Some questions from a newcomer

[OrangeTango]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

Really appreciate you all taking the time to read this post and look forward to reading your comments.

 

[The Poot]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

Really appreciate you all taking the time to read this post and look forward to reading your comments.

Hello and welcome Orange tango.
I think my best advice is for you to attend the introduction course this Autumn / Winter. Read and read beekeeping books like Haynes Manual. Get together with your bee buddy and get hands on experience and see about a longer term relationship as mentor / trainee. The answers to your questions will then all be answered in a way that makes practical sense. I wish you all the best in your endeavour and next year you’ll be suffering from bee fever like the rest of us

 

[Ian123]

1. Gain some experience as your doing, old beekeepers love free help
2. I’d suggest start with 2 once you’ve done the course read up and help others
3. The national produced by the main suppliers is 1 in the same.
4.There’s a brood box and there 14x12 what you’ll use will depend on your set up or perhaps what frames your nucs are supplied on. I prefer operating on double standard broods.
5. Up to you any decent nuc will build into a good box of bees. I’d suggest getting the experience first.
6. Some clip some don’t, I don’t.
7. Bar a few remote areas bees in the Uk have varroa!
8. Yes different honey bee types can live in the same hives. However normally all bees in the hive are offspring of the queen so what ever the heritage they are hers.

 

[blackcloud]

Books can show their age very quickly
The bee species does not

Beware beekeeping catalogues and their websites-check with a forum first to see if you actually need that indispensable gadget.

At this time of year if you are sans honey then it's looking into varroa treatment/non treatment,then winter preparation/matchstick deployment.

 

[OrangeTango]

Thank you @The Poot @Ian123 & @blackcloud for the warm welcome and your helpful responses.

I'm looking forward to attending the beginner course and in the meantime will keep myself occupied with more reading and if the opportunity presents itself try and get some real-life experience.

 

[Amari]

There is an article in this July's BBKA magazine on the pros and cons of clipping. Also on some common diseases. Both that mag ( you'd need to join BBKA) and the monthly Beecraft have articles for beginners as well as useful adverts for equipment and purchase of bees.

 

[pargyle]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

Read and get ready for next year ... ideally get sonme hands on experience - a good pre-bees book to read is Bees at the Bottom of the Garden - very readable, not a text book but gives you a flavour, Put the Haynes manual of beekeeping on your Christmas list - it will help you trrough the first couple of years,

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

Start with one but be ready for two (you will get two sooner rather than later and three or four or five of .... it's addictive.)

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

Basically yes

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

A 14 x 12 is the same footprint as a standard national but it's a deeper box so it takes deeper frames .. I like 14 x 12's for lots of reasons but some people find the larger frames difficult to handle - depends on your stature and strength.

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

I'd wait until next year - all you will be doing is getting them ready for winter and getting them through winter .. you may find, along with an association course, they will have a swarm list with bees available for free or just a small donation.

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

Some do, some don''t - I don't - all it saves you is a few days on swarming - it's not a pancaea, I don't like the idea of mutilating the queens but it does not seem to harm them - depends on what you want to do (as is much assocciated with beekeeping).

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

Virtually all UK colonies will have varroa in them to some extent ... Yes, you need to understand what varroa can do to a colony and the symptoms associated with excessive infestation.

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

The bees produced by a queen are the bees that will live in that colony - they could be true AMM, Buckfast, Carnies or whatever mongrels - depends what Drones the queen mated with one what the bee genetics are. You can add any honey bees to a colony (look up combining colonies) but there are techniques to do this successfully ... and you can only usually, have one queen in the hive.

Really appreciate you all taking the time to read this post and look forward to reading your comments.

 

[OrangeTango]

Read and get ready for next year ... ideally get sonme hands on experience - a good pre-bees book to read is Bees at the Bottom of the Garden - very readable, not a text book but gives you a flavour, Put the Haynes manual of beekeeping on your Christmas list - it will help you trrough the first couple of years,

Start with one but be ready for two (you will get two sooner rather than later and three or four or five of .... it's addictive.)

