Beehive Location
Geopathic Stress and the Optimum Location of Beehives According to Geomancy
by Dowsing the Earth Energy Landscape
Locating a beehive directly over certain geomagnetic lines in the landscape has an immensely beneficial impact on the health of the colony.
Dowsers have long observed that all insects including bees will naturally choose to live over earth energy lines that are charged with geopathic stress, whereas most birds and mammals will avoid these areas.
An east African geomantic tradition has it that an ants’ nest can be moved to an intended building site and observed: if the ants like it and stay then it is no good for human habitation, if they don’t like it and move on then the site is safe for a human building.
Benefits of Beehive Location on Geomagnetic Lines
Professional bee-keeper John Harding has shown (in “Geomagnetic Honeybees (How to create a varroa resistant Honeybee)” that locating beehives over geomagnetically charged lines has resulted in much stronger bee colonies.
Survival in fluctuating weather conditions, resistance to the varroa mite, cleanliness, hygiene and grooming have always been far better in hives sited over these subtle earth energy lines compared with others within the same apiary, and the honey yield/crop is always 2 to 3 times greater.
He has also observed that honeybee colonies located over these geomagnetic lines require more space, and tend to supercede rather than swarm. “Clearly they are in the right place so why swarm unless congested?”
Wherever honeybees have swarmed and settled they are always to be found relocated over one or more geomagnetic lines in the local landscape.
Best Directions for Beehives
John thus suggests fine-tuning the beehive orientation: he believes that magnetic north/south is the normal orientation of honeycomb built when space permits in the wild, and beehives may be best oriented in a north/south direction for the lengthwise honeycomb or frames, with hive entrance and landing board facing south.
If there are multiple hives they can be located with entrances alternating in the direction of north or south (one entrance north with the next beehive entrance south), which will cut down on ‘drifting’ into the wrong hive of flying honeybees returning from foraging.
Source: ‘Geomagnetic Honeybees’ by John Harding
The Downside to Poor Beehive Location
John’s experience is that hives located in the wrong position in neutral areas off the lines are more likely to be varroa infected colonies, and will almost inevitably swarm leaving a weak colony, poor queen cells that may or may not get mated, and eventual death. Chemical treatment only prolongs their fate.
Frames the wrong way i.e. west/east causes stress, miss-shaped comb, frequent swarming and burr comb, as it goes against their natural build format.
Placement as suggested creates a healthy vibrant colony, as it is where they would naturally build in the wild – in cavities in rocks and trees located especially at crossing points of certain geomagnetic lines.
Geomagnetic lines in many cases will vary in width, depth and overlap, and ongoing research is being monitored regarding this phenomenon.
Locating Geomagnetic Lines
Favourable geomagnetic lines in the landscape can most easily be located by: attuning to Bee deva, holding a pair of L-shaped dowsing rods, setting your focus on underground streams, geomagnetic grids and geological faults, and following the rods with the simple intention to find, for example, “geomagnetic lines favourable for honeybees”.
Try it yourself, consult an experienced dowser, or take a day’s training with a local dowsing group (see your national dowsing society).
Geopathic stress
The most frequently occurring pattern of geomagnetic lines favourable for insect activity appears to be directly over an intersection of two underground water lines that are registering as charged with geopathic stress.
(Ong Hean-Tatt, 1997, p.336; Wieger, 1927, pp.65, 126, 290)
Insects are in dowsing tradition attracted to, and thrive on, these so-called ‘black’ or ‘sha’ streams, i.e. veins of underground water carrying a disturbed information field in their associated earth-energy meridian. The two outer edge lines of any distressed underground water meridian carry the most charge and are most interesting to insects.
Insects Favour Sha Streams
Crossings of the edge lines of two or three ‘sha’ streams are even more interesting, and are usually in nature the most likely site of ant, wasp, or wild bee nests (as well as the most likely position when directly under the bed of a human or other mammal for tumour growth).
Mammals favour sheng streams
‘White’ or ‘sheng’ streams by contrast are underground streams with an untraumatised, clean, healthy information field and barely discernible edge lines, healthy for mammals but not so interesting to insects.
A distinction can be made between the raw piezo-electric effect caused by underground water passing through rock and measurable over all underground streams, and the distressed energy field of a ‘sha’ stream (a “sick” stream, as far as our mammalian experience is concerned).
‘Sha’ streams can derive from natural topography, but are often generated by man-made trauma to the earth’s surface by e.g. quarries, cuttings, tunnels, mines and building foundations.
