Newbie here

[Mogwyth]

Name is Bill, been trying to get into bee-keeping for several years but circumstances kept getting in the way, but finally taken the plunge.

I have brought one S/H national of a local guy who only uses Warres now, and ordered a nuc of of him. Also been given all my mother in laws stuff which consists of a WBC, an old style national, an extractor and few other bits and pieces, not seen bees or honey for over 30 years though.

The WBC outer is restorable but the inner boxes are riddled with wood worm, so are destined for the bonfire, surprisingly most of the frames are serviceable apart from the rusty spacers. The old national is sound but missing a floor and again after a clean-up most of the frames are sound.

Being bit of a woodworker with a fairly well equipped workshop, I will be knocking out some nuc boxes and another national or two over the next few weeks.

The Mrs brought me a bee suit, hive tools etc for Christmas, so all in all I am pretty well set up equipment wise, just need to glean some knowledge, from here and the local association now.

Cheers

Bill

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Name is Bill, been trying to get into bee-keeping for several years but circumstances kept getting in the way, but finally taken the plunge.

I have brought one S/H national of a local guy who only uses Warres now, and ordered a nuc of of him. Also been given all my mother in laws stuff which consists of a WBC, an old style national, an extractor and few other bits and pieces, not seen bees or honey for over 30 years though.

The WBC outer is restorable but the inner boxes are riddled with wood worm, so are destined for the bonfire, surprisingly most of the frames are serviceable apart from the rusty spacers. The old national is sound but missing a floor and again after a clean-up most of the frames are sound.

Being bit of a woodworker with a fairly well equipped workshop, I will be knocking out some nuc boxes and another national or two over the next few weeks.

The Mrs brought me a bee suit, hive tools etc for Christmas, so all in all I am pretty well set up equipment wise, just need to glean some knowledge, from here and the local association now.

Cheers

Bill

Welcome Bill. If you make up replacements etc. do take care to do so accurately as "bee space" is important. Maybe a Google search for Dave Cushmans site would be a good idea and buy a copy of Bees and Honey by Ted Hooper as a decent reference to work with.
Enjoy!

 

[Mogwyth]

Will do, been doing plenty of research on that matter and already found the Cushman site, thanks.

Got Keeping Bees by Gregory & Waring and Cramp's Practical Guide to Beekeeping and a few older tracts from mum in law but I'll bear that one in mind, perhaps see if the local association has it in the library.

Bill

 

[enrico]

Welcome, I get a feeling we will be hearing more from you ����

 

[pargyle]

Will do, been doing plenty of research on that matter and already found the Cushman site, thanks.

Got Keeping Bees by Gregory & Waring and Cramp's Practical Guide to Beekeeping and a few older tracts from mum in law but I'll bear that one in mind, perhaps see if the local association has it in the library.

Bill

Welcome Bill ... Always lots of advice on here ... good and bad ... the trick is sorting out what YOU want to do. There are several 'sticky' threads worth reading and there's a couple of good ones on 'books to read'. If I was recommending one 'quick start' book it would be the Haynes Manual of Beekeeping which will get you up to speed and help you systematically through the first year. Good luck, at least you have some equipment to get you started which is a great help ...

 

[Arfermo]

Hi and welcome. You may find that the extractor you have inherited is not stainless steel and should therefore be replaced so as to avoid contaminating the honey - especially if you sell any?

 

[Mogwyth]

Welcome, I get a feeling we will be hearing more from you ����

Thanks, more than likely.

Welcome Bill ... Always lots of advice on here ... good and bad ... the trick is sorting out what YOU want to do. There are several 'sticky' threads worth reading and there's a couple of good ones on 'books to read'. If I was recommending one 'quick start' book it would be the Haynes Manual of Beekeeping which will get you up to speed and help you systematically through the first year. Good luck, at least you have some equipment to get you started which is a great help ...

Thanks.

Hi and welcome. You may find that the extractor you have inherited is not stainless steel and should therefore be replaced so as to avoid contaminating the honey - especially if you sell any?

Cheers. You may well be right unfortunately, but the local association has one that can be rented for a fiver a day.

 

[BeeJayBee]

The WBC outer is restorable but the inner boxes are riddled with wood worm, so are destined for the bonfire, surprisingly most of the frames are serviceable apart from the rusty spacers. The old national is sound but missing a floor and again after a clean-up most of the frames are sound.

Being bit of a woodworker with a fairly well equipped workshop, I will be knocking out some nuc boxes and another national or two over the next few weeks.

Maybe you could use the woodworm-riddled inner boxes as a template for new ones?