Basically yes


A 14 x 12 is the same footprint as a standard national but it's a deeper box so it takes deeper frames .. I like 14 x 12's for lots of reasons but some people find the larger frames difficult to handle - depends on your stature and strength.

I'd wait until next year - all you will be doing is getting them ready for winter and getting them through winter .. you may find, along with an association course, they will have a swarm list with bees available for free or just a small donation.


Some do, some don''t - I don't - all it saves you is a few days on swarming - it's not a pancaea, I don't like the idea of mutilating the queens but it does not seem to harm them - depends on what you want to do (as is much assocciated with beekeeping).

Virtually all UK colonies will have varroa in them to some extent ... Yes, you need to understand what varroa can do to a colony and the symptoms associated with excessive infestation.

The bees produced by a queen are the bees that will live in that colony - they could be true AMM, Buckfast, Carnies or whatever mongrels - depends what Drones the queen mated with one what the bee genetics are. You can add and honey bees to a colony (look up combining colonies) but there are techniques to do this successfully ... and you can onlym usually, have one queen in the hive.

Thanks for the reply @pargyle

As it happens I ordered the two books you mentioned last night as they appear to be highly recommended by everyone

I think the sensible thing to do is to wait for the association course, as you and others have suggested. But out of curiosity what month next year would you recommend that I get some bees? I have read that it's normal for people to place orders/put down deposits as early as November?

Thanks again

 

[pargyle]

Thanks for the reply @pargyle

As it happens I ordered the two books you mentioned last night as they appear to be highly recommended by everyone

I think the sensible thing to do is to wait for the association course, as you and others have suggested. But out of curiosity what month next year would you recommend that I get some bees? I have read that it's normal for people to place orders/put down deposits as early as November?

Thanks again

If you are determined to buy a nuc of bees (around £150 - £200) then best to get your order in for next spring in the next few months ... you wlll pay a deposit and they will be shipped as soon as the seller feels they are a viable colony in the spring - delivery varies from supplier to supplier - March/April for overwintered colonies - May/June for made up ones with imported queens.

Swarm season usually starts in May and if you are hoping for a swarm from your association swarm list - get your name down and wait and see ....

 

[blackcloud]

Yes to swarms - long term they're usually more trouble than they're worth but good for practice and a backup source of stock -research a bait hive facility perhaps.

I'd suggest two colonies as one can rescue the other
Dependant on your spare time more than three can become a chore and decrease your enjoyment- and for many of us that's what it's all about.
You can gain more and more colonies with zero effort- beware!

It's a steep learning curve with each event shunting the previous out of the way- no sooner than easing them out of winter they will be aiming to swarm off so have a look at what school of swarm control you may like to use.
Praying it doesn't happen is not the best one....

Remember it's against the law for beekeepers to agree and there are two types;
Those that have disasters and those that keep quiet about them

 

[blackcloud]

1

 

[drex]

After attending my association course, a few years ago, we were given a free nucleus of bees

 

[pargyle]

After attending my association course, a few years ago, we were given a free nucleus of bees

Yes ... that's how I got my first bees when I started beekeeping.

 

[W0otz]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

It's a bit late to be getting bees, nearing the end of the season and all that would be left for you to do is get them ready for winter. Better to start in spring.
In the meantime there's a wealth of resources to learn from but you need to be a bit careful about sources on the internet as there's a lot of content from other parts of the world (primarily the USA) with different climates, problems and management techniques.
Here are some good places to start:
Bee Keeping & Bee Breeding, along with other interests of Dave Cushman - ignore the dated look and feel, there's an absolute wealth of information on Dave Cushman's website.
Welcome - The Apiarist Weekly blog with lots of well researched info. The entries regarding varroa treatments and when to treat are well worth reading.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BeeImprovementandBeeBreedersAssociationBIBBA Bibba YouTube channel - lots of useful talks.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaa4pgaAzz8DCjiYJrx9cMA Black Mountain Honey YouTube channel - Lots of instructional videos and reviews
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpXjo1sDWxAR0_PpF4Y1ymA - Norfolk Honey Company YouTube channel - again lots of useful instructional videos.

