Bee Bubble

[isc26]

Been curious for a while about the tension between the upsurge in new beekeepers wanting to save the honeybee from decline & the scepticism of more experienced folk who think newbe PPB (piss poor beekeeping) is a seriously damaging short term fad.

Discuss...

 

[mandabow]

Been curious for a while about the tension between the upsurge in new beekeepers wanting to save the honeybee from decline & the scepticism of more experienced folk who think newbe PPB (piss poor beekeeping) is a seriously damaging short term fad.

Discuss...

tee hee i'm right in the middle of it i guess.. having learned a lot about bees in my childhood/tweens then been far to busy to keep them, and been kicked into gear by recent headlines.

I have met a few of both groups. not felt much animosity to be honest.. as far as i've seen the expereined folk are doing their very best the teach newbies as much as they can to avoid troubles on the horizon.. however i do get the feeling a lot of newbies are far far to impatient about it all.. IMHO they will either be taught by the bees to be patient, or will jack it in pretty quickly. can't see that much damage being done, apart from risk of diseases getting out of hand from unchecked hives once the initial excitement has wained, and before they decide to sell (probbably after a swarm or two have annoyed their neighbours)

as i see it they are in a way doing what they set out to.. increasing the honey bee poulation, PPB at least results in natural colony splits.. and those colonies that survive PPB are good genes to have in the wild.. got to be better than doing nothing, and for every 10 newbies that gives up there will be at least one who does well and does help the situation somewhat (just hope i'm one of them ha ha)

 

[Chris B]

PPB is nothing new really. And there's plenty of good 'uns in the ranks of new beekeepers too. I'm not concerned.

 

[Ely]

I'm a new beekeeper. I will be keeping bees this May. I have been a member here for around a year seeking to learn and I have found no tension at all in the world of beekeeping. In fact all I have found is people bending over backwards to help me.

As far as I can see it the hype of the media along with all the new people taking up the past time have a mutually beneficial relationship with veteran beekeepers. Courses are fully booked, nucs, hives etc being sold left right and centre for higher prices due to availabilty. How could there be any tension?

Not everyone new to beekeeping is going to be bad at it either. There is a small percentage of dumpties in every hobbie, work place, any walk of life. Like anything, we all have to learn and we were all a newbie once.

 

[nelletap]

There must be pros and cons. My g-grandmother kept bees and I have wanted to for years but for various reasons had to wait and I coincided with this surge.
However, surely increased numbers of beekeepers means economies of scale - means that suppliers ought to be able to keep their costs down? For those who run courses - it means work. For those who make hives etc - helps keep some manufacturing going somewhere in the UK. If the new beekeepers give up they will probably pass on their equipment - perhaps at bargain prices. Lots of people are as a result of going on courses more knowledgeable about bees - that cannot be bad. BKA's making money from putting on courses. Lots of people who are intrigued but not in a position to keep bees either planting forage or buying honey - I can see there could be downsides and I have emphasised the pros rather than the cons.
I am an optimist.
Tricia

 

[hedgerow pete]

i made my predictions years ago on this forum and still stand by them, the end of 2012 will either see a kick back against beekeepers as general or they will love us.

i saw the kick after the good life , back to the land rush from the 1970 when everyone did the same went out brought all the kit, got bored after a few years left them to go one there own, lots of swarms and messy breeding and angry bees and public.

must admit i have seen nuc prices go from £50 to £150 in three years which is unsustainable to my eyes

 

[itchyhives]

You’re not factoring into the equation PPBeekeepers that have been doing it for years. My dad has always kept bees some might confuse these years with experience, in my mind he is a great example for me to learn what not to do....drives me mad. He comes from the leave well alone school which I admit at times has its merits but is not without its share of problems!

I would consider myself new to being a beekeeper as it was only 2 years ago I got myself some bees (cast from my dads which I collected). I am not stood in either corner, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing and newbees like myself have a steep learning curve and are going to make mistakes, but I also think there are a lot of beeks out there who have been doing it for years who have never heard of cleaning equipment, scorching boxes, replacing old comb, brushing up on bee diseases and practices or adopting new methods!

Don’t get me wrong I think experience is invaluable this forum shows that. But surely if anyone old or new to beekeeping is willing to show a valid interest that has to be a good thing.

 

[Chris Luck]

Perhaps all the really clever people would like to define what is "Piss poor bee keeping" and who are the "dumpties" and what gives them the right to make such assumptions?

All the usual arrogance surfacing again I see.

As ever, Chris.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

I've seen people who have been keeping bees for less than 5 years who have more knowledge, better bees, better apiary hygiene etc than people who have been doing it a lifetime. However, I've equally seen newbies make some pretty unforgivable errors that would have been avioded by listening a bit more to experienced beeks.
What makes a good beekeeper IMO is the ability to listen, learn, read and experiment. Undoubtedly there are many who will take up beekeeping because it's the "in" thing, but as HP says it's not the first time this has been the case - many of the experinced beeks I know are exactly those good-lifers, now with 30 years of experience.
In a few years the media will lose interest in bees, the influx of new beeks will slow down and we'll be left with a healthy, stable pool of committed beekeepers.

 

[MrB]

You can of course have experience and still be a PPB if you don't learn from your mistakes.

