help in finding home/location

[Lee Leatherbarrow]

Hi everyone,

i'm hoping i could find some help, me and my daughter are hoping to start the the journey of becoming bee keepers. but as of yet we have no home for our hives. is there any advice you could offer when talking to local farmers to site our bees on their farm.

we are both hoping to do the two day course also but dont really want to do it if we eventually fail to find a home.

any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks
Lee

 

[Erichalfbee]

Talk to your association. A lot of beekeeping groups have members who don’t actually keep bees but offer sites for members to use.
Take the course. Two days won’t be enough anyway and shouldn’t be money wasted if you are serious and your association course is a good one. This summer you’ll be able to help out at the training apiary and get your fingers into somebody else’s colony before getting your own

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh and welcome.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Talk to your association. A lot of beekeeping groups have members who don’t actually keep bees but offer sites for members to use.
Take the course. Two days won’t be enough anyway and shouldn’t be money wasted if you are serious and your association course is a good one. This summer you’ll be able to help out at the training apiary and get your fingers into somebody else’s colony before getting your own

Dani is right - a two day course is a good entry point, but not really enough to get you really grounded in beekeeping, you are probably too late this year to get a full Association course (they usually start their theory lessons January/February so you have half a dozen under your belt by the time the practicals start), but most will allow you to tag along at the training apiary even without the theory.
Being a member of a BKA will allow you to make loads of contacts, maybe they have a list of people offering apiary sites, and also help you to find a colony of bees when you are ready, maybe even free bees if they collect swarms locally.
If you haven't joined one - you should.
It would help if we knew where you are - put it in your profile.

 

[drex]

I recently moved to Devon. The local BKA were really helpful, even though I was not a member there at the time. Actually found a really good site through the local village Facebook page.
If going down the local farmers route, checkout suitable sites before you approach the farmer. If they are amenable you are far more likely to get a yes, than just asking if you can keep bees on their land

 

[ericbeaumont]

advice ... when talking to local farmers to site our bees on their farm.

Walk the dog in likely areas and find possibles that are out of sight of the public, are secure and easy to access with a vehicle. Ensure animals cannot access the hives. Choose level ground, perhaps backing onto hedging or similar cover. Join your local BKA to gain PLI.

Check the locations on google earth and only then knock on the farmer's door. If you leave it to the farmer to decide you may be offered a spot in public view with iffy security, poor access and in a frost or damp hollow without partial wind & sun protection of hedge, scrub or wood.

You're both beginners and the landowner will not necessarily welcome swarms and bad-tempered bees, so visit weekly and don't be afraid to ask for help from your BKA. At the same time don't blindly follow advice, but make up your own minds: many beekeepers are keen to help but often do so with outdated or prescriptive methods.

Have you been inside a beehive? Two days beekeeping will enable you to decide whether beekeeping is for you but will not prepare you for the long-term reality, so find a full course with plenty of practical time in hives. Too many BKAs start early in the year with technical information which you cannot put into practice and will forget by May.

Read the Haynes Bee Manual several times. Check out Black Mountain Honey & Norfolk Honey Company videos on YT but avoid all others, or you will weep from irrelevant and misleading information overload.

 

[Swarm]

Great advice but I'd forget all youtube advice until you are familiar with your bees, then you will know what is appropriate to your situation.

 

[enrico]

Ask on a local facebook page, you will likely get loads of replies! Where are you based? Can you put a rough location on your info. Thanks and welcome

 

[rossbyjove]

Talk to your association. A lot of beekeeping groups have members who don’t actually keep bees but offer sites for members to use.
Take the course. Two days won’t be enough anyway and shouldn’t be money wasted if you are serious and your association course is a good one. This summer you’ll be able to help out at the training apiary and get your fingers into somebody else’s colony before getting your own

The two days course seems to be a new thing.
Mine was a few hours every week for a couple of months.
I did that at the start of last year.
They now run it as a two day course
A friend has just done one and it was two full days.
Not sure if it covered the same as the course I did.
She did say it was full on and was drained after !

 

[polymath]

look on google maps for nice big empty pieces of land then approach owners, more built up you live the harder it is but as they say most association can help some run association apiaries.

 

[ericbeaumont]

She did say it was full on and was drained after

I believe that retention is better when training is given in regular bursts rather than as a tsunami, when exhaustion and information overload is likely.

At our BKA we run a 4.5 day course in May-June over 2.5 weeks; it includes brief biology and essential disease info. but the majority of time is spent inside hives, which we believe is what accelerates beekeeping skill and knowledge.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I believe that retention is better when training is given in regular bursts rather than as a tsunami, when exhaustion and information overload is likely.

 

[Lee Leatherbarrow]

Hi,
Thanks everyone for your help and input, I have been in contact with two associations not so local, but local enough to travel too. And awaiting to hear back.
Will keep you all updated and thanks again.

 

[Lee Leatherbarrow]

Sorry profile updated now also, we are in sunny Wigan (Tyldesley)

 

[Rob H]

I recently moved to Devon. The local BKA were really helpful, even though I was not a member there at the time. Actually found a really good site through the local village Facebook page.
If going down the local farmers route, checkout suitable sites before you approach the farmer. If they are amenable you are far more likely to get a yes, than just asking if you can keep bees on their land

Where about in Devon? Your profile still says Essex, I only ask as I live in Devon also.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Sorry profile updated now also, we are in sunny Wigan (Tyldesley)

A friend of my grandfather, Ted Ward went 'up North' to play rugby and still regarded as one of the best captains Wigan had, he also captained the Great Britain team. My Primary school headmaster also played a few games for Wigan whilst in the RAF (all under an assumed name as he couldn't be seen to change codes!!)

 

[drex]

Where about in Devon? Your profile still says Essex, I only ask as I live in Devon also.

Near Totnes/ Newton Abbot

 

[Rob H]

Near Totnes/ Newton Abbot

Was it you a few weeks ago saying you were hoping to move to Ipplepen?

 

[drex]

That's it Rob . Moved in 2 weeks ago.. Found a home for the bees only half a mile away. Have joined South Hams BKA. Yet to get involved

 

[Swarm]

How are the bees drex? Settled in nicely?