New renegade beekeeper Stirlingshire

[pargyle]

He's had 10,005 comments and has answered or personally "liked" a massive number of them. Give the bloke his due; his nationality or place of residence is not pertinent to this discussion unless we;re talking about the climatic conditions that prevail there.

But ...out of the first 50 comments (I could not be bothered to go further) I could only find one comment from an existing beekeeper - and that was pretty negative. All the rest were from either people who did not keep bees but were fascinated by the video or (more worryingly) people who were hoping to keep bees and were treating bees in a bottle as a way to start in the craft.

It's hard enough when you first start keeping bees wjthout making it more difficult by trying something that at best is highly experimental and at worst - a beekeeping disaster looking for somewhere to happen.

 

[Hairy]

No, what I posted is probably not correct. I need to watch the vid again

 

[Sutty]

If people haven't I'd suggest watching the skep beekeeping video. Although I'm not about to do it it was interesting and corrected some of my understanding of skep beekeeping. For example I understood the colonies were killed at the end of the season, using swarms to repopulate the apiary, however it shows the whole colony being shook/bounced into a new skep, thereby keeping the colony and still allowing a honey and wax harvest.
You'd need to be a very muscular indvidual to do this with a colony of similar size to a large moveablehframe hive. Maybe having to make all the comb from scratch every year keeps them smaller.

 

[Boston Bees]

For example I understood the colonies were killed at the end of the season, using swarms to repopulate the apiary, however it shows the whole colony being shook/bounced into a new skep, thereby keeping the colony and still allowing a honey and wax harvest.
You'd need to be a very muscular individual to do this with a colony of similar size to a large moveable frame hive.

Wouldn't you just move the frames over?

PS: All the brood in the cells is killed with sulphur, which seems fairly unpleasant and wasteful to me, even though the flying bees are indeed not killed.

 

[rolande]

corrected some of my understanding of skep beekeeping. For example I understood the colonies were killed at the end of the season,

Well, it certainly showed one way to do things, in an operation which had survived (and, I imagine, adapted) into the 1970s. However you were quite correct in your understanding of traditional skep beekeeping and there are many contemporary reports which confirm it. In fact, Manley mentions the killing of bees still going on in country districts when he was a young man.

 

[bingevader]

started with To Bar hives.
Gave up and moved to Langstroth as TBHs are very difficult to manage. But if all you want to do is have bees in your garden,they are fine. Just don't think about moving them more than 30 meters.

Just for clarity, what TBHs were you using?
Warre hives aren't difficult to manage or move.

 

[Sutty]

Wouldn't you just move the frames over?

PS: All the brood in the cells is killed with sulphur, which seems fairly unpleasant and wasteful to me, even though the flying bees are indeed not killed.

Agreed, just less wasteful than I thought. I'm unclear why the brood is actively killed as it would die anyway - maybe to stop any bees emerging.

 

[Lislarybees]

If anyone wants to see skeps in use more recently than the 70‘s I would really recommend this movie
That’s just the trailer. You have to pay to watch the whole thing. It’s haunting and very sad but a must watch especially if you are a beekeeper

 

[Erichalfbee]

Can we please stop the ad hominem attacks and stick to the thread.

 

[Wilco]

Can we please stop the add hominem attacks and stick to the thread.

Add hominem- Shouldn't that be under Curly's thread about his newest addition?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Add hominem- Shouldn't that be under Curly's thread about his newest addition?

Oops. Very good and very quick Corrected

 

[emmac79]

Beekeepers have seen an influx in recent years (both here and in there associations) of new beekeepers who think honeybees are in danger and want to give them a home, not treat them with horrible chemicals and not steal their precious honey, there's an handful of these in every beginners course we run.

Part of the reaction you are getting is down to this and having had these conversations numerous times already. The worst case outcome is they end up bringing a unmanaged disease spreading colony to your area.
You are not to the first to come with these ideas and won't be the last

Yes, there is a movement. I certainly won't be the last.

Part of the reaction I got probably is down to people being peeved off with that movement and these newbie do-gooders coming in without a clue Happy to claim that title. But another part of the reaction I got is a collective of seemingly angry and bullying individuals who seem to despise any other approach that doesn't fit their idea of what's the right way to do it. I now understand that a lot better. Grateful for the quick introduction to that side of it

If the goal of people here is to educate people off of that movement then they might want to rethink their approach. I don't see it going anywhere

 

[emmac79]

But ...out of the first 50 comments (I could not be bothered to go further) I could only find one comment from an existing beekeeper - and that was pretty negative. All the rest were from either people who did not keep bees but were fascinated by the video or (more worryingly) people who were hoping to keep bees and were treating bees in a bottle as a way to start in the craft.

It's hard enough when you first start keeping bees wjthout making it more difficult by trying something that at best is highly experimental and at worst - a beekeeping disaster looking for somewhere to happen.