 

[bee ginnner]

There always was PPB years ago and they just did there own thing and despite swarms going left right and center they got on,

now we have a wealth of info and of course its a bit harder varroa etc but most people will work it out hopefully

 

[For want of a better word]

Hedgerow.... is it the Katie Bumble syndrome? cos as far as I can remember the Goods never kept bees!

Personally I blame AA Milne !!

 

[victor meldrew]

Ne'h then !
I consider myself to be an old timer especially age wise .
My take on this is ,every craft needs an influx of new blood or it becomes history! However the hyperbole of recent years has led to an unsustainable increase of newbies ,which in it's turn has led to an increase of importations of honeybees to a level not seen before . Some of these don't necessarily gel with the endemic populations of honey bees!
Market forces have driven the prices of all connected through the roof !
Too many newbies have had very little if any proper instruction via expensive courses , but never the less are always willing to pour scorn on 'neanderthals' such as I .There are none so pious as the recently converted.
Too many newbies have rushed into the craft with little thought of the dedication required , this is why I advocate the old method of induction ie ,advising prospective beekeepers to find a reputable beekeeper and work with him/her for a full 12 months, this will give time to realise the size of the commitment and the time required (holiday schedules tailored around the active season etc.)actually keeping bees, also whether or not the person is both physically and psychologically suited to working with bees! .

Some newbies make instant beekeepers and damned good ones at that, others never will !
In the meantime neglected colonies become a nuisance ( until they die that is).
And yes I take the point that length of time as a bee keeper doesn't make a bad bee keeper a good one but in order to have successfully kept bees for yonks one must have learned something over the years .
Varroa has been with us 20 years next year !!

John Wilkinson

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Too many newbies have rushed into the craft with little thought of the dedication required , this is why I advocate the old method of induction ie ,advising prospective beekeepers to find a reputable beekeeper and work with him/her for a full 12 months, this will give time to realise the size of the commitment and the time required (holiday schedules tailored around the active season etc.)actually keeping bees, also whether or not the person is both physically and psychologically suited to working with bees! .

 

[Bad Boy Bee]

Which came first the chicken or the bee - what next the butterfly or the bumble?

I like this forum, it helps out so many new beeks and I truly believe that only a small % of people who start up beekeeping will become lifetime beekeepers and that % will only increase with the amount of people taking up the craft in the first place. it is, as it will always be!

As for the drawbacks, foreigners coming in here stealing our jobs blah blah blah! Bring it on, diversity of the gene pool is the only way forward - ducks nuke from BIBA.

As for training new beeks, introductory courses are ten a penny it's the 2nd and third year beeks that worry me, where do they go? Looking around at the options I see little in the way of help from the BBKA or it's associations. This year I plan two 'further steps in beekeeping' courses, we all need to pass on our knowledge. We all need to help!

RANT TIME
We are all sitting here waiting like vultures for all the cheap equipment that is soon to appear on-line and all the free swarms available to us while the craft suffers bad publicity from swamy/fiesty bees flying off to pastures new in some innocents back garden. Please teach and never stop teaching it is our duty.

I am still looking after and loving the calls each year of people I have introduced to the craft over three years ago. This is what keeps me going, not secreted knowledge or scorn on newbies but the proliferation of the craft.

PS Just re-read this and it does sound a little preachy but hey sue me.

So,so, so, looking fwd to the new season and all it brings.

 

[For want of a better word]

What wise old owl said there is no bad students only bad teachers?

 

[thurrock bees]

Too many newbies have rushed into the craft with little thought of the dedication required , this is why I advocate the old method of induction ie ,advising prospective beekeepers to find a reputable beekeeper and work with him/her for a full 12 months, this will give time to realise the size of the commitment and the time required (holiday schedules tailored around the active season etc.)actually keeping bees, also whether or not the person is both physically and psychologically suited to working with bees! .

John Wilkinson

ive helped two beeks last year where their bees was in a bad state, with some help and a mentor they call upon when needed, they are doing very well.i do feel strongly that newbies should have some one to call uopn when needed, ive got more experianced beeks if i need help.

 

[victor meldrew]

What wise old owl said there is no bad students only bad teachers?

Wise old owl was a college drop out

John Wilkinson

 

[Chris B]

This year I plan two 'further steps in beekeeping' courses

Sounds good but what do you put on the syllabus?
The 2nd and 3rd year beekeepers to worry about are the ones that need to resit their beginners course as they never grasped the basics. The last thing they need is "further steps". And the ones who do grasp the basics can usually advance very well on their own. A course isn't the the only way to learn and often isn't the best either. "Horses for courses".

 

[Moggs]

I believe that some of the biggest risks to the new beekeepers are in 'the great unknowns'. The point being that the rewards to be reaped may be proportional to the amount of study and practice put in, even before the first bee is installed.

Yes, of course, it is in everybody's interest for the 'old timers' to offer advice but it may be all too easy to lose sight of the fact that so many variables in beekeeping make even the most reliable counsel subject to interpretation according to the individual site, the beekeeper, the colony and its history. Indeed, wrongly applied advice may make situations much worse than they were.

I fear that there are some new beekeepers who would rather treat such advice as The Complete Beekeeper's course and this, it will never be!

A good foundation and adequate preparation in the form of prior study and early mentorship can only be good things, in my opinion.