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[The Poot]

Way i was taught, to give a clean floor in Spring. Some hives are very clean with no dead bees over winter & if so, i leave as is. Others have dead bees on the floor, so I like to remove these and give a clean floor & sterilise the old one with blow torch if wood & washing soda , then bleach if polyhive. As i have WBCs sometimes all sorts of gunk accumulates over the course of a year between the outer lifts and the brood box, so giving a clean floor allows me to clean this up.

I’ve read on here, recommended as “best practice” to have spare floor(s) -
Change hive 1 with clean spare floor, clean removed floor, move to hive 2 repeat and so on to provide a clean(ed) floor for each hive.
Perhaps that isn’t “required“ but just a best practice recommendation.

Elaine, I feel the responses to your post have been a little insensitive.......

 

[pargyle]

Elaine, I feel the responses to your post have been a little insensitive.......

No...not at all ... her post was fine ... it's the rubbish being spouted by the 'expert' in the blog in the link that was the issue ... I'm sure she's a fine beekeeper.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

No...not at all ... her post was fine ... it's the rubbish being spouted by the 'expert' in the blog in the link that was the issue ... I'm sure she's a fine beekeeper.

 

[Erichalfbee]

 

[The Poot]

OK THEN. Just don’t let it happen again or there’ll be trouble!

 

[Pembroke]

A final note, during lockdown, you are still allowed to travel to collect bees, food and equipment as they are classed as livestock

Hallelujah!
AND... Georgie Porgie Eustice, our Toryboy MP and Lord of DEFRA said to me that BEEFARMERS are now classed as propper farmers!

I'm sure you've seen the NBU notice but here it is just in case; http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadNews.cfm?id=176

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

What an absolute load of tripe (I also made the mistake of venturing into part 2!!) another beekeeping by numbers self publicised expert spreading the usual disinformation to beginners.

I find this comment very interesting and would like to hear more.

I had a look at some of these posts from northumbrianbees a while ago and I seem to remember that they were pretty orthodox - by which I mean in line with NBU publications and BBKA syllabuses (or 'correct' exam answers). I know you can only speak for yourself, JBM, but do you find that you're often at odds with the publications of these bodies/authorities?

I'd be interested to hear too from anyone else who finds themselves at odds with these blog posts. Thus far I've read lots of books, listened to lectures (NHS paritcularly), and follow noticeable bloggers like Randy Oliver, Rusty Burlew, David Evans and Ron Miksha. I don't find much disparity among them, nor do they seem to be that far from the stuff I read from the BBKA or the NBU.

From what I've read here so far on the 'tripe' labelling, it seems that there's more feeling than content to the areas of disagreement. But I can see it's tedious and time-consuming to go through material just to find fault with it. But for some of us, it would be very illuminating.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I can't speak for anybody else but don't take issue with many opinions that differ from mine. Beekeeping is an art practiced by beekeepers all over the world in different ways and sooner or later each one of us finds away to suit our style and our bees.
I just find some of the advice proffered by the BBKA, particularly, so pointless and one in particular so damaging. It's the repeated regurgitation of some of it that irks and sets novices on a long and windy path before they come to their senses.
Some people are more vocal about their disagreement, that's all
Oh...... but beginners with nothing under their belts save something they have picked up on Facebook or heard somebody say advising other beginners drives me nuts!

 

[Apple]

Beekeeping Study Notes... JD & BD Yates BBNO 1999
For
BBKA Basic Certificate
SBKA Basic Beemaster Certificate
FIBKA Preliminary Certificate

A Great work of fiction !

Chons da

 

[ericbeaumont]

The biggest headache has been decision making, over everything

Way i was taught, to give a clean floor in Spring

Here lies the beginner's dilemma: how to recognise and separate tripe from gold.

The sooner Nick questions the rationale of advice given and deviates to make his own decisions (and his own mistakes, the best way to gain experience) the quicker confidence will emerge. I share JBM's frustration with plodding textbook instructions laid down by the BBKA (many of which are superfluous or out of date), and by well-meaning beekeepers passing on personal foibles as gospel essentials.

Awkwardly, there's no easy way to separate the wheat from the chaff, which leads me to suggest that Nick absorbs everything but decides nothing until a plan emerges that suits his pocket and his way of working. Are you methodical and practical, Nick, or instinctive and disorganised? Beekeeping will lead you to combine both, because organised instinct is beekeeping in a nutshell.

Floors? Some I haven't cleaned for years. Compare the floor of a hollow tree with that of a beehive: a tree isn't clean and certainly not sterile, but loaded with every form of living organism beneficial to colony health. By all means clean a floor if bees fail to do the job or disease justifies it, but scraping, scorching and sterilising annually? May benefit a houseproud beekeeper but does the opposite for bees, and working with bees is the aim.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I seem to remember that they were pretty orthodox - by which I mean in line with NBU publications and BBKA syllabuses (or 'correct' exam answers). I know you can only speak for yourself, JBM, but do you find that you're often at odds with the publications of these bodies/authorities?

