Starting my beekeeping journey...

[Little Ash]

Starting a journey that's been within me for a long time really, possibly brought to the fore due to my father passing earlier this year and me finally digging out his hives from the family home! My dad kept bees in and around 1960 and once married in 1964, he moved to a location that couldn't support bees... His interest in Bees never drained unto his death! he was everything wildlife, he really did know a lot and his recognition of birds was unreal, be it by sight or sound! So here I am now, living his dream and my dream too, with his equipment from that 1960 period, yes that honeycomb in the picture is from 1960, i have 8 boards of different health and I've no idea as yet if it's any good... I'm sure I will soon find out here!
His equipment is self-made, copied from the National hive shown... so I have an array of pieces and once worked out I have about 6 hives in kit form! my dad being a wood craftsman! Brood, Supers and lids.. only one crown board and lots of other things I have to work out... some are museum pieces!
So, I've plenty of books, the internet, you tube and of course here... as well as a very good local association who I've only spoke to briefly at our agricultural show... they also do courses of which I plan to take! I look forward to my journey, seeing if I can manage bees and ultimately make some honey... hopefully making friends along the way... Let it begin!

Pictures are my one built hive, my 1960 honeycomb and finally the geographical feature that names my area...

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi and welcome. You sound as if you have your head in the right place to learn the craft.
How wonderful to be using the very hives your father made by hand. It must keep him with you.
I see those supers have been brooded in and there’s no wax moth in the frame you e lifted out. Astounding!

 

[enrico]

Maybe someone here who knows where little ash is might offer you a hands on experience in the spring, before you start buying all the kit! Good luck and welcome

 

[Little Ash]

Maybe someone here who knows where little ash is might offer you a hands on experience in the spring, before you start buying all the kit! Good luck and welcome

Thank you, Little Ash is County Louth, Ireland.

 

[Little Ash]

Hi and welcome. You sound as if you have your head in the right place to learn the craft.
How wonderful to be using the very hives your father made by hand. It must keep him with you.
I see those supers have been brooded in and there’s no wax moth in the frame you e lifted out. Astounding!

Thank you.... Hives have been in the lofts of two houses and not used since early 60's.. My dad had a massive passion for beekeeping yet remarkably wasn't able to work bees in his lifetime after first doing it in late teens, early twenties! He even in old age would go and catch a swarm, no suit, no gloves as the resident were usually in panic. It's easy to big up your dad, but he was a remarkable man with nature.. So now it's down to me to try my hand... The hive shown is a Robert Lee, but all my others are a cedar wood copy, about 6! The honeycomb is just what was stored with the hives over all the years... To my uneducated eyes the comb doesn't look to be anything special... holed right through the wired foundation in places, no sign of old queen cells or swarm cells, obviously my father would have dealt with them at the time had there been any! Doesn't seem to be any movement or sign of anything in the comb, but i did find a wasp hiding in it today and one in the roof... Will put hive indoors ready for early spring... In the meantime, more learning and making contact with beekeepers local to me..

 

[rolande]

Nice way to start.

Regarding the comb, you say that the comb doesn't appear to be anything special, and it probably isn't, but it's prossibly worth saving a couple just in case some university researcher has reason to want to analyse comb from the early 60s which hasn't been used since. Totally silly idea, maybe, but then again you're possibly the only person (knowingly) with such a thing so it'd be crazy not to keep some.

Regards the rest, enjoy the experience.

 

[pargyle]

Thank you.... Hives have been in the lofts of two houses and not used since early 60's.. My dad had a massive passion for beekeeping yet remarkably wasn't able to work bees in his lifetime after first doing it in late teens, early twenties! He even in old age would go and catch a swarm, no suit, no gloves as the resident were usually in panic. It's easy to big up your dad, but he was a remarkable man with nature.. So now it's down to me to try my hand... The hive shown is a Robert Lee, but all my others are a cedar wood copy, about 6! The honeycomb is just what was stored with the hives over all the years... To my uneducated eyes the comb doesn't look to be anything special... holed right through the wired foundation in places, no sign of old queen cells or swarm cells, obviously my father would have dealt with them at the time had there been any! Doesn't seem to be any movement or sign of anything in the comb, but i did find a wasp hiding in it today and one in the roof... Will put hive indoors ready for early spring... In the meantime, more learning and making contact with beekeepers local to me..

