New renegade beekeeper Stirlingshire

[pargyle]

Where are you buying your mead??? It's certainly not cheap!

Never bought it ... made some with some honey that had started fermenting (crush and strained frames from my Long Deep Hive) very early in my beekeeping ... it was ghastly and no matter how long I kept it sadly did not improve with age - went down the drain and did a good job !

We have an association member who makes a lot of mead ... she's perfected her technique and reckons a year is a minimum for it to mature. I've tasted her mead and it's drinkable but I can't say I'd go out an d buy it .... a nice bottle of Croft Original at about the same price and I'd be there.

 

[emmac79]

Never bought it ... made some with some honey that had started fermenting (crush and strained frames from my Long Deep Hive) very early in my beekeeping ... it was ghastly and no matter how long I kept it sadly did not improve with age - went down the drain and did a good job !

Might have a stab at making my own following this

https://gallowaywildfoods.com/how-to-make-mead-easily-using-wild-plants/

 

[Bazzer]

Might have a stab at making my own following this

https://gallowaywildfoods.com/how-to-make-mead-easily-using-wild-plants/

Unless you migrate to the heather you are only likely to get a decent honey crop around here one year in four so mead may not be the way to go..

 

[pargyle]

Might have a stab at making my own following this

https://gallowaywildfoods.com/how-to-make-mead-easily-using-wild-plants/

Good luck ... I started out much more wayward than you but the euphloria of being different seems to pale eventually when you realise there are easier methods (and sometimes the old ways are the best !). You become a beekeeper - perhaps not a PROPER beekeeper but a beekeeper.

I still hold true to my overiding principles:

1. Nothing goes into the hive unless the bees bring it in.
2. The bees, as far as is practicable, are allowed to do what they want to do - I just work with them.

I find these two fundamentals gulde me in everything I do in my beekeeping - they crystallize my thinking and anything that makes these harder is rapidly discounted.

There are distractions like doing things with the wax they produce and a variety of things you can do with honey ... mead, confectionery, toiletries, cake etc. but they all rely on keeping your bees. Keeping them does not mean you have to make them work harder than they would normally ... fit, well kept, healthy bees will always provide you with products of the hive that are surplus and you can enjoy the opportunities that are available as a result.

 

[emmac79]

Unless you migrate to the heather you are only likely to get a decent honey crop around here one year in four so mead may not be the way to go..

I'd much rather buy it than make it

Good luck ... I started out much more wayward than you but the euphloria of being different seems to pale eventually when you realise there are easier methods (and sometimes the old ways are the best !). You become a beekeeper - perhaps not a PROPER beekeeper but a beekeeper.

I still hold true to my overiding principles:

1. Nothing goes into the hive unless the bees bring it in.
2. The bees, as far as is practicable, are allowed to do what they want to do - I just work with them.

I find these two fundamentals gulde me in everything I do in my beekeeping - they crystallize my thinking and anything that makes these harder is rapidly discounted.

There are distractions like doing things with the wax they produce and a variety of things you can do with honey ... mead, confectionery, toiletries, cake etc. but they all rely on keeping your bees. Keeping them does not mean you have to make them work harder than they would normally ... fit, well kept, healthy bees will always provide you with products of the hive that are surplus and you can enjoy the opportunities that are available as a result.

I like your principles.

I really am very, very unlikely to make anything out of anything. I'm not very good at those sorts of things...

 

[pargyle]

I'd much rather buy it than make it


I like your principles.

I really am very, very unlikely to make anything out of anything. I'm not very good at those sorts of things...

You may surprise yourself when you have a few pounds of beeswax sat in a bucket ... beeswax candles are a delight and once you have cleaned your wax (not difficult if you can use a funnel) are very easy to make with a very limited amount of equipment.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I love making candles and do sell a few though most are gifts. I did gave a go at making melomel once and that wasn’t too bad. The raspberry was quite good. I made some elderflower which was very overpowering. Elderflower champagne is however very moreish

 

[Nige.Coll]

As long as the bees are registered on beebase you can keep them in what you like and do with them as you like as far as I'm concerned.
Too many people are refusing to register bees and too many businesses jumping on the greenwashing bandwagon with new type leave alone hives and none register the bees on beebase.

 

[0bee-1]

Found the tin hat yet?

