I’m looking at making use of a 2.5mx7m flat roof. Obviously the hive request more time investment but I’m willing to learn
Putting a hive in a city is a bad idea. Domestic bees, which are more resistant because they are fed by humans, eat the food of wild bees, and accelerate their disappearance.
Do the solar panels and let native pollinator friendly plants to grow around it.
Install solar panels and plant local flowers (drought resistant in drought prone areas).
The beehives have a huge prerequisite of making sure there’s enough flowers throughout the year to feed them. So if they come with installing a full rooftop garden, that’s great, otherwise you’d be better off sticking to the panels.
But putting up panels wouldn’t prevent you from also starting container gardening. Pollinating insects are pretty good at making their own homes. What matters more is growing food for them and their larval stages to eat. So if you’re up for it, install the panels, and start filling the gaps with container plants. Just don’t go overboard because soil is too heavy for roofs that aren’t designed for the extra load.
Are 4 solar panels enough?
No but that’s all I can fit there
4 Solar Panels are plenty, I have 2 and on sunny days you get much more than you can consume. I would recommend just getting 2 aswell (I got 870Watt peak in total) because everything else would require either some form of battery or would involve giving the energy into the power grid. Also in Germany there is a 800W limit for easier registration aswell.
Honey bee hives are not good for the environment. If you wanna help the environment look into homes for native bees, and bugs. Usually these dont require much if any upkeep from you. Also there is no reason you couldnt do both. Put the hives under the solar panels. It will shield them from the elements too and keep the bees safe from storms and birds.
Neither of them will have any significant impact we are all already fucked.
