The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Other => Topic started by: Sharondp on July 06, 2010, 12:48:36 pm
-
Our nucleus has arrived today and we've located it in our mini orchard.
Would like to know who else on here keeps bees so I can hassle share/seek advice. Hubby has been on the BBKA course - it's my job to do the processing!
All advice warmly welcomed!
-
Bzzzz...I keep bees (not very well sometimes >:() but I am learning fast! This is my second year and really enjoying it. Quite a few keepers on the forum so I am sure we can learn together.
-
I do !
(but only for about 2 weeks!)
-
and I'm hoping to - maybe next year after I've taken my course in the Winter. Have had one afternoon lesson/helping so far.
-
Great! Glad we're not alone! We have a great local Beekeepers association and we can go along to their local apiary every thursday evening and work with experienced keepers which is brilliant.
Not sure we're going to get much (if any) honey this year, but I'm looking forward to processing all the hive products - that's the next course!
Toby (aged 6) is busy naming them all ::) and is wondering if we have to shut them all in at night like the chickens :-\ ::)
-
I keep bees - live in Fife
-
We want to keep bees - too much going on with the build et al this year so fingers crossed this will be part of next year's challenge :)
-
I just LOVE all the beautiful things you can make with the wax. The Bee keeping tent at the RHS had loads of them, but I forgot to go back in on the way out to buy some for Christmas presents.
Found these interesting websites
http://www.rachelssupply.com/bwax.htm
http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm
http://mindourbeeswax.com/
-
Yep, I've been keeping them for a whole two months. Got my swarms a bit late for honey this year, but hopefully next year. . . yummy! I have two hives and my neighbour has three and we have put them all together on one of my fields. Managed to get five swarms between us over past couple of months to fill them. Great. But very much in the 'infants class' and learning as we go. Hope there will be lots of useful info on the forum.
-
OH is the beekeeper here. Had them for 4 years now.Wonderful creatures.
-
I just LOVE all the beautiful things you can make with the wax. The Bee keeping tent at the RHS had loads of them, but I forgot to go back in on the way out to buy some for Christmas presents.
Found these interesting websites
http://www.rachelssupply.com/bwax.htm
http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm
http://mindourbeeswax.com/
annie, thornes is just up the road from me so if there is anything they have that you want just let me know and i can pick it up for you next time i'm there. hoping to come to the meeting in july and/or the bbq in august so i can give you them then.
laura
-
Thanks, Laura. Hope you can make the BBQ - it's at mine. I've just ordered a couple of bars of beeswax to see what I can do with them - probably a mess but I'll have fun trying. ;D ;D ;D
-
Hi, I'm another beekeeper.I started 15 years ago. :wave:
-
I have been keeping bees for about 4 years now, manage usually about three/four hives to go into winter. Cannot do anymore as it gets too much work with checking them all... but enough honey for us and to sell/give away some (great for bartering, everyone wants local honey).
Hopefully not lost any this year to swarming, they all are on their second super and have been artificially swarmed.
I am in the Borders.
-
Are any of you beekeepers registered on Bee base? had inspections?
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm
-
Sorry to be thick Anke, can you explain 'atrificially swarmed' please - I'm sure your explanation will be clearer than the numerous books I've read!
-
Mine usually start to build queen cells in early/mid may. I then separate the (old) queen from the the flying bees to prevent swarming. I take a frame with one good queen cell (preferably unsealed), put it into a new brood box and also add fresh (foundation only) combs + the supers. I then put this "new" queen in the place of the hive and move the "old" broodbox (with all other queen cells removed, but hopefully the old queen in it) to a new place at least one, but preferably two metres away. This means the flying bees will return to the old place but with the new queen, and the old one doesn't swarm. The old hive (at the new place) will need a super in about a week/two weeks, as nurse bees start flying. At the end of summer I try to unite, and if I see her will kill the old queen (depends on how old she is).
It doesn't always work, especially if the queen cell had already been sealed, they might already have taken off....
However this way you don't have to find the queen (I am not very good (patient) at this), you only have to make sure that she is NOT on the frame you put into the new hive. This year all three of mine have been successful, in that all three have new laying queens in them, but two of the old ones have died (or had already died when I did the swarming procedure), so so far so good.
