Buying a hive tomorrow - advice welcome

[beesleybees]

Hi.

Im totally new to bee keeping but I have managed to find myself a bragain I hope. A friend of mine has told me that a guy he knows is selling off some hives as his dad is going away for the summer and he has'nt got the time to look after them.

He is selling a national hive with bees. which included 1 floor, 1 brood box including wax and frames (11 of). 1 queen excluder, 1 super including frames (11 of), 1 crown board and roof all for £245. When I called him regarding them, he told me the colony had increased in size and was now selling for £280. I managed to strike a deal with him and he is willing to sell me 2 hives for £400, so £200 each.

What do you think guys? have I got myself a bargain?

I will be going halfs with a friend who has recently finished a bee keeping course and was looking for bee's. He is quite knowlegeable now but understands theres still lots to learn.

With me being a total newb and having only read things from this site. Is there anything that I should be looking for? varroa etc should I treat them for this even if there is no evidence of this?

any advice would be much appreciated

thanx

 

[VEG]

£200 is not bad. Ask about what treatments he has given the bees. I would still get someone in the know to go with you and check the bees over before parting with the cash.

 

[buzz lightyear]

I think my advice would be to start with a nuc, that way you get experiance as the colony grows in size. As you have already discovered, they grow quite quickly at this time of year.
Buzz

 

[susbees]

I think my advice would be to start with a nuc, that way you get experiance as the colony grows in size. As you have already discovered, they grow quite quickly at this time of year.
Buzz

I'm inclined to agree. A full strong hive on double brood on a bad day is I'd say beyond daunting for most beginners. Start with a nuc and grow with it. Where are you planning on keeping them?

 

[beesleybees]

I'm inclined to agree. A full strong hive on double brood on a bad day is I'd say beyond daunting for most beginners. Start with a nuc and grow with it. Where are you planning on keeping them?

I can understand where you guys are coming and I myself would would agree but we have been looking for a nuc for sometime now and cannot find some for sale unless we travel many miles. The cost of a nuc is also rather expensive. This sale sounds like a really good oppurtunity. The hives alone sell for over £100 on ebay, some without the waxed frames.

My friend has a old farm with 4 acres of grass land spare doin nothing. We are however going to put them in his orchard that is approx 0.5 acres that is full of fruit trees ie apple, pear, plum. This is surrounded by a high, dense hedge which will help keep the winds down and the heat in summer. All of his land is surrounded by arable fields, which mainly includeds oil rape seed so hopefully its the perfect spot

 

[beeboybee]

You Have a PM

 

[Mike a]

Hopefully you are a member of an association and have access to a mentor, enrolled on an intro to bee keeping course, able to borrow an extractor, bought honey buckets, feeders, are prepared to buy yet more kit in case you need to split them or house a swarm including 2 more supers for each hive as spare to name a few of the list of items required.

It may sound like a bargain but most new bee keepers get on the emotional roller coaster and spend a whole load of cash without thinking about the bigger picture. As long as you've done your bee keeping homework and if possible have a good local mentor who is willing to see you through until you gain some confidence dealing with a reasonable sized colony then £200 sounds like a good deal.

If not then it would be worth covering the basics first as its no fun watching a colony dwindle and die and not have a clue what to do to help them and by the time your mentor has taken a look its too late.

If you go for it, I wish you the best of luck. We are here if you have any questions.

 

[Hughesie]

Make sure its genuine and they are not stolen

 

[madasafish]

Beesleybees
Having started as a newbie last year from a nuc and enjoying (?!) swarm control this year, my advice would be to start small.

Starting large with no experience is likely to lead to heartache and loss of bees: lack of experience and knowledge on your part. If the bees are bad tempered, run on the combs or follow # they may be unmanageable by you.

# and if you don't know what running and following are or have not checked the bees for that.. then I strongly recommend you don't buy two full hives..

 

[Andy Coleman]

Sounds like a real bargain to me - and since you have plenty of space away from the public any risk you take seems to be yours! Don't forget you are likely to need more kit pretty soon, apart from the obvious start-up stuff like suits, smoker, tools, you may need further boxes or nucs to do artificial swarms, more supers, frames, feeders etc.
On your question about varroa, I've been told by a number of experienced beeks to assume they are there and follow the recommended seasonal monitoring and management processes. I don't know what your area is like but local associations are often very good support. Would also suggest you contact the local bee inspector to take a look - apart from checking fro a range of disease they can give very good practical advice. Good luck!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have to agree with others who say start small or get a mentor to be with you this year. A full busy hive can be quite intimidating and I would have been horrified faced with the prospect of being responsible for one even though I was happy to look in one and inspect with help.
I helped out at my local BKA teaching course this weekend, nothing complicated just going through a colony. It was AWFUL.......most of the guys were OK but one or two squashed and rolled bees despite my entreaties to the contrary. One chap nearly got decked and the frame taken off him.
I'm not saying you would be him for an instant but I think you need to get to grow with your bees and to grow out of those horrid leather gauntlets that newbees get given.
Best of luck whatever you decide and keep us posted.

 

[Hawklord]

If you buy 2 colonies you will need at least 2 more spare hives to be prepared for possible swarming. I started with a nuc in 2009 and it wasn't until later that year that I realised how temprament changes when they reach a full brood box. I took that colony through winter, split it in 2010, and still didn't feel confident to take on more than 1 colony. So now I have some experience I will take on 2-3 colonies. The beauty about having 1 colony is that you can inspect it and come away and have all the time to think, read, about what you saw.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

£200 is pretty good deal, and I wouldnt be put off with starting with a full colony, you should get some honey reward from it later on in the year.

BUT - as other have said, try and find someone with experience to go with you to look over the hives and check for desease, quality of laying etc. If they are particularly nasty as well its no longer a good deal.

You'll need additional supers as one isnt enough for a working hive (3 is good), and as Hawklord suggests you will also need some additional spare equipment.

2 colonies is definitely better than one for swapping equipment, running test frames, insurance in case one dies off etc.

 

[biggles]

I bought two hives when I started and by the end of the year I had 8. So long as you think you can cope go for it. As others have said find someone that will help.

Pete

 

[plumberman]

I'd second the caution not to expand too quickly- when I have the lid off my double brood chav bees who are doing everything possible to discourage what you are doing to them it's quite an overwhelming experience, and requires a fair amount of perseverance to see the inspection through.There seem to be a reasonable number of posts from beeks throwing themselves in at the deep end recently.

 

[steveselvage]

Get an experienced beekeeper to go through them first,I got caught with my first hive when I bought what I thought was a bargain. It turned out to be queenless with no brood,luckily Admin gave me a frame of brood and they produced a queen from it.

 

[MJBee]

Just a thought - Have you considered buying/making 2 six frame Nucs? You could then buy one colony and split it thus starting small and you will have a full size hive to move into later.

You will certainly need more supers - 3 minimum per hive 4 is ideal - this season. Before the start of next season you will need a second hive to deal with swarming - good game good game