New Members

[Akba]

Yes of course.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes of course.

You cannot advertise your business here. This is not a sales site
The forum owners are setting up a sponsor section where you can. Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “advertise on the beekeeping forum” link
Thank you

 

[Patrick1]

Sounds like yet another American beekeeper running up vast colony losses due to mismanagement and negligence ...... only this one claims to be a scientist .....

So sorry to agree on this, but something ( everything ) is bonkers about this method of beekeeping, to be perfectly honest and brutal if you want to save bees please pick another area of interest for your scientific skills . I hope new beekeepers don’t take up these ideas. I

If this post gets deleted I will not complain, this is not really the flavour of this forum but I cannot read this and not comment !

 

[Erichalfbee]

So sorry to agree on this, but something ( everything ) is bonkers about this method of beekeeping, to be perfectly honest and brutal if you want to save bees please pick another area of interest for your scientific skills . I hope new beekeepers don’t take up these ideas. I

If this post gets deleted I will not complain, this is not really the flavour of this forum but I cannot read this and not comment !

Earthboy has left the forum

 

[Patrick1]

Earthboy has left the forum

I hope I didn’t offend, although it looks like a may have done, everyone is entitled to an opinion

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I hope I didn’t offend,

I doubt it, he just had some bonkers ideas from the outset and was obvious to many that he was just here to cause mischief

 

[CLB]

Hi, I'd like to introduce myself. My husband and I bought our first nuc of Carniolan strain bees at the end of April this year. Whilst we had learned as much theory as we possibly could from courses, lectures and books beforehand, we soon found out how little we knew. There had been so little chance for practical experience due to covid restrictions. Our girls have been extremely feisty so far; they are lovely calm bees, but our nuc has become three colonies (one of which now has a small, very dark queen, in complete contrast to our original) and we are currently tasting our first frame of honey. Despite the intensity of the ups and downs, I think it would be true to say we're hooked on bee keeping.

Our original intention was to keep our 'single colony' of bees at the bottom of our 100ft garden. If they continue to expand like this next year we'll have to find additional space as our garden is really tight. The small, currently queenless colony has the rather salubrious outlook of the compost heaps.

I'd also like to say how we appreciate the experience and advice other members have posted on this forum. Answers to real questions mean so much more than vast chapters in books - thank you.
Carol

 

[Erichalfbee]

Welcome Carol. Don’t be afraid to ask any questions in the beginners section. As you’ve found Carnies need a lot of space to manage swarming. Fun this beekeeping lark eh?

 

[CLB]

Fun . . . Not sure how much fun holding onto the steps with my husband balanced 18 feet up with a long arm pruner, trying to cut off the boughs of a neighbour’s tree where our swarm had gone for the second time - all in 30 degrees heat?!!! They'd had a trial run the week before, but realising their queen was still on our path, had all roared back home. Looking back we can see the funny side, but we feel it was something of a baptism of fire, a white knuckle ride and dare I say it after such a testing time - yes it was FUN!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fun . . . Not sure how much fun holding onto the steps with my husband balanced 18 feet up with a long arm pruner, trying to cut off the boughs of a neighbour’s tree where our swarm had gone for the second time - all in 30 degrees heat?!!! They'd had a trial run the week before, but realising their queen was still on our path, had all roared back home. Looking back we can see the funny side, but we feel it was something of a baptism of fire, a white knuckle ride and dare I say it after evsuch a testing time - yes it was FUN!

You need a pillowcase on a long handle

 

[CLB]

Thank you, we'll try it. Hoping we'll be better prepared next year. Obviously the best plan would be to try to understand the bees better to prevent swarming, although from what I understand it would have been a miracle to have prevented swarming around here this year. We also read other posts on this forum about a Russian Scion, which my husband knocked up for us (far right). We loved the design that would drop straight into a national brood box, so thats what he did!

 

[Erichalfbee]

How often were you inspecting ?

 

[CLB]

Mostly every 7 days, but quite often more frequently if we wanted to take a closer look at something after reading up about it. When we thought we had a issue, we also had some discussions with a mentor. However I don't think our inspections were thorough enough or we made the wrong decisions. Not saying we know a lot now, but between us we feel much more confident in what we're doing.

Returning to the colony, we split it into two, but with hindsight it sounds like our 1 year old queen was failing and the bees were rejecting her. In the end we had her in a nuc with an entourage, but they got rid of her fairly shortly after. We subsequently united the nuc with swarm, but they are currently queen less. Last week we added two frames (one from each of the other colonies) in the hope they will make Queen cells. The other two colonies seem to be very strong and settled, producing very different coloured brood and storing honey.

