I’m on my way!

[thorn]

Thanks JBM is wondering how long it would before someone would take the bait

Surely your original post was a day early.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks JBM I was wondering how long it would before someone would take the bait

I still think this is just what this thread is about but u agree with JBM. £12 for this frippery ( plus postage) is daft.
I see the op says he has ordered one. Dafter!

 

[FidoDido]

Good UK beekeeping channels are hard to find. My recommendations would be:

Energyhill bees - Quirky are funny. Just ignore the most recent ones about pollen analysis which are a bit boring (sorry Helen).

John Bee Man Saunders - Relaxed viewing.

Phil Chandler - Mainly topbar hives. A more bee centric approach to beekeeping.

BIBBA/National Honey Show - Lots of presentations to look at

Unfortunately, the above channels have largely stopped posting new videos, but there is a large back catalogue to work through. There are others that no doubt you will be recommended, but for me the presenters have lost the joy of keeping bees and it is now a commercial exercise for them.

What kind of hive did you buy?

I’ve got two national hives which are now made because the lovely chap who was going to make them over the week (I was going to do the frames) has taken pity on me and finished them AND all the frames

 

[FidoDido]

absolute waste of money and do nothing for the welfare of bumble bees - they are simply a method of gulling the gullible

Well that’s me told

 

[FidoDido]

I still think this is just what this thread is about but u agree with JBM. £12 for this frippery ( plus postage) is daft.
I see the op says he has ordered one. Dafter!

I’m female. What is life without a bit of daftness sometimes?

 

[juno]

Glad it’s not just me. As I said in a previous post I’m impossible to offend but being looked down on for being ignorant is another thing entirely and I can’t abide pomposity. Any recommendations for friendlier places to ask questions?

Join us here… https://www.facebook.com/share/VPQba3Mwx1tV6Dzr/?mibextid=K35XfP

 

[pargyle]

Join us here… https://www.facebook.com/share/VPQba3Mwx1tV6Dzr/?mibextid=K35XfP

Well .. I'm not going to take the link out but let's not get carried away directing people away from this forum for the wrong reasons - it is still the best beekeeping forum on the planet for lots of reasons .. not least of which is the collective knowledge and helpful nature of its members - not to mention the leniency of its mods.

 

[juno]

Well .. I'm not going to take the link out but let's not get carried away directing people away from this forum for the wrong reasons - it is still the best beekeeping forum on the ppante for lots of reasons .. not least of which is the collective knowledge and helpful nature of its members - not to mention the leniency of its mods.

Point taken.

I can remove if you like.?
I was concerned with the way the thread was evolving………

 

[hemo]

Hello everyone!

I posted a while ago about wanting to start keeping bees. I was roundly scolded for not taking it seriously enough but assured everyone that although I may have an irreverent conversation/posting style I take the welfare of any living thing I’m responsible for extremely seriously.

Anyhow - I have bought two hives! Very nice new cedar ones. A friendly handyman I know is making up the hive bodies, possibly as we speak. I am doing my bit by putting the frames together which was fun to start with but my fingers now resemble throbbing red sausages. Twenty down - forty to go.

Now - the fellow who sold me the hives has suggested I might be able to catch a colony because it’s the time of year when bees are looking for new premises. What are the chances of that, do people think?

On a side note, I found a drenched and cold bumblebee the other day. I scooped her into my hand and she seemed to appreciate the warmth. We walked for a while and she kept trying her wings from time to time. I really wanted to take her home and give her some sugar water but we were about to pick my granddaughter up from school and I don’t think she’d have appreciated a loose bee in the car.

So I found a tree with some flowers in it but would she leave my hand?! I probably looked as if I was doing t’ai chi as I contorted myself trying to get her into the flower. I managed it eventually but I swear she was leaning towards me trying to get back to me. I found it quite upsetting actually. Perhaps she would have had some nectar and revived enough to get back to her home?

Not in Feb would one find a swarm to rehome.
From now to the end of May is a good time when swarms will occur but ideally we need a lot more better weather.

 

[hemo]

If you’ve seen lots of newbies with the same outlook maybe it might be worth pondering why?

It’s not the advice that’s the problem.

Thank you for your good wishes.

New age Newbies have an unrealistic idea of expectations and funny ideas regarding saving the bees, problem is they think the honey bees are at risk of distinction.
The truth being that most with the funny ideas over lokk the obvious and are best /better putting the good intentions towards providing simpenesting habitats in their gardens / for solitary bees and humbles bees.
Simply placing and old cardboard box with some grass clippings under cove in a dry spot will almost guarantee a Qu humble bee setting up her nest.

 

[pargyle]

Point taken.

I can remove if you like.?
I was concerned with the way the thread was evolving………

No ... it's OK - there for the right reasons and hardly competition.

 

[Erichalfbee]

No ... it's OK - there for the right reasons and hardly compeition.

Well it’s a good group to join if you enjoy a pat on the back, lots of sympathy and never a bad word.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Simply placing and old cardboard box with some grass clippings under cove in a dry spot will almost guarantee a Qu humble bee setting up her nest.

I once found a colony under a hive cosy left in one if the fields. Snug and warm. I put a brick on top to stop it blowing away and they were there all summer.

 

[hemo]

I once found a colony under a hive cosy left in one if the fields. Snug and warm. I put a brick on top to stop it blowing away and they were there all summer.

