Height Strategy 燕屋高度策略

Does the height of BH matter? I was asked for advice by a reader, who started his BH more than 1 year ago in a prime zone of swiftlet farming, but yet it is not performing very well. His BH is 2 storey shop lot and other successful BHs are 3 storey.

BH with 2 storey height is not an issue actually as long as entrance is clear from obstacles. For 2 storey BHs regardless of standalone or shop converted, entrance design is recommended to use either open roof or dog kennel rather than window entrance due to lower height.

When the 2 storey BH is located in the swiftlet farming prime area and neighboring BHs are mostly 3storey, unless you are the pioneer, otherwise the height of your BH is really a disadvantage in the competition. Swiftlets behave to fly high than low, late comer with lower height is more difficult to attract young bird from higher BH to visit as your entrance hole is deviating from the fly path. I observed that many BH with similar scenario did not get good result. In such a case you may need an effective pooling system to attract more bird to visits.

On the other hand, higher is not always better, too high could also induce problem of strong air flow and humidity/temp fluctuation. Find out the optimum height before you start constructing your BH, which will be actually helping in success and steady growth.

燕屋高度是否成问题？有读者问我的意见的，他的燕屋在一个养燕热区操作已超过一年，但至今表现却不是很好，他的燕屋是两层店屋，其他附近的成功燕屋是有三层的。

其实两层楼高度燕屋实际上并不是问题只要入口没障碍的问题。无论独立式或店屋改装两层燕屋，建议使用天井或狗洞入口设计由于其较低的高度。

如果你的燕屋是两层楼而附近燕屋大多是三层楼燕屋，除非你是先来者，否则你的燕屋高度在竞争中会处于劣势。金丝燕子飞行习惯为偏高飞行，后来者低身燕屋会比较难吸引高身燕屋的燕子因为飞行路线偏差。我观察到许多类似情况的燕屋都没有得到好的成绩。这种情况可能需要一个很有效的集燕装置以吸引更多的燕子访问。

另一方面，较高的燕屋并不总是较好的，过高也可能导致燕屋强烈气流和温湿度大波动的问题。找出燕屋最佳高度然后才开始设计你的燕屋，这将会帮助燕屋的成功和稳健成长。

BH with different height in the same row

一排不同高度的燕屋
(photo taken in some other place)