I do have a question about hive 3 (queenless nuc plus swarm). We intend to go in there tonight to see if there are queen cells. If there are and there are multiples, should we select a suitable cell, or should we leave it to the bees and nature to decide? If there are none, the plan is to take another frame from the strongest colony and try again.

 

[Boston Bees]

If there are none, the plan is to take another frame from the strongest colony and try again.

If there are none the nuc probably isn't queenless.

 

[CLB]

Thank you, will report back tomorrow.

 

[Beescenter]

I’m Val from Colchester Essex I have WBC..
It is my second year and I just took my BBKA Basic Assessment.
Thank in anticipation for all the advices

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’m Val from Colchester Essex I have WBC..
It is my second year and I just took my BBKA Basic Assessment.
Thank in anticipation for all the advices

Ask away in the beginners section.
I have a queen called Val

 

[BaconWizard]

Hello everyone.

My name is Jasper or Jay (either is fine with me) or just Bacon Wizard lol. Based in Shropshire.
I am not a beekeeper

I am here because I intend to absorb as much information as possible and comparing and contrasting different people's experiences before I get my first hive or two, hoping to expand to a large handful of hives after that.
I expect it to be a year or two before I take the plunge; after the plague I have been forced to change career and am going back into education for a while. I will want more stability before I commit to this fully.

Although I would of course like some nice honey or other products, I have a strong interest in doing good by the bees. And to this end, (although subject to change because I am a noob and my opinions are unqualified) I think I'll be going with Warre hives to begin-with, or a variation thereof.

I ALSO am interested in comb-honey and pollen as small harvests, which both seem not to fit-well into the Warre system, so either I have to eventually resolve this into a methodology that will work for both me and the bees, or I will adjust my plans. No rush to get there. I have embryonic ideas, but they are probably ill-informed at this stage.

Finally, I have absolutely NO doubt that I will be asking questions and putting theoretical situations to members here.
Please have patience. I am aware that new people in just about any realm of inquiry, ask stupid questions.
I am also aware that most of them could have shown some initiative and simply looked it up for themselves! Google and youtube are easy and useful.

I cannot promise my questions will not be stupid ones. But If I ask a question, please trust that I HAVE looked it up and either couldn't find it, didn't understand it, or am looking for more interaction on the subject than a generic article in a random blog can supply.
Also, I may sometimes suspect things of being opinion rather than fact, or received-wisdom rather than empirical data and be testing to see if there are other viewpoints that are equally valid or more-so, as I have a scientific mind (but an empathetic heart!)

See you around!

J

 

[pargyle]

Hello everyone.

My name is Jasper or Jay (either is fine with me) or just Bacon Wizard lol. Based in Shropshire.
I am not a beekeeper

I am here because I intend to absorb as much information as possible and comparing and contrasting different people's experiences before I get my first hive or two, hoping to expand to a large handful of hives after that.
I expect it to be a year or two before I take the plunge; after the plague I have been forced to change career and am going back into education for a while. I will want more stability before I commit to this fully.

Although I would of course like some nice honey or other products, I have a strong interest in doing good by the bees. And to this end, (although subject to change because I am a noob and my opinions are unqualified) I think I'll be going with Warre hives to begin-with, or a variation thereof.

I ALSO am interested in comb-honey and pollen as small harvests, which both seem not to fit-well into the Warre system, so either I have to eventually resolve this into a methodology that will work for both me and the bees, or I will adjust my plans. No rush to get there. I have embryonic ideas, but they are probably ill-informed at this stage.

Finally, I have absolutely NO doubt that I will be asking questions and putting theoretical situations to members here.
Please have patience. I am aware that new people in just about any realm of inquiry, ask stupid questions.
I am also aware that most of them could have shown some initiative and simply looked it up for themselves! Google and youtube are easy and useful.

I cannot promise my questions will not be stupid ones. But If I ask a question, please trust that I HAVE looked it up and either couldn't find it, didn't understand it, or am looking for more interaction on the subject than a generic article in a random blog can supply.
Also, I may sometimes suspect things of being opinion rather than fact, or received-wisdom rather than empirical data and be testing to see if there are other viewpoints that are equally valid or more-so, as I have a scientific mind (but an empathetic heart!)

See you around!

J

Welcome J ... you will get good (if varied) answers to your questions on here ... Google and youtube are easy and useful but mostly misleading .. beekeeping can be highly dependent upon where you keep your bees - adding your location to your profile will get you responses more attuned to the area where you live.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Any question at all.
Post it in the beginners section