Too Old to Keep Bees

[bee56]

just out of interest at what age do beekeepers on average call it a day.
Ok I've got my Tin hat on this time.

 

[Marvin]

Old beekeepers don't die, they just go up in smoke.

 

[bee56]

A friend of mines, mentor is in his nineties--WoW

 

[TOBY-3652]

i know someone thats 80

 

[Drinkstone]

How old are you?

 

[bee56]

56

 

[Chris B]

I'd be willing to bet most people quitting are not doing so because of old age.

The average age of new starters has come down over the last few years so we'll be seeing the average age of leavers falling too I reckon.

 

[REDWOOD]

Enthusiasm keeps us going, lost that one in work years ago lol

 

[victor meldrew]

I know a bee keeper 96 and going strong . Sharp as a tack , maximum mobility!
VM

 

[bees4u]

just out of interest at what age do beekeepers on average call it a day.
Ok I've got my Tin hat on this time.

Brother Adam was well into his 90's I think

 

[ayagerard]

bee venom is said to be the best prevention of arthritis ????
i knew a guy that passed away in his 94th year that kept 1 hive
all his live as he liked cut comb and ice-cream

 

[coffin dodger]

I'm 70 and just started beekeping

CD

 

[Heather]

We have a member well into 90's and he still demos. And to isolate the queen safely he gently puts her between his lips whilst he manipulates a frame

 

[MuswellMetro]

my grandfather was 89 when he reduced from 50 hives to just a few garden hives,

that was mainly due to his driving licence being withdrawn...he kept going to 96 but at the end it was a bit of a struggle and i had to help him with things like lifting full supers.............he was a tilt the hive and look under beekeeper, he hardly ever went into a hive brood area unless he could see queen cells when tilting or if he thought them dwindling or queenless for 5 weeks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Brother Adam was well into his 90's I think

and climbed kilamanjaro when 91 to find a 'legendary black bee' if I recall correctly

 

[Queens59]

I met Brother Adam's 'smoker boy' on Thursday...80+ and still has hives...as old as you feel?

 

[Taylan]

Old Beekeepers Never Die They just Buzz Off.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm 70 and just started beekeping

CD

Like the username - great - it was only a few months ago that I was pilloried on here for using that term

my godfather now nearly 70 is a joiner and undertaker and still works (had a heart bypass end of last year and conducted a funeral Saturday toting a walking stick because of his gammy knee).
Soooo, is it O.K. if I call him a coffin making coffin filling coffin dodging coffin carrier ?

 

[Teemore]

I'm 37 and my father 70: this is our third season keeping bees. The guy who started us keeping bees will be 77 next birthday and has been working with bees since he was six years of age. He is getting to the stage where a full super is a bit much for him to lift and he needs good light to see eggs and newly hatched larvae but my father and I are glad to be able to help him and will continue to do so as long as he wants to keep bees. Some of his colonies are a legacy of long passed beekeepers and it is nice to know their history - it gives a further connection to my bees and an obligation to manage them to the best of my ability.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Neighbours of ours (his funeral I attended Saturday) only gave up beekeeping four years ago as he was struggling with the supers and she had developed an allergy to bee stings) they sold their last colony to a friend who was 80!! sadly the colony failed to make this spring