays, with open mesh floors the direction isn't that crucial as they will see it's getting light through the floor, so again it's temperature that is more important, if the bees think it's a tad cold outside they will be slower getting out there.
Bearing this in mind you can see the important thing is that the hive gets some sun rather than the entrance.
South facing as your are are ideal IMHO, as you say, it's only early morning that they don't get the full effect of the sun but the difference in foraging would be minimal. Even if you turned the hives 180 degrees so the entrances face North it would in my opinion make little difference so I would say relax, all is fine as it is.

Wot you need is one of these....

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...+device&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

I made a similar device a few years back for solar panel orientation as part of an Environmental Science degree module... still have it... wonder if a beehive would sit on it?

Yeghes da

The earlier the sun gets in your bees the earlier they fly. The evening sun is not so critical. Face them south east of you can. The hills stop our morning sun which gives my bees a short flying day. It isn't all about heat!
E

One row of my hives faces south, the other north. No difference. What makes the difference is the time the sun hits the hive.

jenkinsbrynmair said:

It's not the scent that attracts them - it's the availability of pollen and nectar - flowers give nectar only at certain temperatures so if it's too cold the bees don't bother visiting them.
Nowadays, with open mesh floors the direction isn't that crucial as they will see it's getting light through the floor, so again it's temperature that is more important, if the bees think it's a tad cold outside they will be slower getting out there.
Bearing this in mind you can see the important thing is that the hive gets some sun rather than the entrance.
South facing as your are are ideal IMHO, as you say, it's only early morning that they don't get the full effect of the sun but the difference in foraging would be minimal. Even if you turned the hives 180 degrees so the entrances face North it would in my opinion make little difference so I would say relax, all is fine as it is.

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The info about nectar timing is useful, thank you.

I could have said, I have heavily insulated hives. (Warres - about the same as polystyrene for insulation, according to Derek Mitchell's research.) And though I have a mesh floor there is a removable panel below (to monitor varroa, but normally shut so the bees can control temperature, i.e. the mesh floor is essentially a sealed wall as far as ventilation is concerned.) So, I don't think sun on the hive body itself will change the internal temperature much. It's really about the light coming in the entrance. I didn't mention this because I thought the answers from very experienced beeks such as yourself might be more generally useful to e.g. users of Nationals if I did not specify "well insulated hive".

open mesh floors should remain open at all times (clue is in the name really ) to help the bees control the internal temperatures. still say direction doesn't really make much difference

oxnatbees said:

... I have heavily insulated hives. (Warres - about the same as polystyrene for insulation, according to Derek Mitchell's research.) ...

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Are they made from polystyrene? And if not, what did you use?

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Entrance direction has meaning. When bees fly in low temperatures, they often drop with their loads into the shadow, and even into the shadow of the hive. They stay there a while and die then.

You can see them much in proper weather.

In my climate early cleansing flights are very essential to bees, and hives need open sunshine.
Bees drop down, and only sunshine wakes then up again from cold ground or from snow.

Madge said:

Are they made from polystyrene? And if not, what did you use?

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They have 25mm thick cedar walls and extra insulation on top (which we call a quilt). Cedar is a particularly good wood for insulation. They look a bit like very chunky Nationals with a funny roof. A chap called Derek Mitchell has done research comparing different types of hive, placing a 20 watt heat source inside them and monitoring how warm they get inside. Nationals,with their thin walls and high surface area fare poorly whilst tree cavities (six inches of insulating wood) perform best. This is significant because sure, the bees can regulate the temperature in a well ventilated hive, but it takes energy, so they make less honey. Mitchell figures it's MUCH less honey. Some bee farmers have woken up to the fact that they get higher honey crops from polystyrene hives than wooden ones like Nationals. My thick walled wooden Warre would be a pain for a honey farmer though, partly because it's a lot heavier than a National, partly because it doesn't use fames, so you tend to see Warres in back gardens and not used for pollination services, etc.

None of which is relevant to the orientation question, but since you asked...

Finman said:

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Entrance direction has meaning. When bees fly in low temperatures, they often drop with their loads into the shadow, and even into the shadow of the hive. They stay there a while and die then.

You can see them much in proper weather.

In my climate early cleansing flights are very essential to bees, and hives need open sunshine.
Bees drop down, and only sunshine wakes then up again from cold ground or from snow.

Click to expand...

Thank you Finman, this is a great point to consider.

oxnatbees said:

They have 25mm thick cedar walls and extra insulation on top (which we call a quilt). Cedar is a particularly good wood for insulation. ...

None of which is relevant to the orientation question, but since you asked...

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Thanks. That's interesting. (I think it's OK for a thread to sometimes swerve away on a tangent!)

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Entrance in sun means too, that the air, which moves in via entrance, is warmer in sun than in shadow. Bees need warm up the air, because they have 36C in brood ball.
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jenkinsbrynmair said:

open mesh floors should remain open at all times (clue is in the name really ) to help the bees control the internal temperatures. still say direction doesn't really make much difference

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What`s a point in looking for a quiet site for the hive and still use an open mesh floor? Any site, no matter how quiet it is, will get exposed to the wind during stormy weather. This wind will get inside a hive from underneath and blow warmth away.
I do not see much dump in my hives (no dump at all in those that I`ve made out of kingspan), and I can`t rely on a mesh in the fight with warroa, as there is no better remedy for it than the well known chemicals. I need more warmth as to get more brood as to get more honey. That`s it.
I`ll take pictures of my crown boards and top bars when it won`t be so windy, just to show you all that I`m not braging

Just shows he hasn't really a scooby doo

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I had 5 m high hedge on the sunny side of my yard. I took 3 m off, and sun is shining again onto my yard. A couple of pear trees had too exit. Too much fertilization.

Madge said:

Thanks. That's interesting. (I think it's OK for a thread to sometimes swerve away on a tangent!)

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Plenty of tangents here

This wind will get inside a hive from underneath and blow warmth away
Unless the wind is blowing straight up through the OMF the mesh will diffuse it and very little will disturb the bees.

Erichalfbee said:

Unless the wind is blowing straight up through the OMF the mesh will diffuse it and very little will disturb the bees.

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Is that a fact, or wishful thinking? I'd really like to know.
Ps. Based on my experience, when the wind blows (often on our hill), the temperature in our highly insulated straw-bale studio drops. The wind just finds a way in.

Madge said:

Is that a fact, or wishful thinking? I'd really like to know.
Ps. Based on my experience, when the wind blows (often on our hill), the temperature in our highly insulated straw-bale studio drops. The wind just finds a way in.

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Its common sense really, you have a insulation problem with holes in the wrong places letting cold air to travel through, hives should only have one entrance for air intake and if the top is closed there's no way cold air can be pulled in unless like Erica means blast it in mechanically with a leaf blower.
Get a good builder to re-point your block work and make it draft free.