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

I started with 1, getting them through the winter was nerve wracking - if they didn't make it I'd have had to source new bees. With more hives you can build back up by splitting colonies. It's also helpful to be able to compare colonies - if you just have one, how can you tell if it's doing well? With multiple you can see if one is ahead or behind etc.

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

To all intents and purposes, yes.

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

Typically you have a brood box, this is the "nest" where the queen lays the eggs and they develop into bees, and supers for honey. Typically the brood box is a deeper box than those used for supers. If you say national brood people will know what you mean. 14x12 is a different size brood box based on the national brood box but deeper/taller. Saying national deep can cause confusion between these 2, but usually means a national brood box.

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

I'd suggest wait until the spring - the season is coming to an end now and you'd be getting bees only to prepare them for the winter and they may not make it.

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

Personal preference - it doesn't necessarily prevent the bees from swarming, but they typically don't make it very far. The theory is the bees realise there's something wrong and return to the hive, often leaving the queen behind with a small cluster of stragglers. The hive then goes through the usual process of raising a new queen but you haven't lost half your bees.

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

Pretty much guaranteed they'll have varroa. Most treat routinely for varroa, though the bees resistance is increasing in places - there are some on here that generally don't treat but do monitor varroa levels and are prepared to treat if necessary.

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

They're all Apis Mellifera, just different subspecies - generally though the bees will all be the offspring of the same queen. You could requeen with a different subspecies and in the crossover period there would be a mixture of bees with no problems. If you just throw 2 colonies in together, same subspecies or not, they'll fight.



Whereabouts in Kent are you? If you're local you're welcome to have a look at my bees.

 

[Ely]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

Really appreciate you all taking the time to read this post and look forward to reading your comments.

Welcome. A cheap way to get into beekeeping is to get friendly with your local association and someone may help you out with a swarm. It's a bit late this year unless there are people willing to offload swarms to newcomers. Best thing would be to read up over the winter and be ready for next season. Educate yourself on requeening. If you do end up with a swarm as your first colony, you will want to requeen, or you may end up with lots of swarms and possibly nasty bees. Have fun!

 

[Blunt Spike]

Welcome OT!

Looks like you're following the right path so far. I think you've had some great advice so I won't try to offer any as there are far more experienced beeks who have answered already.

One point though, if you get a nuc now you own the over wintering risks. If they don't make it you will be buying another nuc next spring. If you reserve now, you will get a healthy nuc in early spring and the supplier took on the over wintering risk.

Good luck.

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the recent warm weather.

I have been silently reading some of the threads on this awesome forum and finally thought I'd join. I am thinking about keeping honey bees and have made contact with my local association. A member of the committee has invited me to join him next time he tends to his bees and I'm on the waiting list for the next round of introductory courses.

But in the meantime, I have a few questions which I hope you don't mind answering:

1. What's the best thing for starter to do at this time of year (I gather that the honey season is nearing the end)? Is there anything meaningful that could be done now?

2. How many hives should you start off with. (There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice often recommending either 1 or 2.)

3. Is a Modified National Beehive the same as a British National Beehive these days? (Beekeeping for Dummies by David Wiscombe refers to it as Modified National Beehive)

4. Is a deep brood box a standard part of a beehive or different? Is it even needed if you're starting out? Am I right in saying that it can accommodate 14x12?

5. Should I be starting with a NUC this year or just wait until early March/April time next year?

6. Is it common practice to clip the wing of the Queen bee?

7. How common/prevalent is for bees to get varroa? Should I be prepared for it/expect it from the outset?

8. And lastly, sorry if this is a dumb question but can different honey bee types live together in the same hive? (e.g. Buckfast & Italian)

Really appreciate you all taking the time to read this post and look forward to reading your comments.

I gladly answer your question number 4,i've no clue about the British sizes,we work dadant blatt,we don't use a special broodchamber size,so all levels have the same size(honey super),it works as a charm and has the advantage you can reposition your frames what ever way you want they always fit.