Hi all

[Rockingod]

Hi all and a warm welcome from sunny West Wales (who am I trying to kid ?),

I’ve been a member of the forum for some time but never posted would you believe!!

A country boy at heart, I’ve been keeping bees on and off for 20+ years and been steadily building up my colony numbers. I’ve been helped enormously by my mentor Ricky Wilson who is local to me and a stalwart member of the BFA (For those who don’t know Ricky personally, he is also the BFA Regional Director for Wales and is an absolute fountain of knowledge). With Ricky’s expert advice I’m now running 100+ colonies and growing year on year.
Due in part to Ricky’s enthusiasm, I started queen rearing (open mating and also II) a number of years back. I'm now meeting my own needs with my own queens (tough and hardy Welsh mongrels at the moment!).
Naturally, I’m hoping to continue moving forwards and breed better queens etc. but it does take quite a lot of time and effort. Apart from the actual workload there is also the difficult breeding ‘selection process’ to contend with.
I hope I can be of help to the members on here. However, due to the pressures of work you may not hear much from me during the busy part of the season.
I look forwards to interacting with you all and happy beekeeping!

 

[madasafish]

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi all and a warm welcome from sunny West Wales (who am I trying to kid ?),

I’ve been a member of the forum for some time but never posted would you believe!!
A country boy at heart, I’ve been keeping bees on and off for 20+ years and been steadily building up my colony numbers. I’ve been helped enormously by my mentor Ricky Wilson who is local to me and a stalwart member of the BFA (For those who don’t know Ricky personally, he is also the BFA Regional Director for Wales and is an absolute fountain of knowledge). With Ricky’s expert advice I’m now running 100+ colonies and growing year on year.
Due in part to Ricky’s enthusiasm, I started queen rearing (open mating and also II) a number of years back. I'm now meeting my own needs with my own queens (tough and hardy Welsh mongrels at the moment!).
Naturally, I’m hoping to continue moving forwards and breed better queens etc. but it does take quite a lot of time and effort. Apart from the actual workload there is also the difficult breeding ‘selection process’ to contend with.
I hope I can be of help to the members on here. However, due to the pressures of work you may not hear much from me during the busy part of the season.
I look forwards to interacting with you all and happy beekeeping!

Welcome
I’ve had a few queens from Ricky
He does know how to talk about bees, that’s for sure

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Welcome, you're also a lucky sod having Ricky so near to you, where exactly are you based? I assume by Aberteifi you just mean Ceredigion?

 

[Rockingod]

Hi Jenkinsbrynmair,
Yep.....Totally agree re Ricky. He does love his bees and has been known to quite happily wax lyrical on the topic for more than a few hours. He is my beekeeping 'rock' so to speak.
Cardigan based actually (where I have an apiary and my queen mating yard) but I have apiaries in north Pembs and south Ceredigion.
I'll be out to see Ricky in the next day or so and will give him yours (and Eric's) best regards.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'll be out to see Ricky in the next day or so and will give him yours (and Eric's) best regards.

send him my regards - last time I saw him and his missus was at the BFA breakfast table the morning of the Tradex, then lockdown happened so no auctions or finding an excuse to pop in to the mating apiary for a chillout!

 

[Firefly]

I have apiaries in north Pembs and south Ceredigion.

I'm heading for Newport in a couple of weeks, when the heatwave has passed. We always try to pick up some local honey. Where should I look for yours and what should I look for?

 

[Rockingod]

PM sent

 

[bobba]

That was a great introduction.

Your intent to help people is very kind.

You are clearly aware how fortunate you are to have a mentor. I have had no such luck since starting late last season. I was hoping to have at least joined a BKA by now....but things happen.

Starting out in bees without any RL support can be daunting, so the help I have received from this forum has been a life line for me.

By the grace of this forum (and some beginners luck), I have some how muddled my way through my first full season and everything has gone really well.

I hope you share a little of your knowledge and learn some useful things too.

I wish you success with your queen rearing program and hope you can keep expanding as desired.