Hello from Banbury

[arwenevenstar]

Hi,
I'm in one of the outlying villages near Banbury and am looking into starting with Bees.
My grandfather was an avid beekeeper until he died and I remember vividly his outhouses being packed with honey jars and extractors. Of course, at 28 when he died, I had no intention at all of becoming a beekeeper myself - now of course...once all his equipment was sold off...ah well, what my older self could tell my younger self lol!

Anyway, I am beginning my journey, hoping to go on a course in April and then looking to start around Spring NEXT year, just to make sure I don't make any rash decisions.

We have ten chickens and grow a lot of our own veg...probably a typical mid life villager then. We are also very proactive towards our own generation of electricity and heat too, so are interested in keeping our carbon footprint down.

Honey and wax and propolis seem to me to be the next step in our quest (well that and the fact I'm not allowed a goat or sheep to keep me in wool!)

Anyone from this area or is there even an association nearer than Oxford or Kettering?

 

[Luminos]

Sounds like you're doing everything in the right order (unlike me )

 

[Snail368]

Hi good luck with your bee keeping learning. There is a Northampton association - so a bit nearer than Kettering, probably similar to Oxford.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Hi, Arwenevenstar!


Welcome!




Love the Forum name! Where does it come from?


Dusty

 

[Luminos]

Hi, Arwenevenstar!


Welcome!




Love the Forum name! Where does it come from?


Dusty

Banbury.
Obviously.

 

[arwenevenstar]

Banbury.
Obviously.

It's from Lord of the Rings. If you knew my real name, you'd know why I need to be a beekeeper - but as I hardly know you all yet...

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Banbury.
Obviously.

Was that designed to make me Cross?

By the way, Luminos, is your horse white?

And is that tintinabulation I hear when you post?

Dusty

P.s. Arwenevenstar, sorry about Luminos.
Please, have your 'Welcome' thread back now.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

It's from Lord of the Rings. If you knew my real name, you'd know why I need to be a beekeeper - but as I hardly know you all yet...

You'll soon be saying:

"I don't know half of you as well as I should like;
And I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Dusty.

 

[Luminos]

Was that designed to make me Cross?

By the way, Luminos, is your horse white?

And is that tintinabulation I hear when you post?

Dusty

P.s. Arwenevenstar, sorry about Luminos.
Please, have your 'Welcome' thread back now.

...flatterer....
Yes I agree, stop hijacking Arwenevenstar's thread

 

[bee ginnner]

Anyone from this area or is there even an association nearer than Oxford or Kettering?

Hi Arwenevenstar, welcome to the forum. there is a couple of members of the stratford on avon BKA in and around banbury and even some as far as brackley!!!! also the shipston beeks may not be too far from you, check out there web sites.

 

[CleanShirt]

Arwenevenstar

 

[whoosling]

It's from Lord of the Rings. If you knew my real name, you'd know why I need to be a beekeeper - but as I hardly know you all yet...

Great name wish I'd choosen Galadriel now!

 

[buzz lightyear]

Hi and welcome!

Not sure where abouts outside Banbury you are, but there is an association at Shipston. If this is any help, pm me and I'll put you in touch with them.

Buzz

 

[Moggs]

Welcome to the Forum. A good plan to prepare this year before committing. Here's how it goes:

Read. Attend course. Read more. Ask questions here as books will make you curious. Consult books again to filter 15 different answers to your question here. Buy more books. Resort to forum as more books = more confusion. Attend apiary visit. Read books with renewed vigour. Decide to buy hive. Consult forum. Defer hive purchase. Dispense with books. Be brave and buy bee suit all on your own. Attend apiary visit. Despair at latest bee suit fashion. Out of sheer frustration order 5 frame nuc. Hurry up and wait. Carefully retrieve books from loft. Decide on apiary site, garden or farmland (remember not to ask forum, just in the nick of time).

And at the dawning of the day that may change your life, collect your bees.

Wonder what all the fuss was about as you watch your bees doing what they have done for forty million years or so...

 

[Luminos]

Welcome to the Forum. A good plan to prepare this year before committing. Here's how it goes:

Read. Attend course. Read more. Ask questions here as books will make you curious. Consult books again to filter 15 different answers to your question here. Buy more books. Resort to forum as more books = more confusion. Attend apiary visit. Read books with renewed vigour. Decide to buy hive. Consult forum. Defer hive purchase. Dispense with books. Be brave and buy bee suit all on your own. Attend apiary visit. Despair at latest bee suit fashion. Out of sheer frustration order 5 frame nuc. Hurry up and wait. Carefully retrieve books from loft. Decide on apiary site, garden or farmland (remember not to ask forum, just in the nick of time).

And at the dawning of the day that may change your life, collect your bees.

Wonder what all the fuss was about as you watch your bees doing what they have done for forty million years or so...

 

[MartinL]

Hi,

I'm in Ashorne, (just up the A41)!

 

[bee ginnner]

Hi,

I'm in Ashorne, (just up the A41)!

B4100

 

[MartinL]

Ah so it is, all the way there and back!

Sorry, must be my age.

 

[yeogi75]

 

[oxnatbees]

Beekeeping, Banbury

Hi Arwenevenstar,

The obvious organisation to join is OBKA, website www.oxfordshirebeekeepers.com who have several hundred members all over Oxfordshire.

Have you decided what type of hive you will use yet? I use a Top Bar Hive, and though I am in OBKA and they are good for general training and contacts, I found they were at a bit of a loss about specific help with this kind of hive. So a group of TBH and Warre enthusiasts has formed a self help group for Oxfordshire.