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Lionheart

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 427
Location: Cheshire

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 5:20 pm Post subject: Beekeeping!

I've been wanting to learn how to keep bees and set up a hive for a few years now and have recently decided that this year may be just the year to do it!

However, not knowing ANYTHING about beekeeping, could the beekeepers on the forum possibly recommend the best way to go about learning and setting up?

Is there really that much to it?

Any and all advice and recommendations would be warmly appreciated.........!

Thanks

Cris

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35057
Location: Devon

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 5:26 pm Post subject:
A few of our members keep bees, and I will be embarking on a course with my local association next week! Very exciting! You should be able to find your local association from here BBKA Article with more info here.

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 5:29 pm Post subject:
Find your local beekers group---alot of them often run beginners courses and give help and advice with setting up. If they don't run a course they may well know where there is one---either way I'm sure they'll make you welcome and give you advice.

Rosemary Judy

Joined: 08 Aug 2005
Posts: 1215
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 5:32 pm Post subject:

I started my course three weeks ago - it is run by the local association and is so far excellent.

We get to build our own hive ( from a kit, not scratch, much to my relief) in the 9th week.

So far we have learnt about the bees, the hive and visited the association Apiary.

And I found some people who live just up the road also have chooks and we are going to look after each others.

All this for �35.00 - superb value if you ask me

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 5:46 pm Post subject:

I think that chick-pea (rather than chickpea) belongs to the Cheshire association - she did a course last year and could perhaps advise you of local support?

There's not that much to it on the one hand - ie, I think it's quite easy to be a mediocre bee-keeper; but to be a good bee-keeper is more difficult

.

I didn't go on a course, but I was lucky enough to have my mum's advice by remote control. We still had a pretty traumatic first year last year - we took on four hives, had five swarms and all sorts of interesting things. It was steep learning curve.

I'd recommend Ted Hooper's excellent book 'Guide to bees and honey'; although he does tick me off because he's a National Hive chap and I like WBCs

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 6:00 pm Post subject:
Ditto everyone else - Try and get on a course run by your local association but hurry because many of the courses are starting soon I loved the course I did simply because it gave me the opportunity to socialise with other new beekeepers and also more experienced ones - So much so that I've ended up on their committee as the webmaster!

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 6:22 pm Post subject:
No course, and don't belong to anything here, but I had an experienced bee-keeping friemd help me set up several years ago.

woodsprite

Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Posts: 2943
Location: North Herefordshire

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 6:23 pm Post subject:
Ditto again! Join the local branch, you learn so much from the monthly meetings and see a thousand different ways that people keep bees.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 08 6:31 pm Post subject:

Sarah D wrote:

No course, and don't belong to anything here, but I had an experienced bee-keeping friemd help me set up several years ago.

I remember seeing them just after you'd got them - You have to be held partly responsible for me having bee's in my garden !

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 08 1:03 pm Post subject:
I had a cruise past my hives this morning and they're both busy. My very resourceful bees seem to be finding plenty of pollen.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 08 1:18 pm Post subject:

jocorless wrote:

I remember seeing them just after you'd got them - You have to be held partly responsible for me having bee's in my garden !

I've heard that partly responsible bit so often now

Will have a look at mine from tehoutside when I go up to the goats this afternoon, but I still haven't seen them out yet.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 08 1:24 pm Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

My very resourceful bees seem to be finding plenty of pollen.

Mine appear to be finding loads as well - I took out the inspection board at the bottom of the hive yesterday, when I went to check to see if they'd eaten all the fondant, and found that the board was full of pollen bits - some of it very dark - I thought it might have been from the snowdrops but it may be from Gorse out on the marshes and rough ground nearby

I didn't expect them to be out and about so early on

Home on the Hill

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 313
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 08 5:44 pm Post subject:
My OH is going to the local beekeeping group meeting next week to find out more as he's decided to give it a go this summer - very exciting. He couldn't not go really, when he found out that they meet at a place less than 10 mins walk from our house! Carrie Beth

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