I would argue the point that the BBKA is an authority on anything, I definitely wouldn't look at their 'syllabuses' as being authoritative - it is just an amateur club still mired in the 1890's.
As for the NBU, unfortunately the top has again been infiltrated by the BBKA certificate huggers (it's what happens when you let a person write his own job description when invited to apply for the job) so a deep breath needs to be taken when reading a lot of the edicts that come out.
But that's just my opinion.

 

[The Poot]

Back to the subject:

Get yourself a peaked cap to wear under your bee suit hood. It keeps the veil from getting close to your face (especially if you have a nose like mine) and prevents stings. Also protects the scalp as it provides a second layer of material.

Don't go for the tin foil hat option as it’s not popular on here.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Get yourself a peaked cap to wear under your bee suit hood. It keeps the veil from getting close to your face (especially if you have a nose like mine)

Better still, pay more for a bee suit where the veil doesn't concertina onto your face. In twelve years of wearing BBWear (expensive initially, but best value long-term) I've never had a veil close up or collapse. Cheap suits are stressful in use and in your pocket.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I just find some of the advice proffered by the BBKA, particularly, so pointless and one in particular so damaging.

I'll be guessing and speculating all day, what that one bit of advice is. Put me out my misery please

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Get yourself a peaked cap to wear under your bee suit hood. It keeps the veil from getting close to your face (especially if you have a nose like mine) and prevents stings.

I just landed on a YT video a few minutes ago which said that. Part of the 10%? Seriously, YT is like life and people - you get the whole range. Watching Paul Kelly (University of Guelph, Canada) handle and speak about bees is just about the most calming experience I can have in front of a screen. No doubt I miss some good things on Facebook too, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'll be guessing and speculating all day, what that one bit of advice is. Put me out my misery please

The BBKA's mania with shook swarming at every available opportunity. I'll leave it at that

 

[madasafish]

Hmm

I started beekeeping 11 seasons ago and recall reading a lot of the advice..

Leaving aside varroa treatment - which is an essential for beginners - I found the advice on cleaning hives and frames etc to be totally contrary to other facts ( that is : known facts , not made up ones).

Propolis acts as an antiseptic and bees cover most of the inside of the hive and the frames with it.
So why would any sane person want to remove it? (unless it is very thick and then remove the surplus).
Cleaning floors: takes all of 5 minutes with a scraper. (see also propolis above).

I am afraid to say beekeeping in the UK reminds me of the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment. People believed what they were told in the Middle Ages and conformed. The Enlightenment encouraged thinking and understanding why you do things and junked a lot of old thoughts.

The BBKA contains a mixture of both schools .

Just because someone says something is true does not mean it is. (See politicians as an example.)
And just because" we always do that" does not mean it is correct.

As for the BBKA 's love of "shook swarming" no-one appears to have done ANY scientific analysis on it - at least not in the UK. (Largely true of most UK beekeeping compared to the US or Germany). I treat such advice as wrong till proved otherwise.

I have found this forum , Blog - The Apiarist , and Murray McGregor (@calluna4u) | Twitter the most useful sources of information which is factual, helpful and based on evidence.

BIBBA and the BBKA fall into the Middle Ages camp as there as many opinions on subjects as beekeepers and the more voluble ones tend to be unaware of the words "evidence" and "facts". And neither organisation practise any quality control on their publications so tend to issue proven rubbish at times..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'll be guessing and speculating all day, what that one bit of advice is. Put me out my misery please

I'd be guessing at shook swarming. But just picking up any of their booklets is fraught with danger.

 

[elainemary]

I’ve read on here, recommended as “best practice” to have spare floor(s) -
Change hive 1 with clean spare floor, clean removed floor, move to hive 2 repeat and so on to provide a clean(ed) floor for each hive.
Perhaps that isn’t “required“ but just a best practice recommendation.

Elaine, I feel the responses to your post have been a little insensitive.......

Hi,
Thanks. Having been a beekeeper for a relatively short number of seasons I've learnt there are many answers to the same question and they can all be right. I religiously followed my teachers and mentors advice at the beginning. As I gain experience, I find shortcuts and find different ways of achieving the same goal that work better for me, or my bees. This is the great benefit of this forum, sharing alternative ways of beekeeping, whilst doing it in a polite way. Difficult at times, when passion for the subject runs high.
E

 

[North End Bees]

Better still, pay more for a bee suit where the veil doesn't concertina onto your face. In twelve years of wearing BBWear (expensive initially, but best value long-term) I've never had a veil close up or collapse. Cheap suits are stressful in use and in your pocket.

Buy the best you can. I like BBWear (slightly cheaper than Sherriff but as good imo.)
I had a cheap suit when I began and it was very soon replaced by a user-friendly one. I think it's still lurking somewhere at the back of the shed, must sort that out.