Hello from Gloucester

[bountifulbees]

Hello everyone!

I'm Chris and this is my second season as a Beekeeper! I'm planning to go from 1 hive to 4-5 this year! It's going to be a bumpy ride but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!

I'm hoping to network with more people so thought it would be good to start posting here on the forum!

Nice to meet y'all
Chris

 

[Erichalfbee]

Welcome Chris.

 

[madasafish]

 

[The Poot]

Hello everyone!

I'm Chris and this is my second season as a Beekeeper! I'm planning to go from 1 hive to 4-5 this year! It's going to be a bumpy ride but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!

I'm hoping to network with more people so thought it would be good to start posting here on the forum!

Nice to meet y'all
Chris

That’s an ambitious increase. I look forward to reading about how you get on Welcome.

 

[enrico]

Welcome Chris, go to the blog page and put Enrico in the filter. It will bring up some hints for second year beekeepers. Second year is very different to the first year!

 

[blackcloud]

Just a hop across the border
I collected a swarm from Redmarley a couple of years back

 

[user 20297]

That’s an ambitious increase. I look forward to reading about how you get on Welcome.

In my experience, being fairly new to beekeeping, it's more ambitious to set your sights on keeping the status quo!!

 

[The Poot]

In my experience, being fairly new to beekeeping, it's more ambitious to set your sights on keeping the status quo!!

you’re not wrong @Beebe!

 

[pargyle]

Hello everyone!

I'm Chris and this is my second season as a Beekeeper! I'm planning to go from 1 hive to 4-5 this year! It's going to be a bumpy ride but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!

I'm hoping to network with more people so thought it would be good to start posting here on the forum!

Nice to meet y'all
Chris

Welcome ... the bees have a habit of thwarting the beekeepers best plans ... bank on your plans surviving until the day you start to implement them - you won't be disappointed then when it all goes belly up !
If you have managed to get your bees through your first winter then at least you can pat yourself on the back.

There's always plenty of advice on here - and we are usually quick to respond to pleas for help. The beginners section is the best place for second year questions and there will, undoubtedly, be questions that you can't find the answer to in the books so you are in a good place here.

 

[bountifulbees]

That’s an ambitious increase. I look forward to reading about how you get on Welcome.

I love a challenge

Welcome Chris, go to the blog page and put Enrico in the filter. It will bring up some hints for second year beekeepers. Second year is very different to the first year!

Thank you! I know what you mean though - I videoed all my inspections and updated them to youtube and now I'm going back through them all and seeing all my mistakes i made haha

In my experience, being fairly new to beekeeping, it's more ambitious to set your sights on keeping the status quo!!

Haha I've heard that before

Welcome ... the bees have a habit of thwarting the beekeepers best plans ... bank on your plans surviving until the day you start to implement them - you won't be disappointed then when it all goes belly up !
If you have managed to get your bees through your first winter then at least you can pat yourself on the back.

There's always plenty of advice on here - and we are usually quick to respond to pleas for help. The beginners section is the best place for second year questions and there will, undoubtedly, be questions that you can't find the answer to in the books so you are in a good place here.

Thank you I've already got plenty of questions that I'll probably get round to posting - I'm sure you will see me around

 

[Sutty]

The best advice for making that much increase in your second year would be to have started a year earlier! Everything seemed to want to swarm last year!!
Early split once plenty of drones, feed & see what happens. Could use pollen substitute if not much pollen coming in to encourage build up.

 

[bountifulbees]

Haha I made a late split last year so I currently have my main hive + a nuc. I've ordered a second nuc for collection in Spring and have a queen also to make another split. Its crazy how busy both haves have been - they're on double brood and have had lots of pollen come in so fingers crossed!

 

[Sutty]

I hope you have plenty of spare boxes!

 

[user 20297]

Haha I made a late split last year so I currently have my main hive + a nuc. I've ordered a second nuc for collection in Spring and have a queen also to make another split. Its crazy how busy both haves have been - they're on double brood and have had lots of pollen come in so fingers crossed!

I dipped into a few of your videos. I don't think I saw you use a hive tool. Do you still manage without one. Considering you seemed to have thick gloves, you managed well.
I was surprised to see the interlock lip on the newer, Abelo hives doesn't cause bees to be crushed as I expected.
I felt for you with the stuck frames incident on your transfer from the nuc...but you appeared to cope better than I would have done at that stage.

 

[bountifulbees]

I dipped into a few of your videos. I don't think I saw you use a hive tool. Do you still manage without one. Considering you seemed to have thick gloves, you managed well.
I was surprised to see the interlock lip on the newer, Abelo hives doesn't cause bees to be crushed as I expected.
I felt for you with the stuck frames incident on your transfer from the nuc...but you appeared to cope better than I would have done at that stage.

Ahh I def use my hive tool, don't know where I'd be without it! I've managed to squish some but alot less than I expected tbh. Thank you for your kind words tho. I know I look back at those videos as I'm editing / uploading them now and I cringe so hard haha!