Massive overproduction and ruthless winnowing... Nice literary flair but not an accurate description of all of 'nature'. Some species take that approach, others do not- cattle, marine mammals, many other large ruminants and many besides. These invest significant amounts of energy/resources in small numbers of offspring and higher individual survival. The reproductive strategy varies. Blanlet generalisations are usually a bad idea.


yes K and R species nature finds a way...

 

[emmac79]

As long as the bees are registered on beebase you can keep them in what you like and do with them as you like as far as I'm concerned.
Too many people are refusing to register bees and too many businesses jumping on the greenwashing bandwagon with new type leave alone hives and none register the bees on beebase.

Out of curiosity, why do you think they refuse to register them?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Out of curiosity, why do you think they refuse to register them?

Big brother syndrome?

 

[Boston Bees]

Out of curiosity, why do you think they refuse to register them?

To be fair, I don't think there is good data on what type of beekeeper doesn't register on Beebase.

The main reasons for not registering, I suspect are:

a) not being aware of its existence
b) wanting to avoid the possibility of a bee inspector visiting to check your hives for disease
c) tin-hat paranoia about giving information to "the man"

In general, registering on Beebase is a form of acknowledgement that (a bit like with cows etc) the health of your bees can affect the health of other beekeepers' bees, and that the government should therefore be allowed to monitor the health of your bees as and when required, and be able to inform you of disease outbreaks in your vicinity. I believe this absolutely, but many people who get a hive don't think of bees like that at all - they think of them more like cats, or goldfish, or blue **** that live in a box you have put up.

 

[PhilosopherVet]

@emmac79 as a "new-bee" myself this has been an interesting thread (at least to show me some of the err buzz words that are certain to elicit a wide reaction). One day when I can get the space I will be excited to keep a few hives as I am interested in breeding and as a soon to be Vet, interested in how Vets can learn with bees and help improve bee health as an agricultural species (though I figure this may be a reactionary statement as well).

I will be interested to see how you get on. While I have an interest in skeps and can see certain circumstances they could be ideal. I plan to start a bit more on the beaten path and maybe one-day try my hand with the skep.

@Boston Bees As a Vet student I am baffled it isn't mandatory. But the Government and Vets have for so long not taken an interest it will certainly be a fight to try to get the space to look more like other agricultural ventures (dairy, beef, eggs...) But I think the good would outweigh the bad, though I am interested to hear what others think

 

[Erichalfbee]

@Boston Bees As a Vet student I am baffled it isn't mandatory. But the Government and Vets have for so long not taken an interest it will certainly be a fight to try to get the space to look more like other agricultural ventures (dairy, beef, eggs...) But I think the good would outweigh the bad, though I am interested to hear what others think

I don’t think we need more regulation micro or macro
There’s not enough money for the NBU to police it for a start and other police are better concentrating on proper rural crime rather than Beebase registration and using generic Oxalic acid.

 

[PhilosopherVet]

Would be interested to hear more about why? Larger animals are regulated so what about bees and bee-keeping makes regulation less needed?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

There's a big difference between philosophy and reality

 

[Erichalfbee]

Would be interested to hear more about why? Larger animals are regulated so what about bees and bee-keeping makes regulation less needed?

Why? Because a) we don’t eat bees and b) there isn’t the appetite for more regulation
It’s not as if you can keep a cow on a London hotel rooftop

 

[Erichalfbee]

Does anybody have ANY idea how many hobby keepers there are and the numerical strength of the inspectorate ?

 

[pargyle]

Would be interested to hear more about why? Larger animals are regulated so what about bees and bee-keeping makes regulation less needed?

Bees are wild creatures .... we may keep them in hives and apply good husbandry but at the end of the day they are not domesticated by any stretch of the imagination.

There are enshrined in law the two notifiable bee diseases EFB and AFB and there is a legal requirement to report instances of them. Beebase is something that all responsible beekeepers should subscribe to - it's free to register and you are not disclosing any real information to the public. But. even if you made it mandatory - how could you possibly police it ? Indeed, where is the benefit in making it mandatory ? You could bet that the Government would have already done it if they could see a buck out of it.

Personally, I'd like to see dogs and cats licenced before they turn their attention to bees ...

 

[pargyle]

Does anybody have ANY idea how many hobby keepers there are and the numerical strength of the inspectorate ?

Lots and a few .... and the few are already stretched beyond the point where they can do the job ... and there's no appetite for more people to do the job and not that many who could be considered sufficiently qualified . ...