The more insults to the earth’s surface mankind can offer, the better the insect life ought to be doing, so there are obviously a good number of factors at play.
I have long counselled my earth-acupuncture students that when they clean up any sha streams running under a house or barn to help the health of humans and other mammals, they should always check there there are no beehives situated over these lines, as the hives may then cease to thrive and be more vulnerable to being overpowered by disease/mites or predators.
Where to Move the Hives
Any affected beehives could in theory thus be moved to another sha stream crossing point in the garden whose streams do not run through buildings or other mammal-important areas and can thus be left alone for the insects to enjoy.
In practice it is better to move the hive slowly, perhaps a yard at a time, or otherwise to transport the hive at least 3 miles away, otherwise all flying honeybees will fly back to the original position if the hive is left within the same vicinity.
A recent dowse for the placement of a number of hives for a college in whose grounds all geopathic stress had been cleared with earth acupuncture several months previously confirmed that the underground water lines still dowsed as the best placement sites (seemingly confirmed by the friendly arrival of a huge bumblebee around our heads just as we reached the right spot), even though these water lines were registering as clean ‘white’ or ‘sheng’ streams.
It appears that the simple piezo-electric effect of water running through rock can generate enough charge to provide a comfortable environment for insect life on the earth’s surface vertically above the underground stream, though the more sha the lines contain the more they seem to be preferred.
As for what other types of geopathic stress are of most benefit to bees, this is a subject that merits further research.
I suspect that the edge lines of overground ley-lines when they are running dirty / stressed will also be interesting to insects, also maybe the stressed edge lines of locally-stressed Hartmann or Curry geomagnetic grids, but I have not checked this idea in the field yet.
Similarly the other principal forms of geopathic stress, geological faults and mineral deposits, may also prove to be sometimes interesting to insects though these are usually charging field zones, with reference to nano-Tesla geomagnetometer measurements, compared with the discharging field zones of underground water.
Optimum Geomagnetic Fields
A related area of potentially fruitful further research is the relationship between the various geomagnetometer and scintillometer readings of the emerging science of geobiology. These are machines measuring aspects of geopathic stress such as geomagnetic fields and gamma and neutron particle radiation, as well as the Lecher-antenna dowsed numerical scales.
According to John Harding’s findings, a beehive functions optimally when situated in a 250 Hz geomagnetic field.
The BBC sound engineer Eddie Woods in the 1950`s, using equipment placed inside a honeybee nest, recorded varying rates of vibration within the nest measured in hertz – cycles per second. He measured these as between 190hertz and 250hertz during normal summer conditions, however when swarming this vibration went up to 300hertz.
Perhaps this latter figure represents the raised virgin queen piping noise measured by Daniel Favre (see below), and the lower figures the vibration levels of a healthy hive energised by a ‘sparky’ conformation of underlying earth energy lines?
Forms School – Beehive Location within the Visible Landscape
There are many other well-established priorities to consider in deciding on the ideal location for a beehive.
In fact nearly all these following precepts are identical to the classical Feng Shui geomantic precepts for the optimal location of human dwellings within a landscape.
The key difference between humans and bees is of course that, while human and mammalian health is negatively impacted by exposure to geopathic stress, bee and insect health is positively enhanced by it.
Important Factors in Beehive Location
Common sense and the long experience of many beekeepers suggest that other important factors in hive location include
By tradition honeybee colonies and human homes should not be within 100 yards of each other.
