Beekeepers Professions

[Wilco]

Qualified as a vet (eventually - initially didn't have the grades at school so did a related science degree first). As a student I did a short placement with the NBU.

After qualifying I worked in full time 'practice' for a few years. Now work part time 'teaching' (mostly admin at certain times of year) at a university plus some locum work on occasion. Have taught sustainability, science communication and conservation bits elsewhere.

Dinghy instructor and paddlesport coach but not done much the last two years. Army reservist. Spent a few years on my Church's PCC as a trustee although thankfully that's now over.

Have a handful of sheep and hens and spent last year managing a small flock for someone else. Very keen on sustainability and biodiversity. I also have too many hobbies.

Started bees a few years ago through encouragement from a local beefarmer after a chance encounter and he and his brother really helped me get started, especially after some false starts- am keen to follow his mantra and pay it forward. Small scale at present but always considering significant expansion. Would love to own a little bit of land one day.

Long way to retirement but on the plus side hopefully that means time for more adventures/escapades.

 

[Nannysbees]

Was a professional gardener playing guitar for fun but for the last 15 years of my working life I was a professional guitarist who gardened for fun.Now retired and have had my bees for 5 years ( though I did have a dabble in those far off pre varroa days ).

I'd love to be that knowledgeable about plants to be able to plant all year around for the bees

 

[Nannysbees]

I started keeping bees, nearly 41 years ago, my first hive came from an observation hive at Hawthorn High School near Pontypridd. After leaving school I used to install mainframe computers all over the UK and then the start of the Personal Computer before Microsoft became the dominant feature. Then 38 years so far in Royal Mail, as well as 11 years as a part time lecturer at a local University and 25 years as a sports coach (swordfencing). Stopped being a coach 4 years ago after getting an injury which is common in marathon runners and took 18 months to recover. Previous injuries through fencing, no cartilage left in both big toes after a number of clashes while competing and now using NHS sole inserts from Australia and still leading an active life.

Sounds like you have had an interesting life so far

 

[Nannysbees]

Qualified as a vet (eventually - initially didn't have the grades at school so did a related science degree first). As a student I did a short placement with the NBU.

After qualifying I worked in full time 'practice' for a few years. Now work part time 'teaching' (mostly admin at certain times of year) at a university plus some locum work on occasion. Have taught sustainability, science communication and conservation bits elsewhere.

Dinghy instructor and paddlesport coach but not done much the last two years. Army reservist. Spent a few years on my Church's PCC as a trustee although thankfully that's now over.

Have a handful of sheep and hens and spent last year managing a small flock for someone else. Very keen on sustainability and biodiversity. I also have too many hobbies.

Started bees a few years ago through encouragement from a local beefarmer after a chance encounter and he and his brother really helped me get started, especially after some false starts- am keen to follow his mantra and pay it forward. Small scale at present but always considering significant expansion. Would love to own a little bit of land one day.

Long way to retirement but on the plus side hopefully that means time for more adventures/escapades.

I'm with you on owning a little bit of land and would love chickens!!!!

 

[Nannysbees]

I started keeping bees, nearly 41 years ago, my first hive came from an observation hive at Hawthorn High School near Pontypridd. After leaving school I used to install mainframe computers all over the UK and then the start of the Personal Computer before Microsoft became the dominant feature. Then 38 years so far in Royal Mail, as well as 11 years as a part time lecturer at a local University and 25 years as a sports coach (swordfencing). Stopped being a coach 4 years ago after getting an injury which is common in marathon runners and took 18 months to recover. Previous injuries through fencing, no cartilage left in both big toes after a number of clashes while competing and now using NHS sole inserts from Australia and still leading an active life.

I taught a sign language class at hawthorn high school in the evening, small world.

 

[Nannysbees]

I'm a police officer on emergency response with about 6 years in. Far too many years to go before I can retire.

Formerly I worked in animal care/behaviour which my uni education was tailored to. I've always wanted to get bees and thought I best get started before it's too late. Will start with two hives in spring and see how I get on.

We started with two, I only wanted one but two is the way to go, share resource and its good to be able to compare the two hives. We now have 4, one swarm and one split, any more and we'll give the extra bees to a local beek

 

[Bumble Bee Slim]

I'd love to be that knowledgeable about plants to be able to plant all year around for the bees

One of my more sensible ebay purchases was an old book called "Plants and Beekeeping " by F. N. Howes, D.Sc. , described as "an account of those plants, wild and cultivated, of value to the hive bee and for honey production in the British Isles". Picked my copy up for less than a fiver, might be worth keeping an eye open for.

 

[Nannysbees]

One of my more sensible ebay purchases was an old book called "Plants and Beekeeping " by F. N. Howes, D.Sc. , described as "an account of those plants, wild and cultivated, of value to the hive bee and for honey production in the British Isles". Picked my copy up for less than a fiver, might be worth keeping an eye open for.

