Hi All, again,
Bees generally fly at about 15 feet from the ground except at each end of their flight; by the hive and around the flowers
. They are happy to fly up steeply from the hive, and many beekeepers put up a screen to encourage them to do so, rather than fly out at 'person height' past other people's houses, paths, etc. One of those woven meshes you can get as a wind-break is fine, or you can put the hives fairly near a tall hedge to do the same thing. a six-foot barrier is usually enough, as it just sets the angle of flight to and from the hive. That way, the bees are likely to be less of a problem, and offering that may 'sweeten' the neighbours! But yes, tactfully enquiring if they have known allergies is wise. The third party insurance through the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) is also a wise precaution....
Unless there is a legal covenant on your property or tenancy, keeping bees is inherently legally permitted. It makes sense to check if you're not sure, but unless they are specifically excluded you can go ahead. Councils and landlords are mostly accommodating, unless you're near a school, for example.
I've known many people keep bees in urban areas, and I did for quite a few years. Some friends even kept bees on a balcony on the tenth floor! Urban areas are good, because people cultivate flowers around much of the year, so there's likely to be something for them to feed on somewhere close by. The countryside sounds better in principle, but farmers' habits of grubbing out hedges (with their attendant flowers), and cultivating 'monocrops' - killing everything else, may mean there is a glut of 'bee-food' for a week or three, and nothing before or after. Some commercial beekeepers move hives around from crop to crop to capitalise on what is in season. Commercially, farmers pay beekeepers to site hives among a crop to pollinate it. It's an important income for commercial beekeepers.
In nature, as opposed to domestic cultivated gardens, there is a gap between the spring flowers and the summer ones. Occurring about June, depending on the latitude and the seasonal weather, this is called the 'June Gap'. Recent years have been less certain in the timing of this, possibly an effect of global warming and weather changes globally, but it can still leave bees short of food at a critical time. The nest increases exponentially in spring, and a sudden dearth of food can prompt the bees to swarm, where half of the bees fly off to find richer pickings, leaving a new queen and the other half of the bees behind. So the June gap is a major swarming time.
One of the old sayings about the timing of a swarm was 'A swarm in May is worth a load of hay, a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon, and a swarm in July isn't worth a fly'. An early swarm is likely to build into a good colony and give you plenty of honey, while a later one would be less profitable, and a very late one would likely not even gather enough nectar for its' own use over winter, and would need you to feed it with sugar syrup. The unpredictability of recent years, and the progress of bee diseases and pests means that even a late swarm could be an asset the next year, while some established colonies do less well than they should because of poor crops or bad weather preventing them flying to gather food. Beekeepers tend to be fairly philosophical - by default, perhaps - and take a pragmatic view unless all their hives die out. I've suffered that; it's frustrating and bitterly disappointing, but it can happen. If it does, dust yourself off, clean up the equipment, and either buy some more bees or pray you gather a swarm!
Having an empty hive available is begging for a swarm to move in, and if there are any other bees around with a few miles, scout bees are likely to know about your vacant hive. If you put in some frames with wax, and even the remaining smell of honey in used frames, it's called a 'baited hive', and the scout bees are even more likely to find it. But it's not a good idea to leave honey in an unpopulated hive. Wasps, mice and moths are likely to move in to scavenge the free food, and that would deter bees moving into it. And do check the hive from time to time; wax moths, that live on beeswax, regardless of any honey there, can decimate the wax, and make it unuseable for the bees. Remove any moths or lavae if you find them, and dispose of badly affected frames.
Besides praying for swarms, this is a good time of year to be cleaning up the equipment and planning the 'first inspections' for the year. You can also make up wooden frames from flat-pack components, and put in the wax yourself; they are cheaper like that. You can also make up hive parts the same way and, if you're enterprising and fancy your skills, you can make hives from scratch. All the dimensions are on the internet; look up National Hive, Langstroth, Smith, or whatever yours are. Some bits are either too difficult or not worth the effort, but hive boxes, floors, clearer boards etc are quite easy. Maybe begin with the simpler parts and experiment with the more complicated ones? Because the dimensions are standardised, you can buy some and make some and mix and match the parts. I find it makes sense to prepare several of the same bits at a time, while the machinery is set up, and then assemble them after. And it's something you can do probably on a foul day if you can't usefully work outside. Also, when the flowers thrive and the weather's kind, the bees will bring in honey at such a rate that they can fill a 'honey super' in a few days! So it pays to have a spare or two for each hive, ready to put on at a moment's notice. And as bees are opportunists, the more space they have, the more honey they will collect if they can.
If you haven't already bought any protection, I recommend a 'Sherriff' veil. Again, I have no interest in the company other than my own experience.... The Sherriff one is a hood with a flat front veil, and having tried several, I find it the best. It also unzips around the neck, so you can throw it back like a 'hoodie' to get a breath and take a cup of tea, or for driving without taking all the kit off. Being rather bald, I wear a baseball cap under it, so any mischievous bees that try to sting through the top can't reach me! I also recommend having a 'partner' in your bee-keeping. It could be someone more experienced, and help you to learn and develop confidence, but even two beginners together can bring two heads and two sets of eyes to what you're doing. But also, with inspections becoming about a weekly ritual from around April to July, it means you can cover for each other at swarming time, should either of you be unwell or have to be away. It also helps to share the hard work of lifting full hive boxes, so finding a strong friend is no bad plan!
Finally, don't forget to collect corrugated cardboard, for smoker 'cartridges'. The simpler, more flexible it is, the better. Cut it into strips about 5 inches wide, across the corrugations, and roll them into solid cylinders about 2.5 inches in diameter, fixing the end with a small piece of masking tape. Sellotape is ok, but falls off more easily, and plastic electrical tape isn't suitable when they burn. People have their own way to start them, but I find it best to use an old gas blow-lamp to get the cartdrige really alight before you put it, burning end down, in the smoker. Then, a couple of puffs gives you plenty of smoke. Check the smoker occasionally, and put in a fresh cartridge before the previous one burns away completely. It starts the next one without the blowlamp, and the last embers of a cartridge can sometimes puff out as flaming ashes and set fire to your bees! Give a few puffs to the hive you'll be opening after the one you're just working on, so the bees have a chance to react to it and calm down. Instinctively, they behave as if it's a forest fire, when they would have lived in a hole in a tree, and fire would be a serious threat. They prepare to flee, by gulping in lots of honey, ready to fly to a safe home. And like us, after a good meal, they are rather drowsy and slow! After the hive is put back together, and they don't have to fly away, they put the honey back in their wax cells and carry on with what they would normally be doing.
Just thinking about it inspires me again to get cracking with the beekeeping stuff.
John
Topic: Bee Keeping (Read 5053 times)