I've got worse comb than that in use in my hives ... I'd give it a go if I was you, nothing to lose - if the bees don't like it they will tear it down and remodel it ... I suspect that they will use it.

You need to protect it from wax moth though now that it is out of storage ... there's not going to be many flying wax moths about at this time of the year but if one finds it then they will destroy the comb and the frames as well given half a chance.

Make sure the boxes are well sealed until you put them into use, the entrances need to be blocked and taped otherwise a mouse or a shrew will find a comfortable home ... and pee everywhere on everything as well as chewing out the wax.

Other than that ... make a few crown boards, tidy up the kit and make a list of things you are going to need ready for the early beekeeping sales in January.

My Dad kept bees in the 1950's and 60's but I was always more interested in girls and motorbikes in those days and he did not keep any kit when we moved house and he stopped keeping bees. You have a good head start with your beekeeping journey ... good luck and welcome to the best beekeeping forum on the planet.

 

[pargyle]

Starting a journey that's been within me for a long time really, possibly brought to the fore due to my father passing earlier this year and me finally digging out his hives from the family home! My dad kept bees in and around 1960 and once married in 1964, he moved to a location that couldn't support bees... His interest in Bees never drained unto his death! he was everything wildlife, he really did know a lot and his recognition of birds was unreal, be it by sight or sound! So here I am now, living his dream and my dream too, with his equipment from that 1960 period, yes that honeycomb in the picture is from 1960, i have 8 boards of different health and I've no idea as yet if it's any good... I'm sure I will soon find out here!
His equipment is self-made, copied from the National hive shown... so I have an array of pieces and once worked out I have about 6 hives in kit form! my dad being a wood craftsman! Brood, Supers and lids.. only one crown board and lots of other things I have to work out... some are museum pieces!
So, I've plenty of books, the internet, you tube and of course here... as well as a very good local association who I've only spoke to briefly at our agricultural show... they also do courses of which I plan to take! I look forward to my journey, seeing if I can manage bees and ultimately make some honey... hopefully making friends along the way... Let it begin!

Pictures are my one built hive, my 1960 honeycomb and finally the geographical feature that names my area...

That hive is a Robert Lee hive ... here you go: Some history for you .

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/robert-lee-uxbridge.26982/..

 

[JamezF]

My Dad kept bees in the 1950's and 60's but I was always more interested in girls and motorbikes in those days and he did not keep any kit when we moved house and he stopped keeping bees.

I sort of kept my motorbikes and started keeping bees as well.



As for the girls... Well, modesty forbids

James

 

[Little Ash]

I've got worse comb than that in use in my hives ... I'd give it a go if I was you, nothing to lose - if the bees don't like it they will tear it down and remodel it ... I suspect that they will use it.

You need to protect it from wax moth though now that it is out of storage ... there's not going to be many flying wax moths about at this time of the year but if one finds it then they will destroy the comb and the frames as well given half a chance.

Make sure the boxes are well sealed until you put them into use, the entrances need to be blocked and taped otherwise a mouse or a shrew will find a comfortable home ... and pee everywhere on everything as well as chewing out the wax.

Other than that ... make a few crown boards, tidy up the kit and make a list of things you are going to need ready for the early beekeeping sales in January.

My Dad kept bees in the 1950's and 60's but I was always more interested in girls and motorbikes in those days and he did not keep any kit when we moved house and he stopped keeping bees. You have a good head start with your beekeeping journey ... good luck and welcome to the best beekeeping forum on the planet.

Lovely reply, thank you for the tips too... motorbikes not so much got in the way for me, but were my life! I still have four! Now ive slowed down... Bees fit me or will fit me well! Regards

 

[Little Ash]

That hive is a Robert Lee hive ... here you go: Some history for you .

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/robert-lee-uxbridge.26982/..

