Is this a sign of things to come ...

[pargyle]

Spent the day talking bees to the public at Open Farm Sunday today .... came across two beekeepers (separately) who had got their bees last year at the end of the season after a weekend's course .. which cost them £400 and was held in a local hotel ... They paid the additional £200 for a Nuc ...

Both of them in a heck of a mess ... bees fine but already swarmed - one of them hadn't inspected since March as his neighbour had been stung when he openeid them up last time ... the other had caught a swarm from his hive and was advised to put a Queen excluder under the brood box to stop them absconding ...unfortunately, he wasn't told to remove it and had left it on for the last two weeks !! It was the second swarm out of his hive so probably a virgin ... not hopeful for him ... no eggs or brood in the hive apparently. I offered a frame of eggs as he's local to me ... but not in our association.

Another new beekeeper had two hives - no course completed, not an association member, Is leaarning via Youtube he said, 'just bought 'some bees because they are in trouble' ... He has a big garden but the colonies are very aggressive and he's frightened of them, bought them on line about a month ago from someone on Facebook !! He's a bit too far away for me to help so told him to get in touch with his local association.

A bit worrying .....

 

[REDWOOD]

Shocking but yet very true. So many beginners jump in at the deep end and usually sink and a lot lighter in the back pocket also.
They could have had a twelve week course and every sunday in our training apiary + membership for £50

 

[oliver90owner]

Yep, I agree. I wrote a comprehensive reply, only for my 'puter to freeze just before posting. Not going to rewrite, but no different to the way this forum is going. For some of them, if they were traditional farmers with livestock, they might be in court already.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, looking at the posts in some fora........Flow, comes to mind....too many folk jumping in without proper support and too many unscrupulous "eduction providers"

advised to put a Queen excluder under the brood box to stop them

Not just just beginners either. One of our association committee members is going on holiday for three weeks and is putting QXs under his colonies!!!!

 

[Motobiman]

The other side of the coin is that every book the beginner reads tells them something different and if they ask on here they get numerous conflicting answers and the solutions may or may not work.

At our teaching apiary we do all the traditional stuff and still one hive with a clipped queen has swarmed. . . . . . .

 

[Erichalfbee]

Decent mentorship is the answer

 

[Motobiman]

Decent mentorship is the answer

Possibly but who vets the mentors?

 

[domino]

Not just just beginners either. One of our association committee members is going on holiday for three weeks and is putting QXs under his colonies!!!!

Why don't they learn to clip the queen?

Since I got up the nerve to do this is has made my beekeeping far more relaxing.

 

[mbc]

Yes, looking at the posts in some fora........Flow, comes to mind....too many folk jumping in without proper support and too many unscrupulous "eduction providers"



Not just just beginners either. One of our association committee members is going on holiday for three weeks and is putting QXs under his colonies!!!!

Utter cruelty to drones imho

 

[Motobiman]

Why don't they learn to clip the queen?

Since I got up the nerve to do this is has made my beekeeping far more relaxing.

Apparently it isn't foolproof at stopping swarming though, if our teaching apiary is anything to go by and we couldn't find her anywhere near the hive.

 

[domino]

Apparently it isn't foolproof at stopping swarming though, if our teaching apiary is anything to go by and we couldn't find her anywhere near the hive.

It doesn't stop swarming but it does give you extra time to sort them out if you miss a queen cell.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Apparently it isn't foolproof at stopping swarming though

It is not supposed to stop swarming.

 

[mbc]

Apparently it isn't foolproof at stopping swarming though, if our teaching apiary is anything to go by and we couldn't find her anywhere near the hive.

Should be in a separate thread as has nowt to do with the op, but,,,,,

I believe a clipped queen isnt just a physical impairment to her flying off in a swarm, but a psychological change in her knowing it'll be a challenge to fly and therefore a reluctance to undergo swarming prep. It isnt foolproof, but just gives you a little longer to spot the swarming preparations and carry out your usual swarm control.

 

[madasafish]

As I may perhaps have mentioned, I refuse to sell bees/nucs to people who want to keep bees but cannot be bothered to learn anything about bees in advance. Particularly aspiring TBH holders many of whom appear to want to save the bee but will only kill it.

(The above is a polite way of saying what I think.)

I am currently assisting a lady who managed to lose three colonies over three years - no training. She's going to succeed - I hope.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Possibly but who vets the mentors?

At our teaching apiary we do all the traditional stuff and still one hive with a clipped queen has swarmed. . . . . . .

A case in point - whoever goes around teaching that clipping a queen 'stops swarming' needs a slap.

 

[For want of a better word]

The other side of the coin is that every book the beginner reads tells them something different and if they ask on here they get numerous conflicting answers and the solutions may or may not work.

At our teaching apiary we do all the traditional stuff and still one hive with a clipped queen has swarmed. . . . . . .

Traditionally bees do nothing invariably!

"Clipping the queens just makes them easier to catch when they fly off when the hive is being inspected"

The Great book of Beekeepering Myths

Yeghes da

 

[Motobiman]

A case in point - whoever goes around teaching that clipping a queen 'stops swarming' needs a slap.

But it tends to stop the Q leaving with the prime swarm.

This thread is already beginning to prove the point about where beginners are supposed to go for reliable information.

Dave Cushmans website suggests clipping is an aid to swarm control.

Poses the question, do pedantic people become beekeepers or is it beekeeping that makes people pedantic?

 

[domino]

But it tends to stop the Q leaving with the prime swarm.

This thread is already beginning to prove the point about where beginners are supposed to go for reliable information.

Dave Cushmans website suggests clipping is an aid to swarm control.

Poses the question, do pedantic people become beekeepers or is it beekeeping that makes people pedantic?

I've never heard differing opinions from beekeepers I've met in person about what clipping does other than giving to the chance to retain the bees if they swarm by essentially sacrificing the queen.

I started by attending a association course, it taught me how to do the basics. That said there are things that I've learned which sound basic but needed me to fail to really drill home. Such as:

• 
  shaking the bees off the frame
  going back after I do an artificial swarm and knocking down emergency queen cells
  clipping queens
  keeping records
  etc

Most of these learnings have come from me either trying to work out what went wrong, asking on forums or beekeeping friends of mine giving me tips.

Most of the people I've spoken to how have horror stories with bees tend to not look for that post course support until they up to their necks it in it. They also aren't helped by some of the nonsense that 'experienced' bee-keepers tell them.

 

[Poly Hive]

The bottom line is and interesting to see my tag line being quoted, that bees do nothing invariably which in turn means the several answers to a question may indeed all be right, from that persons experience.

There are some truths which stand up and others which now look wobbly. The three mile rule is a case in point. (wobbly)

I have been mocked in the past on here for saying get a good book and do some learning. I repeat it though. Get a good book Hooper is an instance, and do some serious reading and memorizing. If you can't read the colony what chance do both they and you have? SFA in my experience.

Learning wood turning from youtube may well work as there are absolutes involved not that I k now anything about it having done it once and found dealing with a rough block a bit scary.

There is probably a bigger mine field for the beginners now that at any time due to the sheer volume of utter rubbish sloshing around the web.

Buyer beware indeed.

PH

 

[chrisb]

A case in point - whoever goes around teaching that clipping a queen 'stops swarming' needs a slap.