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This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. We all know that a hive needs a queen to survive and that is why, when we think our hive has no eggs and diminishing brood, as relative beginners, we panic! What has happened to my queen? Did I kill her at the last inspection? Has she swarmed? What am I going to do? How do we know if there is a queen in the hive? In your first couple of years, and beyond, queens can be illusive to find in a...

Beemused part 2 I make no apologies for not being much of a biologist and I confess to opening the BBKA Magazine and looking at the detailed pictures of a bees anatomy and letting out a sigh of disappointment knowing that the next few pages will mean little or nothing to me. The closest I come to knowing any details of a bee is when I try to put myself in their position in an effort to decide why they have done what they have managed to do despite my best efforts. As a non academic leaving school with what was then an ‘o’ level in woodwork, this seemed a good way for me to try and fathom out basic beekeeping. Let me give you an example of one of my first views as a bee. ‘Hey girls what goes on?’ some idiot has just taken the roof...

Sometimes I wonder if beekeeping was the hobby for me. I never really meant for it to be anything other than a hive in the garden but we all know what a pie in the sky hope that is! I am lucky to live in the countryside and have been able to give a large part of my garden over to my collection of hives that I try and keep under ten in number. They cause little inconvenience to anyone other than me but I am still on tenterhooks when walking round the garden with family or friends. There is so much about beekeeping that you wish you had known when you started. The simple fact that putting the hives one end of the garden and a major water source like a pond at the other end means that the flight path on a hot sunny day can be more...

Musings on a subject I guess I never thought that beekeeping would be easy but then again it never crossed my mind that it would be so hard. It seems to me that it is a hobby that is surrounded by myths and legends that we simply pass on. I started keeping bees over 40 years ago on nothing more than a whim. There was no internet so I trusted the old men round me who puffed on their pipes and whispered words of wisdom in my ear about what I should be doing or should not be doing. When the internet came along many of these myths that I had believed in were dashed to pulp by modern thinking people who had studied beekeeping rather than just muddling along like I did. It amuses me how slow people are to change their methods. So...

This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared. None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation.- Swarms have been dealt with admirably in the last couple of issues so I want to try and tell you a few things that might not have cropped up and that as a beginner might be worth considering. And try and mention a few things that others forget. You should know by now why bees swarm. It is their method of reproduction and once bees have it in their minds, much like teenagers, the more you try...

This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. I have had some feedback on the issue suggesting ways for a relatively new beekeeper to handle frames. Please do not think any of my suggestions are ‘the only way to do it’. They are just a guide, however there was an error in the photographs, the arrow clearly showed the rotation of the frame towards the body, it is far more natural and easier to rotate the frame away from the body. My thanks...

Sorry, no photos on the blog! This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. The first inspection is nearly on us. If you are still wary about looking in your hives then take heart from the fact that the first inspection is usually the easiest. Your bees will tend to allow you entry with little problem however if you upset them now then they may not be so forgiving next time so it is good to start the way you mean to continue. If it is not...

Two years in and some advice on frames and how to handle them! This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. The last two months I glossed over re-siting your hive and getting clothing that is best for you. This month I want to try and help you handle frames as a relative beginner. When you have mastered the technique it will become second nature. It is second nature for most experienced beekeepers and it is a simple skill that they...

This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. I remember the feeling. That tight knot in your stomach as you realise that it is time to make another inspection of your bees. They used to be so calm but lately they seem to be more aggressive. We all keep bees for our own reasons but my logic is that if you are ‘keeping’ bees for whatever reason then, at the very least, they need to be cared for and that means that in certain months of the...

Two years in and your hives are in the wrong place! This is aimed at bee-keepers with one or two years experience who may feel that bee-keeping is not as easy as it appeared! None of what follows is intended as anything other than tips for an easier life. My methods will not suit everyone so please pick out the parts that are relevant to you and adapt them if necessary to suit your own situation. So, you have suddenly realised that your hive is in the wrong place. Don’t despair, this is just the right time of the year to do something about it and move your hives. The three miles or three feet rule is ideal when the bees are flying but three weeks will suffice in the winter. Watch the weather forecast, three weeks of nice cold weather...

Second year panic? So you bumbled through your first year fairly successfully and now you have reached the end of your second year of keeping bees. The second year of bee-keeping is often the worst. In the first year you have usually started with a nuc or a swarm in a brand new hive. The frames are all clean and straight. The comb is white with a yellow tinge and although the amount of bees in your hive looks a lot, it is manageable. The queen is likely to be new and well behaved. You spend hours watching the bees just going in and out sat on a chair a few feet from the hive and this bee-keeping lark doesn’t seem too bad at all. Over your first winter you worry a bit about food reserves but you are looking forward to year two. And...