New colony this year

[Honey badger]

Hi all.
So this year I have just gotten a bee plot at our allotment and am completely new to bee keeping. The guy next to me with a bee plot whom knows his stuff says that he will provide me with a new colony in and around March.
Does he mean that he will provide me with a nucleus box that will sit there on my plot for a year or for a month or so ready to put into my new hive ( once I buy one)?
As his hives are only 20 feet from mine is there some issue with such a short distance to look out for?

 

[Roger.Wilco]

Does he mean that he will provide me with a nucleus box that will sit there on my plot for a year or for a month or so ready to put into my new hive ( once I buy one)?

You will need to ask him what he means by "provide a new colony"... He may have a heart of gold and provide you with a cortex NUC box with frames and bees... or he might be thinking that he'll just provide frames and bees as he may expect you to already have a hive with frames at that time. What is the "guy next to you" charging? Real money or a beer at the local?

As his hives are only 20 feet from mine is there some issue with such a short distance to look out for?

If he is providing the NUC of bees from his allotment hive... then yes - all the forages will fly back to his hive; and you'll be left with none for a while as the nurse bees age into the foraging role. You either move bees 3 feet or 3 miles.

Is the allotment a local council run allotment? For all the allotments around my neck-of-the-woods in both my village and surrounding villages the allotment rules requires beekeeper(s) to have 2+ years of experience and membership of the BBKA. Maybe, it is different for your allotment?

I would be making local inquiries and signing yourself up to the local beekeeping associations beginner beekeeping course.