I am about to buy a hive.

[Widdershins]

Thanks RT, this thread is aimed at helping newcomers make informed choices, and your last post was great!

We're using wooden Langstroths and Apideas for Q/R, we also have a Poly Nuc too - have put a colony in there which needs extra TLC, and hope the warmth of the Poly contributes to its getting through winter.

 

[Bucks_Boy]

If you are looking for advice for a potential "newby" you ought to think in a slightly different manner.
All hobbies have a range of options depending on the aspect you are most interested in, usually it is best to get some experience at a general level before making a more informed decision. I used to sail dinghys where there are a couple of hundred different designs sailed regularly - my advice used to be to buy one of the more popular classes to learn in as they would be bound to sell it when they decided what was most appropriate to them.
I've practiced this with beekeeping, so far I'm a newby who started with some secondhand nationals, have tried a Top Bar and Warre alongside them and have pretty much decided to go for Commercials having worked with a couple in a friends Apiary. I also have some poly nucs for overwintering - I'm happy that I can sell the national bits I dont need but not sure about the TopBar.

 

[victor meldrew]

Well yesterday I took a trip to our tip ohh sorry recycling centre....and the staff are soooo helpful that a gentleman with a petrol strimmer wanted to dispose it in the metal bin. But the helpful staff helped him but it didn't quite make it to the metal bin but just to the right of it in another container!!
Perhaps they have a novel way of "recycling" at my local place? Or am i cynical?
But I must say they do love to have an eye on what you put where and I was corrected at putting some old plaster in the wrong bin an honest mistake...
oh and apparently plasterboard is not accepted but old bags of plaster are???
Didn't see any Gnomes though but the staff are vertically challanged does that count?

Funny that ,I was disposing of a perfectly good valor home flame gas fire (Pride will out ), I was surprised at the civil greeting and the willingness to carry same to avoid damaging anypart of it . It disappeared out of sight in a flash .
John Wilkinson

 

[Somerford]

Perhaps I should point out that this was not a landfill site. It is the Local Authority run Re-cycling centre. Nothing gets 'dumped'.

p.s. The one I go to has a wonderful collection of Garden Gnomes, all saved from extinction by the staff.

it must be endemic as the local tip here does the same thing. spooky.

 

[Somerford]

Hive choices :

Well, to put the cat among the pigeons, when asked what Hive do I run, you'd better be sitting quietly and I'll begin.

1x WBC (currently empty but consistently out produced any other hive I've ever owned. record of 7 supers I had to extract 3 of them twice as I ran out of lifts - this was in 1993)
3 x Nationals on BS frames in cedar
1 x 14x12 national which will be used next year in conjunction with...
1 x green BeeHaus which is a 14x12 frame
and the association I run with a TBH officiando has a Warre and a couple of TBHs,

so if I add up correctly that makes 6 hive types.

How the b***dy h*ll does he manage swarm control I hear you ask.

I'll tell you next year !

I'll also post photos asap of the lot.

Which one would I choose - well for a newbeek the beehaus is just so funky I want to shake by stuff on the dancefloor, brrrrrrr ! it's ice cold.

However the sane goblin on my other shoulder says I really should keep to Nationals/14x12s although I do like the look of those Poly Langstroths of Rooftops's


Confused yet ?

LOL

S

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Apart from my nationals I now have a beehaus (I am sure most of you know that!) The only reason I started with nationals was becuase when I bought my first lot of bees, they came in a national hive. £60 for a full 11 frames of bees and a hive and super...them where the good old days! LOL

So rather than bore you all with it, I will just put a link the Omlet beehaus section so you can come over for a chat about it any time.

We are a freindly bunch over there. (not that I am implying any segridation)

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=39

 

[Haughton Honey]

Well, I have cedar Nationals with double brood boxes - thanks Hivemaker - containing Hoffman (DN4) frames. These have/had supers on with Manley frames in.

I use ply nuc boxes sourced from a guy on eBay, which are very good I might hasten to add.....although I'm still waiting for Hivemaker to start churning out cedar nuc boxes with mesh floors built to his usual standard, whereupon I'd buy a bundle (hint hint!!).

I also have a PURPLE Beehaus to experiment with next year!

 

[Rosti]

Its May 2010 the sun is out and I have just seen a report on the tv that bee's are dying out.

I fancy a go at that beekeeping thing but I dont want to join a local group of beekeepers and attend meetings.


What should I do?

I am sure we can run this thread to help many new members thinking of getting their first hive.

It seems to me that it can often be pot luck as to what road you go down in regards to hive type etc depending on what forum they surf to first,it could be Biobees and they make/buy a Top bar hive/Warre hive or Omlet and buy a Beehaus.

