har har stovie. i mean, what kind of place do you work on? is it a farm or what? i only ask because organic farm forums are difficult to find and sharing info/ resources with folk can be tricky.
Honey Extraction
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just keep the hive away from privet.... to say that the produce is a little off is an understatement *shudder* ........smelt like drains.
Some of my relatives used to live next door to a guy who kept a beehive in the garden of his victorian-era terrace house - probably smaller than that. He had great honey...
The problem is more likely to be how your neighbors react. I suspect that if one kid gets stung (even if it's not by your bees) then you'd risk having a torch-wielding mob on your hands.
The problem is more likely to be how your neighbors react. I suspect that if one kid gets stung (even if it's not by your bees) then you'd risk having a torch-wielding mob on your hands.
gregorach said:
I suspect you're right there!
I would like a bee hive but the missus has said a big no. She presumes that they'll all want to sting her!
locum76 said:
Sorry! Missed your point
I use friends land (It's a passtime not my business) but the land on which the bees are kept are farmed organically. One is a smallholding, the other a several hundred acre farm. But the lands are adjacent.
What we do is very small scale really, and sell locally.
It's practical, but as Gregorach states it's more the neighbours you have to contend with. Having said that, if there is an area of your garden that does not have a household next to it, if you face the entrance to the hive in that direction, the bees tend to approach on a flightpath along that line, so minimising any disruption they might cause to the neighbours. It's not guaranteed tho'...nobby said:
Stew said:I suspect you're right there!
I would like a bee hive but the missus has said a big no. She presumes that they'll all want to sting her!
No doubt you've heard it all before, but quiet, methodical actions reduce the risk of stings. Most of my stings come from picking up frames and having a bee caught under my finger. Hence I always run my hand gently along the lip of the frames to dislodge them first.
Nice info, thanks Stovie :You_Rock_
My sons wanted a beehive so I looked into it, but in the end I felt it was unfeasible for just the reasons Gregorach gave. Any sting and it would have *had* to have been our bees 
Don't site your hive's flight path over your washing lines either
It's amazing the mess a few bees can cause.
I love honey and get mine from a beekeeping friend in Inverness. His bees are kept on the heather moors
Glorious stuff!
Cheers,
Toddy
My sons wanted a beehive so I looked into it, but in the end I felt it was unfeasible for just the reasons Gregorach gave. Any sting and it would have *had* to have been our bees
Don't site your hive's flight path over your washing lines either
It's amazing the mess a few bees can cause.I love honey and get mine from a beekeeping friend in Inverness. His bees are kept on the heather moors
Glorious stuff!Cheers,
Toddy
Toddy said:Nice info, thanks Stovie :You_Rock_
I love honey and get mine from a beekeeping friend in Inverness. His bees are kept on the heather moors
Cheers,
Toddy
Thanks Toddy.
I have to agree, heather is my favourite. Unfortunately not a lot of it about in Sussex. Second best is the Clover, and we do have a fair smattering of that
Stew said:
if you really want to have a hive and can't get one becuase you're in the town - have a look for any fruit growers/ orchards etc in your area. most farmers with soft fruit or top fruit or their land would be more than greatful for extra pollenators.
you'd probably get to keep your hives on their land for nothing more than a couple of jars of honey per year. in fact, im sure some orchardmen would pay you to keep bees on their land.
stovie, just thought i'd let you know that we were looking through one of our hives recently which contain a variety of italian honey bees (especially nasty and voracious). the hive was on the edge of swarming and we found two queen cells hatching in front of our eyes.
twas truly a hair raising experience. not one to be undertaken without gloves and veil though.
twas truly a hair raising experience. not one to be undertaken without gloves and veil though.
Nice one Stovie, often wondered how it was done. Is one of your hives set up down the first lane on the left as you head west out the village (didn't want to be too specific on the web, but I think you know where I mean)............Jon
locum76 said:
I can feel the adrenalin surging as I read that. Stay calm, move slow and steady and keep the smoker alight
We have italian queens( which are quite dark in colour) but are a good strain to use. How often are you checking the hives at the moment. Were you rearing a new queen for the hive? And did you succeed in stemming the swarm?
Jon Pickett said:
Yeah! You're in the right area Jon. But there are one or two others doing the same thing in the area. Quite a little industry really...
We've only had our hives for a few months and the weather's been awful - about 1 good day a week if your lucky! - if it goes on much longer we'll be evolving bees in arctic coats!
I used to have a bunch of hives but then the tracheal and varroa mites killed all my bees. I attempted to buy allegedly mite resistant strains and use the chemicals to kill them but those hives played out as well.
Finally I gave up for a few years and my friend Mary managed to get a strain going that seems to be resistant without a lot of intense medication or management. One of the things she told me was to use a screened bottom board and apparently when the bees groom the varroa mites off they fall out and can't get back in.
What sort of difficulty do y'all in the UK have as far as parasites? I'm hoping to get honey this year cause I really miss cooking with it and making mead.
Finally I gave up for a few years and my friend Mary managed to get a strain going that seems to be resistant without a lot of intense medication or management. One of the things she told me was to use a screened bottom board and apparently when the bees groom the varroa mites off they fall out and can't get back in.
What sort of difficulty do y'all in the UK have as far as parasites? I'm hoping to get honey this year cause I really miss cooking with it and making mead.
This thread made me nostalgic as well. I used to keep a few hives but I turned allergic to the sting and the doc advised me to give them up. Very sad day. Now I live in the heart of heather country and could have tons of honey. Life can be cruel sometimes!
stovie said:I can feel the adrenalin surging as I read that. Stay calm, move slow and steady and keep the smoker alight
We have italian queens( which are quite dark in colour) but are a good strain to use. How often are you checking the hives at the moment. Were you rearing a new queen for the hive? And did you succeed in stemming the swarm?
we're checking the hives once or twice a week at the moment, the weathers been great and the flows good so we've got a bumper harvest coming up, about 90 pounds or so over three hives...
as for the swarm - none as yet. we already lost one though.
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