Crazy 1st full year...

[Bakerbee]

Ive now been a beek for 1 full year. And what a year its been! Im feeling with this unusual summer will i have learnt as much as a normal year or will i feel like im starting again next summer. I may have gained experience this year but seeing as the last summer like this was '76 will i only be putting into practice this knowledge in another 42. years time? whats other newbees experiences ? And to our wiser friends on here will any of this years crazy weather/bee behaviour help me next year? Thoughts everyone??

 

[Magwat]

Every year is different and you will learn different things next year and the year after. After that you might feel as if you have some control

 

[Swarm]

Until you learn something else

 

[Amari]

Ive now been a beek for 1 full year. And what a year its been! Im feeling with this unusual summer will i have learnt as much as a normal year or will i feel like im starting again next summer. I may have gained experience this year but seeing as the last summer like this was '76 will i only be putting into practice this knowledge in another 42. years time? whats other newbees experiences ? And to our wiser friends on here will any of this years crazy weather/bee behaviour help me next year? Thoughts everyone??

Pride comes before a fall.

 

[Bakerbee]

I dont think my post was boastful so why the pride before fall comment. If anything this year has left me feeling humbled. I think the quote about quatumn physics fits beekeeping beautifully. If you think you understand quatumn physics, you probably dont understand quantumn physics!

 

[coffindodger]

Every year is different and you will learn different things next year and the year after. After that you might feel as if you have some control

Nope...... after that you realise you have absolutely no chance of ever having control.

 

[Beefriendly]

Interested in why you describe it as crazy?
My first few years were all crazy as I didn't have a clue (some would say I still haven't ). It's been an wonderful year for honey in most regions which has created some unusual problems with brood boxes becoming clogged with honey. In a "sort of usual year" the bees get a few days foraging then pinned back to hives whilst it rains and they then eat a lot of the nectar they have already brought back. This year no confinement. Honey yields are scary.

 

[Julie in Ash]

I go to my association Apiary every week and some Beekeepers there have 10-15-20yrs or even longer experience and they all learn new things from each other every week. I've concluded this is a world where things are constantly evolving, whether it's the equipment, the environment or the Bees themselves. I just hope one day I feel confident enough to feel I can open up a hive and handle it all. Sort of.

 

[Amari]

I dont think my post was boastful so why the pride before fall comment. If anything this year has left me feeling humbled. I think the quote about quatumn physics fits beekeeping beautifully. If you think you understand quatumn physics, you probably dont understand quantumn physics!

I was using the phrase very loosely. I started beekeeping in 1972 and still things go wrong and still I make blunders......and I'm still learning.

 

[Beefriendly]

I was using the phrase very loosely. I started beekeeping in 1972 and still things go wrong and still I make blunders......and I'm still learning.

Couldn't agree more. What worries me is some of our posters never seem to make mistakes. Or shall I put it....never admit to a making any.

 

[Millet]

Ive now been a beek for 1 full year. And what a year its been! Im feeling with this unusual summer will i have learnt as much as a normal year or will i feel like im starting again next summer. I may have gained experience this year but seeing as the last summer like this was '76 will i only be putting into practice this knowledge in another 42. years time? whats other newbees experiences ? And to our wiser friends on here will any of this years crazy weather/bee behaviour help me next year? Thoughts everyone??

One sentence (Do Not Let Your Guard Down) one minute you think you have it cracked..then the next minute you think you have it cracked and so on.. i started in 2015 with bees and every year keeps getting more awkward.. my way of thinking IS.. 20 years down the line it may level out..

 

[Bakerbee]

Millet i get your way of thinking. I feel like alice doen the rabbit hole. Beefriendly i meant crazy as in the weather and its affects on the bees snd flow. Also, the huge mistake of missing a swarm cell before doing a bailey comb change. Performing a hasty AS half way through thus going queenless in original hive. Catching a cast swarm ect.... i hadnt expected so much in 3 months, fool on me! A steep learning curve but do feel valuble lessons have neen learnt. Sometimes you can read and read but walking the walk is a valuble way of learning, in more ways thsn one. At times ive felt a deer in the headlights and others chuffed i got ( guessed ) it right. Due to all the issues and changes to hives tbis year i will only get a small quantity of honey but im feeling the bees have new hives new frames and foundation and thanks to their longsuffering of my mistakes are building up nicely....at the moment. Everyones advice on here has bern appreciated, valuable, and taken in. As this is my first year i suppose ive read other topics and everyone seems to be holding this year so different i wondered how i will fare next year.

 

[Erichalfbee]

i wondered how i will fare next year.

Beekeepers are eternal optimists

 

[Dogged]

This is my fifth season with bees. I was pondering just yesterday and realised that I had gone from knowing I knew nothing; to thinking I knew a bit; to the conclusion that the more I knew the more I realised how little I know!

My mentor has been in this game over 30 years and some events this season have left her baffled.

 

[Millet]

This is my fifth season with bees. I was pondering just yesterday and realised that I had gone from knowing I knew nothing; to thinking I knew a bit; to the conclusion that the more I knew the more I realised how little I know!

My mentor has been in this game over 30 years and some events this season have left her baffled.

Try this for being baffled... three 2017 Buckfast colonies all tried to swarm on double brood boxes with plenty of space to lay..

 

[Dogged]

Yup new colony on 7 frames in brood and half (super on without QE just for a bit of ventilation really, getting drawn only a little) 2017 queen upped and swarmed. Got her though...