Commercial beekeeping work experience week overview.

[Pete D]

Just a quick note..........
It was pitched as a weeks work experience with a commercial beekeeper.
It was exactly that, you worked and you got the experience.
I like that, you put the work and effort in and you get the experience out, its the only way it can work. You wont get the experience standing back, watching, finishing early, you have to participate, fully.
From my part I really enjoyed it and gained a lot of bee handling experience, I went through as many colonies in a week as I would in a year with just mine.
Chris took the time to explain, show and educate along with answering a barrage of questions all day. He was frank and honest and told us warts and all.
I would do it again.
Chris might too !

My personal thanks to Chris for the opportunity.

Thanks also to Emyr and Brian who made the experience even more enjoyable as I admit to feeling a bit apprehensive at the thought of spending a week with strangers but the first nights beer and chat along with my shared journey with Brian soon put that to bed. The 3 of us were like minded and put the effort in and I am sure got the rewards out.

I believe that Chris also got the reward from us that his efforts deserved.

Thank Chris

Pete D

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just to add my thanks to Pete's - Chris was a marvellous host and boss/mentor who took time to explain/answer our questions and was patient when we were a bit plodding with the inspections.We had a great welcome from the whole family so i have to say thanks for the lunches and the little magic people who made all the plates and numerous mugs disappear whenever we took a work break.
It was wonderful working bees all day for a week and something I would gladly do again and again.(and I won't be so concerned of taking so much time with the queen grafting in future!)
And of course thanks to having good companions sharing the experience the evenings as well as the days were a pleasure.
I wonder if Mrs J would consider me doing it full time
One day we'll learn the truth of the farmer's wife, the bees and the hot tub!
It was a pleasure all

 

[Chris B]

Many thanks Pete, Brian and Emyr, and of course Ian who comes every week.
We achieved in about 3.5 days what I thought might take all week so I certainly gained big time, and this in spite of the weather not behaving.

I'm still wearing my commercial beekeeper "L" plates really so I'm pleased you got a lot out of it. I learned plenty too...........

1. Success raising queen cells depends on the colony receiving grafts as much as it depends on grafting. I knew this but I didn't KNOW it, if you see what I mean.

2. Sometimes you need ventilation when doing newspaper unites - that was a hard lesson. Again I knew this but now I KNOW it.

3. Working in a team keeps me on my toes a bit more. Explaining something to somebody keeps the focus on the objectives too.

4. Land Rovers seem to work okay even when the wheels are different sizes.

And plenty more besides.

My only regret is the last month has been so poor that I had nothing to extract in the honey room. A few hours there would have been an eye opener too.

I'll certainly do something similar again.

 

[BeeJayBee]

It's made interesting reading, thank you for taking the time to share what happened, and what you learned.

One thing I didn't spot, maybe I missed it, was how you manage to keep track of everything you've done and what needs to be done next. The record-keeping bit.

 

[Chris B]

It's made interesting reading, thank you for taking the time to share what happened, and what you learned.

One thing I didn't spot, maybe I missed it, was how you manage to keep track of everything you've done and what needs to be done next. The record-keeping bit.

I'm basically keeping apiary records. Hives have numbers and I will record anything notable, but if a colony is "as expected" I don't write anything. I would like to capture more data if I can do it efficiently, so I can identify breeder queens based on better knowledge.

 

[beebreeder]

At the last BFA meeting concencus was yellow wax chalk on the hive roof, lasts a season and then in winter it wears of ready for next year