Thinking about starting, need advice.

[Arfermo]

Joining your local BKA is essential, as not only do you get membership of the British BKA with Public Liability Insurance (essential for garden apiaries anyway) thrown in but also loss insurance for up to 3 hives within the joining fee and a monthly magazine; also a wealth of advice available from other members as well as apiary visits in season and, if yours is like mine, several winter talks by very experienced speakers eg Celia Davies, John Goodwin and others in my case. You may also find beeks who will mentor you and even give/sell you hives or nucs or frames with eggs and larvae if needed. When you become a member of your BKA, you can then register with Beebase etc and download FERA booklets in pdf format on "Managing Varroa" and "Foul Brood Disease of Honey Bees" as well as a huge number of other exceptionally useful stuff.
Finally, you need to read a lot. Buy Ted Hoopers' (MBE) book "Guide to Bees and Honey" (Amazon cheapest source). Exceptionally good read by somebody who sadly died last year and who was an international expert in every sense of the word. Also subscribe to "Beecraft" magazine. Surf this forum as necessary but beware of seemingly conflicting advice as dozens of beekeepers will bombard you with their views and you will have to make you own mind up in the end.
The one certainty is that only one hive is not enough and you will want more hives as you go along, 2 is a better minimum as well as at least one full set of spare kit and a nuc box for housing the odd swarm if you lucky.
Then you will be motoring.

 

[MandF]

I think a good plan of action is to join the local association, and winter beginners class if they have one, with a view to getting experience handling bees there next season.

If you must have bees as soon as possible, order them for next May earliest - in this case you might be better off waiting until you start going down the association as you will hear of preferred suppliers, and possibly be able to get on the swarm list.

In the meantime you can build up your equipment, at the winter sales, requested xmas pressies etc., so you dont have to fork out all the money in one go, or at the full rates.

In the meantime you can also buy those books and read up, you can join in on forums such as this, you can ask for opinions, you can ask questions.

So by the time you do start your practical beekeeping it will be backed by a level of knowledge and help the practical side sink in, and also by the time you get your own bees you will have learned the various techniques for not upsetting/killing your own bees when handling!

 

[djg]

I don't think that I've ever read a thread on this Forum where I have agreed with every single poster's opinions - all helpful and progressive - almost as if the OP has been given a great big bouquet by the Beekeeping Forum crew as a welcome present.

Great stuff, everyone !

 

[beeatshellards]

welcome to the forum Titch and Susan, I am going to disagree with what Susan said in an earlier post, "dont depend on anyone" , more experienced beekeepers will be a lifesaver in a crisis (or what you think is a crisis situation ) they will be able to soothe your brow and be your best friend sharing their knowledge and experience so my advice would be depend on anyone who offers you help the forum is a good place to start

 

[titch]

Thanks all, looks like ive got quite a bit of reading ahead of me over the next few months. I feel as if i've learnt a lot already by browsing through this informative forum. I didnt realise there is as much to bee keeping. Still very determined to have a go and really looking forward to it.

 

[drstitson]

just to correct arfermo - you don't need to join an association to register with beebase.

 

[tonybloke]

welcome to the forum.
with most of the above posts!!

 

[NickDub]

One thing you might like to try to determine is your main reason for wanting Bees.

1) Honey
2) Money
3) Save environment
4) pollinate fruit
5) etc

Your reasons will be different to others, as will your locality and available cash. There are a number of reasonable approaches but you are the only one who can finally decide what might work for what you want to achieve.

All the best

Nick

 

[djg]

6) Enjoy bees?