Thank you I will definitely have a look for it

 

[Nannysbees]

One of my more sensible ebay purchases was an old book called "Plants and Beekeeping " by F. N. Howes, D.Sc. , described as "an account of those plants, wild and cultivated, of value to the hive bee and for honey production in the British Isles". Picked my copy up for less than a fiver, might be worth keeping an eye open for.

Found it

 

[Anduril]

Sounds like you have had an interesting life so far

At one stage I had too many hobbies and had to shelve some of them. One of my friends once said of me that I collect hobbies.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One of my more sensible ebay purchases was an old book called "Plants and Beekeeping " by F. N. Howes, D.Sc. , described as "an account of those plants, wild and cultivated, of value to the hive bee and for honey production in the British Isles". Picked my copy up for less than a fiver, might be worth keeping an eye open for.

Plenty of the second (1947) imprints available online with Bookfinder for about twenty quid.
Got mine for 50p in a second hand bookshop closing down sale in Poole of course you could now go for the upgraded version edited and added to by Kirk which is excellent

 

[BigAshW]

I started out in agriculture working dairy farms mostly before ending up back on the inner city community farm I started volunteering for at age 11.
As the family got bigger and I took on a mortgage the money in agri just wasn't good enough so moved to the railway in 2007. I spent 11 years as a train driver before moving into the management grades and I now run a full depot in London.
The bees started at the community farm for me and I then carried on when I left with my own kit. I have two sites at the moment with a third under construction.

 

[Nannysbees]

I started out in agriculture working dairy farms mostly before ending up back on the inner city community farm I started volunteering for at age 11.
As the family got bigger and I took on a mortgage the money in agri just wasn't good enough so moved to the railway in 2007. I spent 11 years as a train driver before moving into the management grades and I now run a full depot in London.
The bees started at the community farm for me and I then carried on when I left with my own kit. I have two sites at the moment with a third under construction.

That's really interesting, are you sites local and hour many hives do you have?

 

[BigAshW]

That's really interesting, are you sites local and hour many hives do you have?

my first site is on the allotments which is a five minute walk from home. I don't keep any production colonies there I just use it for nucs and queen mating.

My other site is about a fifteen minute drive away and has room for 8 hives although there's ten there at the moment.

The new site is about twenty five minutes depending on traffic and is a shared site which will give me 8 more spaces.

I have one hive at the bottom of the garden and always seem to end up with a few extra over the season although I've been working on the plot over winter and hopefully will be able to keep all my nucs there now with no overspill.

 

[Beevangelist]

I'm uncertain what the UK equiivent might be, but I am a tax auditor for the state of Tennessee. We have no individual income tax in our state, so I audit Sales & Use, Business (gross receipts), Franchise Excise (income tax on businesses) and Liquor.

 

[Nannysbees]

I'm uncertain what the UK equiivent might be, but I am a tax auditor for the state of Tennessee. We have no individual income tax in our state, so I audit Sales & Use, Business (gross receipts), Franchise Excise (income tax on businesses) and Liquor.

Sounds like you are kept busy. How many hives do you have?

 

[rje66]

Self employed landscaper gardener , designing and building for 20 years now. Summer job that turned into career. Backpacked and dossed till I was mid 20s then college to do a profession that I had previously worked in that I enjoyed. Landscaper came tops and never looked back. Speaking of hobbies and having too many....when it's windy I go kitesurfing, when not windy brew beer, during the rugby season im a referee, also I keep around 8 hives. Being my own boss makes all of these much more enjoyable.

 

[BigAshW]

Self employed landscaper gardener , designing and building for 20 years now. Summer job that turned into career. Backpacked and dossed till I was mid 20s then college to do a profession that I had previously worked in that I enjoyed. Landscaper came tops and never looked back. Speaking of hobbies and having too many....when it's windy I go kitesurfing, when not windy brew beer, during the rugby season im a referee, also I keep around 8 hives. Being my own boss makes all of these much more enjoyable.

I'm just starting to experiment with brewing beer. Have done mead and wine for a while. Have done a few kits and now I'm looking to doing some LME recipes.

 

[Nannysbees]

Self employed landscaper gardener , designing and building for 20 years now. Summer job that turned into career. Backpacked and dossed till I was mid 20s then college to do a profession that I had previously worked in that I enjoyed. Landscaper came tops and never looked back. Speaking of hobbies and having too many....when it's windy I go kitesurfing, when not windy brew beer, during the rugby season im a referee, also I keep around 8 hives. Being my own boss makes all of these much more enjoyable.

Landscaping perfect for beekeeping, what have you planted for the bees?

 

[JamezF]

I'm just starting to experiment with brewing beer. Have done mead and wine for a while. Have done a few kits and now I'm looking to doing some LME recipes.

If you can get hold of a copy (I think it's out of print now), I can recommend Graham Wheeler's "Brew Your Own Real Ale At Home", or "Brew Your Own British Real Ale at Home", which has recipes for many well-known beers produced by British breweries. The main recipes are for all-grain mashes, but there are also instructions for making them using malt extract.

James