Year before last I left a cardboard box in my dampish pond filter /wood store shed, decided to tidy up the messy cardboard late spring to be greeted by a many a humble bee so left them to it and worked around them . That late summer/early autumn the nest produced many dozens of queens and drones over a ten day period , I had to go down regularly to open the door to let them out and often had to manually eject them.
It doesn't need anything special for a Qu humble to take up residence.

 

[jimmiestan]

Good UK beekeeping channels are hard to find. My recommendations would be:

Energyhill bees - Quirky are funny. Just ignore the most recent ones about pollen analysis which are a bit boring (sorry Helen).

John Bee Man Saunders - Relaxed viewing.

Phil Chandler - Mainly topbar hives. A more bee centric approach to beekeeping.

BIBBA/National Honey Show - Lots of presentations to look at

Unfortunately, the above channels have largely stopped posting new videos, but there is a large back catalogue to work through. There are others that no doubt you will be recommended, but for me the presenters have lost the joy of keeping bees and it is now a commercial exercise for them.

What kind of hive did you buy?

...... we found this feller quite useful and he makes easily followed videos

 

[BrianR]

Hello everyone!

I posted a while ago about wanting to start keeping bees. I was roundly scolded for not taking it seriously enough but assured everyone that although I may have an irreverent conversation/posting style I take the welfare of any living thing I’m responsible for extremely seriously.

Anyhow - I have bought two hives! Very nice new cedar ones. A friendly handyman I know is making up the hive bodies, possibly as we speak. I am doing my bit by putting the frames together which was fun to start with but my fingers now resemble throbbing red sausages. Twenty down - forty to go.

Now - the fellow who sold me the hives has suggested I might be able to catch a colony because it’s the time of year when bees are looking for new premises. What are the chances of that, do people think?

On a side note, I found a drenched and cold bumblebee the other day. I scooped her into my hand and she seemed to appreciate the warmth. We walked for a while and she kept trying her wings from time to time. I really wanted to take her home and give her some sugar water but we were about to pick my granddaughter up from school and I don’t think she’d have appreciated a loose bee in the car.

So I found a tree with some flowers in it but would she leave my hand?! I probably looked as if I was doing t’ai chi as I contorted myself trying to get her into the flower. I managed it eventually but I swear she was leaning towards me trying to get back to me. I found it quite upsetting actually. Perhaps she would have had some nectar and revived enough to get back to her home?

Good luck to you in your endeavours to keep bees. It's a steep leaning process, but most rewarding when you and the bees get it right.

If you're keen to get started buy a couple of colonies and see how you get on. There'll always be swarms to have later in the season, but they aren't without issues. Generally a swarm will need feeding from the get-go and probably treating for varroa too. An established colony with a last year's queen will just get on almost in spite of human intervention. So good luck!

Hello everyone!

I posted a while ago about wanting to start keeping bees. I was roundly scolded for not taking it seriously enough but assured everyone that although I may have an irreverent conversation/posting style I take the welfare of any living thing I’m responsible for extremely seriously.

Anyhow - I have bought two hives! Very nice new cedar ones. A friendly handyman I know is making up the hive bodies, possibly as we speak. I am doing my bit by putting the frames together which was fun to start with but my fingers now resemble throbbing red sausages. Twenty down - forty to go.

Now - the fellow who sold me the hives has suggested I might be able to catch a colony because it’s the time of year when bees are looking for new premises. What are the chances of that, do people think?

On a side note, I found a drenched and cold bumblebee the other day. I scooped her into my hand and she seemed to appreciate the warmth. We walked for a while and she kept trying her wings from time to time. I really wanted to take her home and give her some sugar water but we were about to pick my granddaughter up from school and I don’t think she’d have appreciated a loose bee in the car.

So I found a tree with some flowers in it but would she leave my hand?! I probably looked as if I was doing t’ai chi as I contorted myself trying to get her into the flower. I managed it eventually but I swear she was leaning towards me trying to get back to me. I found it quite upsetting actually. Perhaps she would have had some nectar and revived enough to get back to her home?

 

[Murox]

Join us here… https://www.facebook.com/share/VPQba3Mwx1tV6Dzr/?mibextid=K35XfP

Everything has its good and bad sides but why would anyone want to join facebook? So they could have a few hundred fake “friends”, which they’ve never met? Or to enjoy a barrage of negative fake news engineered to keep users in a virtual world for as much time as possible, isolating and alienating them from the real world?

For a fake social network that has privacy problems it appears to be bizarrely addictive and toxic.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Everything has its good and bad sides but why would anyone want to join facebook? So they could have a few hundred fake “friends”, which they’ve never met? Or to enjoy a barrage of negative fake news engineered to keep users in a virtual world for as much time as possible, isolating and alienating them from the real world?

For a fake social network that has privacy problems it appears to be bizarrely addictive and toxic.

The linked group is very gentle. You never get told off

 

[Murox]

The linked group is very gentle. You never get told off

Yes that sounds like the Zuckerberg trait of deliberate abstention from direction or interference regarding individual freedom of choice and action, that led to chaos, accountability issues, and exploitation.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes that sounds like the Zuckerberg trait of deliberate abstention from direction or interference regarding individual freedom of choice and action, that led to chaos, accountability issues, and exploitation.

Not sure it’s that. The ladies there are mostly American and are just extremely kind to each other.