Beekeeping for beginners

[SaraR]

I‘ve been beekeeping for almost 10 years by now. I also run our local association‘s beginners‘ course in beekeeping. We‘ve just finished all our theory sessions and are starting our practical sessions towards the end of April.

We get more than enough honey, even if we‘re not that interested in the honey harvest aspect of it. I use the wax for candles and salves/ balms (for people and leather). Check out @British Red YouTube channel for some really easy recipes to get you started.

 

[Broch]

I was never stung over the few years I had bees but one got into my wife's head covering (whatever they're called in beekeeping) and before we knew it there were a dozen or more in there stinging her through her hair. Not a pleasant experience.

I believe that most bees bought through suppliers are Italian (or at least Mediterranean) and they are more docile (but lazier) whereas native black bees are more aggressive but more active. Well, at least that's what 16 out of the 20 beekeepers told me

 

[SaraR]

Just got back from the second session of a local beginners beekeeping course. It's been extremely interesting so far. The first day was very theoretical, learning about how the hive functions, anatomy and the basics of looking after the hive. Today was very practical, helping out with the inspection of a hive.

Just wondering how many on here keep bees and what the motivation is behind it? Do you sell honey/wax and run it as a business, is it purely for self sufficiency or are you just interested in bees? Etc.

Also interested to hear about any applications for propolis, it's something I'd not heard of previous to starting the course. Seems like it should have some uses for the bushcraft community.

It's great that you're getting hands-on experience too. Some courses are theory only and it's such a shame.

My advice would be to get as much practical experience as possible (e.g. by offering to help a more experienced beekeeper out) and not to get too distracted by fancy or alternative hive constructions until you've got a bit of experience, however tempting it might be. If you think you'll want to go with something different to what's used in your local area, make the most of the practical sessions to learn on a conventional system first.

 

[William_Montgomery]

It's great that you're getting hands-on experience too. Some courses are theory only and it's such a shame.

My advice would be to get as much practical experience as possible (e.g. by offering to help a more experienced beekeeper out) and not to get too distracted by fancy or alternative hive constructions until you've got a bit of experience, however tempting it might be. If you think you'll want to go with something different to what's used in your local area, make the most of the practical sessions to learn on a conventional system first.

Thanks for the good advice. I'll do that. We've got one session which is a talk on swarms, beyond that I think the rest are all practical.
It was great to see inside the hive (first time I've donned a suit and got close up), it was quite an incredible thing. The structure was beautiful, as were the bees themselves.

I'm already tempted to start building a hive from scratch, but I'll take your advice and get some experience first.

 

[Broch]

I've come across mention of this once or twice, but not looked into it much. It's an interesting point. I do struggle with the whole native/invasive species debate, it seems like a complex topic and I don't think I'm genned up enough on it to hold any strong opinion. I suspect it's prone to being over simplified a lot, one way or the other. Would be interested to hear a bit more about it though.

Here's a story from today! - it's media based though, so hardly thorough research.

The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did | Alison Benjamin

When I set up my honeybee hive, I had no idea I might be harming wild bee species. Now I’ve found better ways to encourage biodiversity, says journalist and author Alison Benjamin

www.theguardian.com

 

[William_Montgomery]

Here's a story from today! - it's media based though, so hardly thorough research.

The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did | Alison Benjamin

When I set up my honeybee hive, I had no idea I might be harming wild bee species. Now I’ve found better ways to encourage biodiversity, says journalist and author Alison Benjamin

www.theguardian.com

Cheers Broch. Yeah, it can be difficult with media articles to know what you're getting. Sometimes it feels like it's more about the journalist than the subject.

 

[SaraR]

Thanks for the good advice. I'll do that. We've got one session which is a talk on swarms, beyond that I think the rest are all practical.
It was great to see inside the hive (first time I've donned a suit and got close up), it was quite an incredible thing. The structure was beautiful, as were the bees themselves.

I'm already tempted to start building a hive from scratch, but I'll take your advice and get some experience first.

If you‘re a decent woodworker you can definitely build your own hive, just pay very close attention to the internal measurements (bee space is crucial!) and whether the drawings you are using have top or bottom bee space.

I thought it was amazing too, the first time I did a hive inspection.

 

[Falstaff]

Poor article that, based purely on a big city-centric viewpoint and incomplete research.
Lack of suitable nesting sites for wild bees is a much bigger issue in built up areas.
The easiest, most natural and by far cheapest way to do beekeeping is using homemade top bar hives, preferably with recycled site ply boards, cut down planks etc. Not sure how long I've been doing it , maybe 12 years.
As a pragmatic environmentalist I like having the bees to watch and look after, and take very little honey, as that is their winter stores. I feed them a specialist bee food or make up my own fondant mix if they are low. I had to move my hives as their ability to collect enough reduced over several years due to building development around where I lived. Picked up again as soon as I moved them to a better location.
Recently had a discussion with a Master Beekeeper who didn't like the idea of importing queens and colonies - risk of diseases and hive beetle etc coming in on Italian bees, which is a risk, but she had 60 + hives/colonies, & set aside breeding colonies, & didn't see the problems for small beeks not being able to do the same. I buy Slovakian queens if I need to, you need a large concentration of hives and bees to successfully breed). Conversely, she was obliged to strip honey and wax off her hives to sell to pay for the costs of her traditional hives & kit. My costs are negligbIe, made my own headnet, don't use or need a smoker, and only recently bought a bee suit for less than £20. Biggest expenditure was probably my local Beek club membership which I've dropped now.