Wont open for me, but if its for the Robert Lee thread here, then i did throw an eye over it... Thanks though.. It does seem to be twin badged on closer inspection... another is on the rear of the lid, but cant remember what it says... will add tomorrow! thank you

 

[Little Ash]

I sort of kept my motorbikes and started keeping bees as well.

View attachment 34596

As for the girls... Well, modesty forbids

James

Very nice James, I have four! It's a bad habit I've got!

 

[JamezF]

Very nice James, I have four! It's a bad habit I've got!

We have four as a family if you include "Ned the 'ped" which is actually my daughter's. I have actually ridden the latter on the road though. Bearing in mind that the ZZR-1100 is good for at least 170mph and the Ducati will do 70mph in first gear if you can keep the front wheel down, I found riding a 30mph-restricted moped an absolute riot

James

 

[pargyle]

I sort of kept my motorbikes and started keeping bees as well.

View attachment 34596

As for the girls... Well, modesty forbids

James

One of those is excessive, two is downright greedy !

 

[JamezF]

One of those is excessive, two is downright greedy !

Ah, well... I bought the Ducati new. It's automotive art and I still love it. I did the running in mileage (500 miles, I think) in a single day and have subsequently caned it around Cadwell Park race circuit which is possibly the most fun you can have with your leathers on, and certainly the only place I've seriously stood a bike up on the front wheel under braking

The Ducati isn't really a practical two-up bike though. When the ZZR-1100 came out it was restricted to 125bhp thanks to a "gentlemens' agreement" between the main manufacturers. It handled so much better than any comparable machine of the time though, and a few minutes work with a Stanley knife took it up to 147bhp. If you wanted to go crazy it was the bike to have. If you wanted a bike to eat miles two-up it was just incredibly relaxed.

They're both kind of "landmark" bikes in a way. Not necessarily the best, but just the ones that were the culmination, or the start, of something new. If I were to add another it would be the Yamaha TDR250, because it was such an utter hooligan of a bike. I bet there are loads that still have the original front tyre because it's spent so little time on the ground

The other nice things about the Ducati are that it's a small bike despite the 900cc engine, and it weighs less than 100kg wet (as far as I recall). I've promised it to my daughter when she gets as far as passing the necessary tests to be allowed to ride it.

James

 

[BeeAdmin]

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the forum and your bees!

 

[Little Ash]

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the forum and your bees!

Thank you, very cold here like most places right now! Looking to prep the kit i have and hopefully pick up some winter deals on the things I don't have!

 

[Rob H]

Starting a journey that's been within me for a long time really, possibly brought to the fore due to my father passing earlier this year and me finally digging out his hives from the family home! My dad kept bees in and around 1960 and once married in 1964, he moved to a location that couldn't support bees... His interest in Bees never drained unto his death! he was everything wildlife, he really did know a lot and his recognition of birds was unreal, be it by sight or sound! So here I am now, living his dream and my dream too, with his equipment from that 1960 period, yes that honeycomb in the picture is from 1960, i have 8 boards of different health and I've no idea as yet if it's any good... I'm sure I will soon find out here!
His equipment is self-made, copied from the National hive shown... so I have an array of pieces and once worked out I have about 6 hives in kit form! my dad being a wood craftsman! Brood, Supers and lids.. only one crown board and lots of other things I have to work out... some are museum pieces!
So, I've plenty of books, the internet, you tube and of course here... as well as a very good local association who I've only spoke to briefly at our agricultural show... they also do courses of which I plan to take! I look forward to my journey, seeing if I can manage bees and ultimately make some honey... hopefully making friends along the way... Let it begin!

Pictures are my one built hive, my 1960 honeycomb and finally the geographical feature that names my area...

Good luck with your endeavours, great to keep your Dads memory alive like this.

 

[Kaz]

I sort of kept my motorbikes and started keeping bees as well.

View attachment 34596

As for the girls... Well, modesty forbids

James

I must admit, as my beekeeping has expanded, my riding has reduced to the point that I have to make a decision next year whether to keep the bike. For now though he's wrapped up nice and warm in the garage