Beekeeping for beginners, anyone?

leonie_2

Right then, I know nothing about beekeeping and im thinking of getting a starter kit for OH.

Is it easy enough to start up and keep bees in an ordinary back garden?

We got three chickens earlier in the year and thats turned into a complete success, three happy ladies exploring the garden all day and fresh eggs, wonderful!

But bees, thats another thing, im worried, do they cause a nuisance when you are sitting out in the garden?

Hubby has always loved watching bees, and since he let me have the chickens, I think its only fair, however we know nothing about it, so anyone with a few hints or tips to give, we would be very grateful! :-)

Magentasue

Leonie, I want bees too! Like you we have chickens but unfortunately we have close neighbours and a garden that backs on to the railway lines so a hive in the garden isn't an option. We're on the waiting list for an allotment and so that might be an option. I found a few websites by typing beekeeping and beginners into google and advice seems to be that now is the time for research, joining your local group and maybe attending a class. The local group could be a source for your first swarm!

Here are the websites:

http://www.thorne.co.uk/
http://www.bbka.org.uk/
http://www.beedata.com/

arkonite_babe

leonie,

I've done a google search for you and found THESE results. I'm not sure if we have any resident beekeepers in our midst, but if we do I'm sure they will be here to pass on some tips very soon!

leonie_2

Hi friends, gosh that was quick!

I have been searching google all night, theres some good info on there, but I was hoping we had a member here who could give first hand advice (although looking at the archives, its not been covered very often)

I shall look out for a club in my area and let you know how I get on (or rather hubby, im not going near them!)

Debt_Free_Chick

I'm a beekeeper (yes, I kept that one quiet!)

Definitely, find your local beekeepers association, even before you buy any kit or make a final decision. They will find a member to "mentor" you and talk you through the whole process. They may even be able to offer you a hive full of bees to get you started, as some members may wish to reduce the number they have. Someone in our association has 25 hives, so it's not unusual to start up in this way. See if your local college also does an introduction to beekeeping course.

In a garden, you need to site the hive where it gets some sunshine early in the morning, to encourage the bees out of their hive to forage for nectar/pollen. Ideally, you want the front of the hive (entrance) to face away from the house and, if possible, with a hedge or obstruction about 15-20 yards away. This will encourage the bees to fly up and over the hedge and off into the distance - bees generally fly in a straight-ish line out of the hive, hence you don't want it facing the house.

No, they tend not to be a nuisance around the garden. Unlike wasps (horrid things!), bees prefer to forage on plants for nectar and not attack your summer bbq. You should hardly notice they're there, but if you watch them they're fascinating to watch on the plants, flowers etc.

The first link on the Google results that arkonite_babe posted is a very good all round introduction. They're not a lot of trouble and only take half an hour of maintenance each week, between roughly April & September. You just need to inspect them, watch out for problems & diseases, control the swarm and feed them before they go to bed in the winter.

Yes, they are fascinating and lovely little girls -if you (hubby) get hooked, you'll probably be a beekeeper for life (yours, as well as theirs)

Contact the local association - they love to share their hobby & enthusiasm with others.

leonie_2

Brilliant, thanks for all that useful info!

We are going to find and talk to our local beekeeping group and get more info. Hubby is really keen so im getting him some books on it for Christmas.

Ooooh im getting a kenwood chef for Christmas too, so we will have our own eggs, honey and butter, whoo hooo!

I love this downsizing!

economiser

I was a beekeeper for many years but you should appreciate that there can be drawbacks.

Not all bees are peaceful and if you get an angry hive they can be very aggressive. Its all very well to say change the queen but that is not necessarily as simple as it says in the books.
It depends how sensitive you are to stings (you will get stung). If you are sensitive and have to wear the full kit to inspect the hives you can get VERY hot and sticky in the summer.
We live in the country and had problems with the vast amouts of oil seed rape being planted. The honey goes solid very quickly making it difficult to extract. The bees also get very excited by the quantity of nectar available making them more difficult to handle.
It can be difficult to control swarming. Neighbours can get very panicky when a swarm is in progress but the bees are in fact at their most docile at this time. Just fixated on finding the queen. Recovering the swarm can also be problematic. I found it difficult to keep the apiary down to a managable size. I don't think it realistic to try and operate with less that three or four hives. You can start with one but despite following all the advice never managed to stop the odd swarm, which means another hive!

Don't want to put you off but its as well not to see it all through the proverbial rose coloured specs. It was an interesting hobby but it all became a bit too much trouble for me in the end.

leonie_2

I understand and this is exactly why I wanted responses from people who know what they are talking about.

I would never going into doing something like this without a bit of knowledge under my belt. We will be visiting a local keeper after Christmas so we can get a feel for what its like as we have no idea at the moment. I've never even seen a working hive!

Thanks everyone, some good advice given :-)