Can we try to help to explain the different hive types/management and ways of starting up.

Firstly welcome admin, secondly keeping is not for everyone and if you can gain some opportunity to handle bees (perhaps through contacts on this forum) before any outlay then I would strongly recommend that, even down to getting stung. Are you okay with that prospect? Are you aware of any reaction to stings? Now is a good time to get that clear in your mind, as are your options for location and security. Assuming you are moving forward then your style of hive is less important than your interest in the hobby. If you are starting with a single colony (ideally two) then you still have the opportunity to change hive type at a future date or diversify if you expand. My choice of hive is accademic, what do you fancy and why? Discuss the merrits of your favoured type with other forum members. I went for a generally available type and bought second hand, check ebay (but ensure you effectively de-contaminate before use). Some types can be bought as flat-pack or seconds to further reduce outlay, provided they are secure then the bees won't mind. If you enjoy the hobby the quality and variety of your hardware can grow as you wish. If you change your mind your outlay has been minimised.

 

[Rosti]

Polyhive / Rooftops

Whats the life on a polyhive / Durability to knocks and scrapes / propolis removal / over enthusiastic hive tool use ?

 

[pnkemp]

Can I suggest you more experienced beeks aim at one or two likely *types* of newbeek? i.e. hobbyists and 'green' hobbyists. I think it's unlikely we'd get many people saying "I want to buy my first 20 hives", so the economies of scale in poly Langs may be lost on them.

i.e. chances are they will be looking, initially at least at either a back garden or allotment hive (maybe two, but unlikely to be more). out apiaries may be a better bet, but a lot of folks do keep in their back gardens, so how small is too small?

They will probably also be looking at hives that are easy to examine, and easy to extract from (who want to spend several hundred pounds on an extractor for servicing only one or two hives in your first year?).

Granted I've not actually laid hands on a hive yet, but from the reading I've done logically it's going to be a National, a Beehaus (ducks), or a TBH (relatively straighforward if messy to harvest the honey, even if the amount is realatively tiny). Langs may be less popular due to getting their bees in a National Nuc, which seems to be most common on the forums.

So perhaps it would also be worth metioning a few decision to make on those...

like would it make sense to go for a 14x12 Nat brood box to avoid any brood and a half/double brood nonsense your first year out?
how many supers are you likely to need?
do you need an eke to put a feeder in, or would a miller feeder be better (or can you use an empty super at the end of the year).

Or at least they're the questions I'd want answering (and you can expect to hear them on Saturday Somer!).

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the subject. Oh, and while joining the local BKA might be ideal, some of them are very full of newbeeks at the moment with less than welcoming committees ("Oh no, I suppose you want to save the world too" was the friendly response I got), so using the taster courses and followons might be a good move in some areas.

Pete K

 

[Finno]

Well, at least try and make contact with a local Beekeeper

I continually come across this advice, but just because a beekeeper may have had bees for a long time, doesn't mean that he/she is a good beekeeper or source of advice. Long time ago now but I did that. It took me some time to realise that the said experienced beekeeper had never bothered to read a book on the subject and was basically a "let alone" beekeeper. I accepted some old equipment from him and then found myself with AFB. Two bonfires later, I decided to stop relying on him for "guidance" or "advice". My advice is to read up intensely on the subject before starting which will enable you to question intelligently everything you hear when you meet "experienced" beekeepers.

PS
And don't rely on everything one reads on the internet!

 

[Somerford]

like would it make sense to go for a 14x12 Nat brood box to avoid any brood and a half/double brood nonsense your first year out?
how many supers are you likely to need?
do you need an eke to put a feeder in, or would a miller feeder be better (or can you use an empty super at the end of the year).

Or at least they're the questions I'd want answering (and you can expect to hear them on Saturday Somer!).

Pete K

I'll look the answers up now, pete, lol

 

[Widdershins]

I continually come across this advice, but just because a beekeeper may have had bees for a long time, doesn't mean that he/she is a good beekeeper or source of advice.

True.

However, meeting up with a local Beekeeper, and going along to inspections WILL give you an idea of whether or not you can cope with bees or if you're lucky, have an opportunity to handle them.

Take it from one who had a, hmm, how to put it, 'hands off' mentor, it soon comes to light whether or not you can trust advice. As I posted earlier on, its vitally important to do some research of your own, whether reading, speaking to other beeks etc.

 

[Haughton Honey]

....like would it make sense to go for a 14x12 Nat brood box to avoid any brood and a half/double brood nonsense your first year out?

Not wishing to rock the boat, but if you have a very prolific queen and fancy going for increase or perhaps wish to bring on a couple of nucs for future sale...then double brood isn't really nonsense, even for a first year beek.