I found one book very good, the "Teach yourself beekeeping", it describes this method. The other bee book that I htink is fairly simple (and understandable) is "Bees at the bottom of the garden".
-
I've seen a couple of people marking their queens so they can find them easily - saw it at the RHS a couple of weekends ago too. They use special paint in a sort of pen,(all sorts of colours) trap her with a pronged frame that sits on the cells when you first find her, then dab her head with the paint, wait a minute or so for it to dry then release her. I was amazed at how easy it was and how easily found she is afterwards.
-
Hubby tells me you can clip their wings too....now I've done a chicken, but a bee??? :o ;D
-
It looks quite easy to mark a queen if someone else is doing it.... I only see my queens VERY rarely, usually just check for eggs/uncapped brood and assume that all is well. Works fine for me.
I don't want to clip my queens' wings, as I think that the additional stress of not being able to swarm/fly may be just too much. Last year I had serious problems with getting my young queens mated (weather mainly I think), so swarming artificially and keeping them apart until new queen has started laying is safer.
But my main reason is really that it takes a long time to find the queen in the hive....
-
Hubby tells me you can clip their wings too....now I've done a chicken, but a bee??? :o ;D
He he - until Anke replied I thought you were taking the proverbial 8)
I helped with marking my friend's queens - the ones they have been breeding - and it was easy once the frame was over them. the only thing to watch was that you didn't kill one of the others with the prongs.
-
thank for that - as I said, I'm in the 'infants' class' still and so even spotting the queen is not easy (and not happened yet). But very new to all this and happy to listen, look and learn. Guess it will all come in time. I have both the books you mentioned, thanks again.
-
:o :o The queen marking paint goes on the thorax. don't put it on the head. The paint can be bought from bee suppliers and is colour coded for year White Yellow Red Green Blue. I only use white or yellow (the easiest to see) as I know my queens, by the way red is very difficult to spot.
-
:o :o The queen marking paint goes on the thorax. don't put it on the head. The paint can be bought from bee suppliers and is colour coded for year White Yellow Red Green Blue. I only use white or yellow (the easiest to see) as I know my queens, by the way red is very difficult to spot.
I was sure they said the head - why is it on the body, LB?
-
:o :o The queen marking paint goes on the thorax. don't put it on the head. The paint can be bought from bee suppliers and is colour coded for year White Yellow Red Green Blue. I only use white or yellow (the easiest to see) as I know my queens, by the way red is very difficult to spot.
the different colours relate to different years, ie so you can "age" your queen.
Why You Rear Good Bees,
it starts with the year ending in a 1 i
i.e. 2001 is white, 2002 yellow and so on until 2006 when the cycle repeats with white again.
2010 queens should be marked blue !
-
Just got my first hive last night, really excited spent half the morning cleaning/watching the animals. Now i know what they mean by addictive! i know i wont get any honey this year, but it will be nice to get some experience working with them first. Is anyone with bees up in Co Durham?
Rob. ;D
-
Took my very first lot of honey off today. Only got 5 frames worth so hardly worth putting it in an extractor. Any genius ways of getting it out? There is only so much honey I can eat off the comb and spit the wax out! ;D
-
do that then! comb honey sells for plenty!
how many frames does your extractor take?
you could melt it - the wax floats to the top, though may need alot of straining ?!
-
Hi !!
I keep bees !! 3rd year now. I can't say I'm qualified to give any advice but it's great to know that there are other bee keepers out there to talk to. I have now 7 hives - started with one. Took honey only after 2 years so that they would get through the winters and prosper. But really , I am a complete beginner. Don't we need a bee 'smiley' icon ??? x
-
Ive concidered it on may occations especialy since the worrying problems and their future. maybe one day Ill take the plunge.
-
I would thoroughly recommend any one intending to keep bees joins their local beekeeping association, it's a great place to learn. You can get some 'hands on' practice, meet other beekeepers (old and new) and ask for advice.
'Once a beekeeper, always a beekeeper'...
-
We've just bought three modified dadant hives...the commercial ones, I think! One is going in our veggie patch, and the other two will be going in the field, and around them we're going to have a wildflower meadow effect. OH has bought some very nice cedar to make a couple of replacement floors and new supers. We've been told to get all new frames, so our project over winter will probably be cleaning the hives out and assembling the frames...as well as getting onto the local courses! Very exciting stuff!