Beekeepers Professions

[Nannysbees]

Reading all the posts I'm fascinated to find out are most of you like me working and having just a few hives, or are you farmers with acres of fields able to turn them into meadows or retired with many hives etc?

 

[E&MBees]

I work as a Horticultural Therapist and have a couple of hives. I am an outdoors person and keeping bees is a natural extension to my job. Hoping to increase the number of hives next year, but it will still be a hobby rather than a livelihood. Twenty plus years to go until I retire.

 

[user 819]

. When I first started keeping bees I had been a full time workshop and site joiner/wood machinist/setter out since I left school at 15 and retired from the game at 49. Decided to leave the 9- 10 hrs 6 days a week job along with all the dust entailed behind for a more relaxed lifestyle, now semi retired I work a 3 on 4 off p/t driving job.
Just a past time for me trying to keep to 4 -6 colonies, not a millionaire so no extensive land to cultivate or for bees. 2 colonies kept in the garden and 3 out apiary sites.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Retired to a small holding

 

[gmonag]

Retired in rural Suffolk, with hives in the garden.

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Recently retired and a hobbyist with four hives in a large garden.

 

[enrico]

I started keeping bees she. I was a country beat policeman, ( they are no more) in a house supplied by the police with a half acre garden. When I moved onto traffic dept we moved to our own house in the country and I moved my bees. I retired to Shropshire with no bees but piled my hives in the garden where the day after we moved in the first swarm arrived! Now I am in Somerset, very large garden in the countryside but more neighbours than ever before. Still retired but live for the garden. Fairly self sufficient except for toilet rolls etc. I can't imagine life without bees!

 

[madasafish]

Retired: garden at edge of fields/town/National Trust Gardens/woods/moorland.

1/2acre plot: several hundred acres of gardens & woodlands within walking - sorry flying - distance.

 

[Brian Bush]

I started before I retired. Beekeeping was something I had always wanted to do. I established several out apiaries and have added another one since retirement. I keep between 20 and 30 hives. I enjoy the 10 mile round trip to visit them all in the Spring and Summer, not so much at this time of year. I also help out with the Association beginners practical most years and I am involved in a scheme to introduce serving and retired HM Forces and 999 personnel to beekeeping. I wish I had started earlier and lived in a different part of the UK with greater emphasis on rural life and less 2 hives in my back garden 'posh beekeepers'.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Update: I'm a beefarmer at 41 and three quarters.

 

[fiat500bee]

I'm four years from statutory retirement and like some of the people who've replied above, I have worked outside, in horticulture, including in training. Latterly I've been lucky to have a cushy job photographing and inspecting holiday houses in the Highlands and Islands. I wasn't the one who wanted bees; Sheila's been nagging for years. We have a a biggish garden and live in a varied, rural location, and in theory we could keep a lot of hives..............

 

[tonyofarr]

I am retired from the police, my wife and I have a small honey business around the Devon/Cornwall border. My wife does most of the work with the bees as I am waiting for my hip replacement op which was supposed to be this September. I do the farmer's markets and honey and we have 2 children still at home aged 9 and 13, and a son moving back to us on monday.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Was a Customs officer - senior deck officer on the patrol boats until a training injury preparing for the security of the 2012 olympics followed by an operational injury later meant I could no longer go to sea. SWMBO suggested I expand my beekeeping concerns a bit ( ) to give me a buffer in case they put me on the beach permanently.
Unfortunately, a job was found for me and I'm now with Home Office Immigration enforcement looking after national communications and mobile IT assets. living in a rural agri industrial area with family and friends having land means I had plenty of offers of apiary sites, even some requests for bees. The flexibility of the job and working from home meant that the beekeeping (here and out in Africa with Bees Abroad) has got a bit out of hand

 

[Wingy]

Always been an outdoor person, hunting, shooting, fishing, gardening, etc. Job that pays the bills, serving police officer with 3 years until I retire (pending government shafting with my pension). Always been interested in bees but only got my first colony, a swarm, in 2017. Got a fantastic mentor and spent the next couple of years working over 100 hives, Q breeding etc. Now have 16 colonies split between garden and allotment. Started looking around for a bit of land for when I retire to set up my own apiary.

 

[E&MBees]

It’s fascinating hearing everyone’s stories.

 

[peterbees]

I am retired from the police, my wife and I have a small honey business around the Devon/Cornwall border. My wife does most of the work with the bees as I am waiting for my hip replacement op which was supposed to be this September. I do the farmer's markets and honey and we have 2 children still at home aged 9 and 13, and a son moving back to us on monday.

Good luck with your hip replacement. Nearly 10 years since my first, with the second 4 months later. You won't believe how much better you'll feel. I'm out doing 15-mile walks now. We've walked ¾ of the 870-mile Wales Coast Path.
Oh, and I've had bees for 43 years.

 

[elainemary]

Had a busy career in the commercial world, which allowed me to give up work early. My education was a biology degree, so come full circle and totally hooked by honeybees (and wildflower meadows!). Have expanded from a couple of hives in the garden 4 seasons ago to 2 other out-apiaries. Want to become a Master beekeeper, so working my way through module exams & hope to take my general husbandry assessment next year. Help teach beginners at our local association & have organised an education program of courses for Yorkshire beekeepers last couple of years.

 

[Nannysbees]

Well that was very interesting. I've wanted bees since I can remember and finally this year it happened. My husband took early retirement and I work part time with Deaf students at a college mostly using sign language as communication, which I love. Just the two hives at the bottom of our reasonably large garden, have a third hive in the garage just in case we'll need it next year but I'm happy with the two.

 

[Hachi]

Being a full time worker based out of london with staff across more than half the globe, I spend most week days away, pre C-19 of course. Have far too many (for me) years yet to retirement sadly and am a big country sports participant and having being forced to give up motorcycling by SWMBO I wanted another hobby. Nothing what I thought dull, I was looking for something risky so having no sense of smell I thought bee's. Apparently an indication of upset of the bee's is something you can smell. I make most of my kit too and C-19 has allowed me to make significant increase this year such that I think I will apply to join the BFA next season.

 

[Tim.S]

Trained as a nurseryman/horticulturist in the late 70's but have always had an interest in nature pretty much from day1, then went on to run my own business building gardens which I still do today. We have had friends with hives on the family land and I sort of drifted into it after they left beekeeping due to reactions. No mentor although I had really good assistance from the sbi at the beginning which was invaluable about 12 years ago and today I have 40 plus and growing on various sites. I am about 7 or 8 years from retirement but that doesn't mean not working it will just mean doing more bee stuff!