Facing a relatively undisturbed frontage so that the bees’ flight path in and out of the hive is not disturbed by, nor disturbs, human, animal or mechanical activity
- “Stand in front of a horse and behind a beehive”, and ideally at least 100 yards from human habitation (in a tight property a 6’ high fence to the front, at least 3’ from the landing board, can direct the bee-line up over the heads of neighbours)
On firm well-drained soil to prevent the hive from sinking into mud in wet weather
- Ideally on wooden stands (never metal) at least 18” high (this common 18” height is for the convenience of bee-keepers, as research has shown (Seeley: Honeybee Democracy) that in nature swarms choose nest sites somewhere between 5 to 8 meters above the ground, and sometimes much higher in tropical forests and cliffs – thus keeping hives on flat roofs or balconies is probably preferable
Good local air circulation for ventilation yet sheltered from prevailing winds
- With a windbreak hedge or fence to the rear of the hive to block harsh winter winds (wind disturbing the front of the hive can elevate stress and aggression levels and cause the bees to spend time and energy reducing the size of the entrance with propolis/honeycomb
Facing south in order to maximise sunshine and align geomagnetically
Unshaded to the east so that the bees start foraging earlier in the day
- Plants have a higher nectar load in the mornings
Positioned in full sun in colder climates, or dappled shade in hotter climates to help the bees regulate hive temperature
- Too much sun can cause the honeybees to overwork collecting water to keep the brood temperature at an ideal 96°F – 35.5°C, while also avoiding deep shade which can make the hive damp and the colony listless
Winter frost pockets should be avoided
- One of the biggest winter killers is condensation created too much insulation over the hive, bees need plenty of ventilation
Facing a nearby water source
- Ideally standing water containing some organic material and rocks or other floating ramps to help prevent drowning
Near flowering plants, weeds and shrubs
- Providing sources of nectar and thus favoured honey flavours, and near trees that produce pollen early in the year such as willow and linden – the typical forage area is within a 2-3 mile radius of the hive
Easy and secure access to the site for the beekeeper
- If necessary fencing to keep the hive safe from predators both human and animal
The hive positioned completely level side-to-side and front to back
- Level if using a ‘Harding Debris Floor’ is used, otherwise slightly lower at the front than the back to allow rainwater to drain out rather than in. However, tilting changes the honeycomb build and creates extra work for the bees as they use true vertical and magnetic north-south when building comb
Mulch or paving at the hive entrance to prevent grass growing long and impeding ventilation and bee orientation
If multiple hives are present then navigational aids near the entrance such as marker shrubs should be left
Not in an area too overcrowded with other colonies
Not under or over electric power cables – any electrical appliance, including mobile phones sending or receiving signals
- If phones are left switched on in or near a hive will result in the rapid vacation of the hive
Not close to mobile phone masts
- Mobile phone masts have been proven to cause drastic changes in honeybee foraging and disorient bees’ homing abilities in some areas – electro-smog may be implicated in colony collapse disorder
Mobile Phones and Bee Colonies
For example, an experiment conducted in the southern Indian state of Kerala found that a sudden fall in the bee population was caused by towers installed across the state by cellphone companies to increase their network.
Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy who conducted the study concluded
- “The electromagnetic waves emitted by the towers crippled the navigational skills of the worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers to sustain bee colonies”, (reported by the Press Trust of India news agency, August 2009).
He also found that when a cell phone was kept near a beehive, the worker bees were unable to return, leaving the hives with only the queens and eggs and resulting in the collapse of the colony within ten days.
A similar research project using DECT phones came to a similar conclusion:
- “Can Electromagnetic Exposure Cause a Change in Behaviour? Studying Possible Non-Thermal Influences on Honey Bees
- An Approach within the Framework of Educational Informatics” – Wolfgang Harst, Jochen Kuhn & Hermann Stever, University of Koblenz-Landau
Similarly, researcher Daniel Favre of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology conducted 83 separate experiments that tested bees’ reactions to a nearby cellphone and found that honeybees made 10 times the amount of “worker piping” noise when a cell phone made or received a call than they did when the phone was in off or standby mode.
This noise usually signals the bees to leave the hive, but when the reaction is triggered by a cellular signal, this noise represents extreme hive stress. Repeatedly, within two minutes of the phone calls ending, the worker bees calmed down.
- “Can Electromagnetic Exposure Cause a Change in Behaviour? Studying Possible Non-Thermal Influences on Honey Bees
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the worldwide increase of bee colony death in recent years is multi-factorial, with the varroa mite, cellphone microwaves and other radio-wave electro-smog, neonicotinoid and other pesticides, GM crops and other intensive and monocultural agricultural practices all implicated in the problem.
Questions can also be raised regarding the benefits of ‘natural’ or modern ‘rational’ beekeeping management practices such as interference with colony reproduction (swarming) through swarm control, queen breeding, artificial insemination, and drone reduction; as well as questions concerning hive design choice and the influence of the hive shape on colony welfare. For example, there could be more research into the benefits of round, catenary, hexagonal and other non-square hive forms.
To this expanding list should be added the unsympathetic siting of beehives by bee-keepers uninformed of the value of following the bees’ example in nature and choosing the best geomantic spots. This is ideally crossing points of underground streams that are registering geopathic stress.
This is patently a topic that merits much more research, but it is already the experience of a small but growing number of beekeepers that the precise siting of beehives according to the geomantic principles outlined above, which take their cues from the natural behaviour of settling swarms, will make a significant difference to the health and strength of honeybee colonies.
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