Is this a sign of things to come ...

[Hivemaker.]

putting an exluder under the brood box is ridiculous

Or above, with the entrance closed, as in the design feature of some of the Paradise honey beehives.

 

[BeeJayBee]

.... 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 .....

And whoever ran the course will have walked away with the money, and left the volunteers in the local association to pick up the pieces.

I think that there should be proper regulation of beekeeping courses as well as some of the fly-by-night sellers of bees. But who's to make the rules, and who would enforce them?

No trainer or training organisation should be able to walk away from their trainees after the end of a course. There's already they FERA Guidance for Buying Nucs, but some sellers know they can get away with selling rubbish to new beekeepers because there's nobody to enforce the guidelines.

I judge them by how good their bees are. I was shocked when I saw the bees of one 'expert' I know when I saw their bees how poorly kept and weak they where.

Most beekeeping associations, no matter how big they are, end up being run by very few enthusiastic volunteers and, because they're helping new beekeepers, some of the 'experts' have very little time to look after their own bees as well as they would like to.

I attended a crap beekeeping course looking back now ...

So did I, it was truly awful and the couple of hours of practical stuff was done by somebody who shouldn't have been near trainees. I learned more from asking people for help, picking their brains, looking at their bees and attending other courses ... and the internet.

They train 60 beekeepers a year but the fall out rate is very high

I think the normal dropout rate in the first year is about 60%, but it isn't all down to bad teaching. Some people do a course because they want to learn about bees, some think they'll keep bees and then get a reality check, some are determined to keep bees but never get round to it.

 

[sugarbush]

I was mentored years ago, but as I gained experience I came to realize how lousy my mentorship was. (my first swarm my mentor had me out attempting to drum it back into the hive)

There really isn't a good answer to these issues. Experienced beekeepers are often too busy to run courses or offer mentorships.

Most of the courses I have seen offered are being run by greenhorns or beeks so old that senile has set in and they drift off topic and forget what they were talking about.

There are not many options other than taking the plunge and sinking or swimming.

Those who sink end up being a great source of cheap, lightly used equipment.

 

[oliver90owner]

One protagonist - the one that said ''And do I get the last word . . . . . .'' is the one who could not find the addy on a website, even after being pointed in that direction? One might wonder how these people survive in the real world, let alone the world of beekeeping! Books are likely 'soooooo yesterday' as well, for this person?

 

[Motobiman]

One protagonist - the one that said ''And do I get the last word . . . . . .'' is the one who could not find the addy on a website, even after being pointed in that direction? One might wonder how these people survive in the real world, let alone the world of beekeeping! Books are likely 'soooooo yesterday' as well, for this person?

I didn't say I couldnt find the postal address, it was a phone number I was looking for and couldnt and still can't find, on the website.

 

[bontbee]

unfortunately, it doesn't matter how well a course is run. I have noticed that there is always a minority of participants who, having attended a course, know know exactly what they are doing and confidently go off....to kill some bees. I'm afraid to say, it's almost always men, sorry

I do agree that there are a lot of charlatans out there running courses and/or selling bees, but isn't that always the way, whether you're talking beekeepers, or not?

 

[kazmcc]

My mentor's method of swarm control was to knock out every QC. It was just lucky I was so carp that I missed one when my queen was taken and they reared one themselves. I like!e to say that was my first go at queen rearing, but they did it despite me

 

[Fatbee]

i think the problem is that everything is so instant now in society and people expect to find the correct answer immediately rather than think through the range of possible interventions that could be undertaken. I look back now and cringe at some of the things I did in my first year beekeeping because I took what was written down as gospel but now try and think through why the bees are doing particular things.

 

[B+.]

Or above, with the entrance closed, as in the design feature of some of the Paradise honey beehives.

Thats the "queen trap" system. From what Juhani told me, its quite popular in Finland.

I have Paradise honey hives but haven't used the queen trap system. The only benefit I can think of is that it might reduce the fresh nectar being dumped in the brood area, but, I leave it to someone who has tried it to answer that question

 

[Motobiman]

#69

Apparently they suggest, it's a complete solution to swarm control.

 

[B+.]

#69

Apparently they suggest, it's a complete solution to swarm control.

Think it through. It is just like clipping a wing in that the bees can't fly off with the queen.
If they rear a replacement, she can't get out to mate. Neither can drones.

Juhani Waara (the company owner) suggested that it was more like a safeguard incase you had to leave the bees to their own devices for a while. The problem is, what will you find when you do come to open the brood box?

 

[Motobiman]

Think it through. It is just like clipping a wing in that the bees can't fly off with the queen.
If they rear a replacement, she can't get out to mate. Neither can drones.

Juhani Waara (the company owner) suggested that it was more like a safeguard incase you had to leave the bees to their own devices for a while. The problem is, what will you find when you do come to open the brood box?

Oh absolutely but as I said if you read the section on this queen trap system it suggests it is a complete solution.

I am just the messenger and confused as to why a company, obviously highly experienced in honey production and therefore presumably bee handling, would suggest they have come up with a complete solution, if it doesn't work.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I am just the messenger and confused as to why a company, obviously highly experienced in honey production and therefore presumably bee handling, would suggest they have come up with a complete solution, if it doesn't work.

So the usual mugs line up to spend their money on it

 

[B+.]

Oh absolutely but as I said if you read the section on this queen trap system it suggests it is a complete solution.

I am just the messenger and confused as to why a company, obviously highly experienced in honey production and therefore presumably bee handling, would suggest they have come up with a complete solution, if it doesn't work.

As Finman has pointed out many times, their season is very short but intense. Perhaps it works under those conditions

 

[Motobiman]

Hmm OK.

As it is apparently just a QX between two BBs with an extra entrance above I guess it's more of a system of management than anything, and it could be done, if done wanted to, with a drill and a cork in a spare national or whatever BB.

 

[oliver90owner]

I didn't say I couldnt find the postal address, it was a phone number I was looking for and couldnt and still can't find, on the website.

Let's get this straight. No bullsh*t. The truth.

You posted ''Anyone got a way of contacting them?

Fairly plain, clear and unambiguous. It most definitely did not say ''does anyone have a phone number''. Looking on the website would have yielded a name and address. Using a search of some description with that name and addy could (and would) have got yet another way of contacting him. How many ways are there? Perhaps you should have tried Skype as well? Not my fault my suggestion of BT phone lists failed. You could even have tried yell.com for the addy you did not find in that area. And, no, I am not going to check it out for you.

 

[Motobiman]

You never give up do you.

Shall I do the walk of shame per Game of Thrones or will a second apology suffice?

Lets hope we never meet.

 

[domino]

Shall I do the walk of shame per Game of Thrones [..]

Are you going to need a body double?

I'm not volunteering btw

 

[Motobiman]

Are you going to need a body double?

I'm not volunteering btw

More likely a wheelbarrow.

 

[domino]

More likely a wheelbarrow.