One of his latest comments from 4 days ago (I looked for you):

"I am currently working on several other bottle hive designs and planning to publish a more detailed video on bottle keeping, I need some time to finish some of the ongoing experiments. Stay tuned…"

Can't wait. Won't it be incredible to see and hear more about this? I can tell you're as excited as I am



Edit: Also, think about just how many people have been inspired to bee keep from this video. This guy has done oodles for the bee keeping shops and sellers. Let's face it, the majority watching are NOT going to make a bottle hive so they'll probably try out the 'conventional' approach. He's a great advertisement for bee keeping the "normal" way too. If I was a bee keeping shop I'd be chuffed at this promo *tongue in cheek*

 

[madasafish]

Just for clarity, what TBHs were you using?
Warre hives aren't difficult to manage or move.

4 foot and 6 foot wide. 4 are too small.- lots of swarms
Chandler plans
with feet and a hinged rood they are heavy and unwieldy. Need two people to move them

 

[Swn58]

Time may not be linear like at first thought, but circular, or even spherical. Likewise, nor is human thought. Ideas get developed.....used.....ditched.....thought up again etc.. Many things have been before and then forgotten when a 'better' idea has hoved into view.
Beekeeping is no exception to this. Early ideas, for bee domestication, used base natural products such as straw, clay and wood. They also did not care for the fate of their colonies. As we became more sophisticated we made things more comfortable and convenient for both us and the bees, hence breeding domesticated stock and developing hives.
The problem is the natural 'dogma' that humans often carry, along with a failure to look forward, back and even sideways at a subject such as beekeeping. I see it online a lot. The fuss that is made when anyone comes up with a new method, or design, can be off the scale. 'Traditionalists' find themselves stuck in their own time, as in: "I've used Smith* hives for fifty years. Warre's** should be outlawed!
Likewise, more modernist opinion fails to re-visit past developments, maybe even now debunked. I always think that is a mistake, as a modern twist to an older method sometimes comes up trumps?
Regarding what has been said on this thread. I believe that it is dangerous for people who may not have the required knowledge and at least a modicum of experience, to play with what could be classed as 'dangerous animals.' Bees are not that predictable after all and it pays to actually work with them, in a stable environment, first. If I had a non-experienced neighbour, 'experimenting' with bees in a bottle or skep I may be a bit worried on several levels.

* ** add or subtract whatever design you want!

 

[Somerford]

Yeah, I guess if you know you're going to be vilified for posting something you'll think twice

just wait and see...if only you'd read my contribution to a thread a couple of weeks ago and the vitriol from people who could and should know better....

sometimes it's best not to over share on here and just read up, and get on with what you want to quietly so the apple cart of general opinion won't get upturned and everyone's happy in their ignorance. Forums are not democracies and if you look back over the years on here you'll see that for yourself.

Best of luck with your plans...and swarm catching !

S

 

[Frizzaldo]

Yes, there is a movement. I certainly won't be the last.

Part of the reaction I got probably is down to people being peeved off with that movement and these newbie do-gooders coming in without a clue Happy to claim that title. But another part of the reaction I got is a collective of seemingly angry and bullying individuals who seem to despise any other approach that doesn't fit their idea of what's the right way to do it. I now understand that a lot better. Grateful for the quick introduction to that side of it

If the goal of people here is to educate people off of that movement then they might want to rethink their approach. I don't see it going anywhere

i wouldn't call it a movement, any bit of research would show honeybees are not in danger, something you failed to grasp before your initial edited post.

most of these people end up losing their bees which is both a shame and negligence

 

[thorn]

Emmac79, I suspect you'll already have looked at the rose hive on YouTube. If you haven't, do so. You might find Tim Rowe's method of beekeeping suits you.
And yes, you'll find plenty of attacks on that in this forum.

 

[emmac79]

i wouldn't call it a movement, any bit of research would show honeybees are not in danger, something you failed to grasp before your initial edited post.

most of these people end up losing their bees which is both a shame and negligence

Oh, there certainly is a movement. You may not like it but it's there and it's growing. Whether it lasts, I don't know. LOL "something you failed to grasp" ok dude.

Emmac79, I suspect you'll already have looked at the rose hive on YouTube. If you haven't, do so. You might find Tim Rowe's method of beekeeping suits you.
And yes, you'll find plenty of attacks on that in this forum.

I haven't come across that. I'll go look it up right now. THANK YOU!

 

[emmac79]

Emmac79, I suspect you'll already have looked at the rose hive on YouTube. If you haven't, do so. You might find Tim Rowe's method of beekeeping suits you.
And yes, you'll find plenty of attacks on that in this forum.

Just read this. I like his style. Thanks for sharing. Rose hive looks interesting.

https://www.highlandtitles.com/blog/beekeeping-interview-tim-rowe/