- Joined
- Aug 4, 2011
- Messages
- 2,597
- Reaction score
- 10
- Location
- Levenshulme, Manchester UK
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 2 - and steward of 8 others.
20 things learned in the first 8 hours as a beekeeper.
1) A nuc transit box is remarkably unprepossessing
- so no dramatic drive home in a bee suit. Dammit.
2) You get the smoker going, dress up, open the nuc and...........
nothing much happens.
3) A smoker is child's play if you were in the Scouts.
4) Not much continues to happen - then, suddenly, an hour later, you realise there's a hell of a lot of bees flying around.
5) Some of these little beggars don't know how to fly!
6) There's a lot of bees in a nuc.
7) The temperature of the base of a smoker is slightly higher than the melting point of the lid of a wheelie bin.
8) Cloud of bees in my garden;
over the (high) fence, there's nary a sight of a bee in nervous next door neighbour's garden - phew!
9) None of those clever clogs on the Forum, pointed out that an absolute essential piece of kit, is a garden chair.
10) A bright sunny day with frequent fluffy clouds doesn't half mess with the bees' heads.
11) Pollen comes in such pretty colours.
12) Three hours, four hours - no time at all.
13) A feisty cat needs lots of reassurance when she realises there are bees in her garden.
14) Yes, if you look carefully, you can see which bees have what jobs.
15) Six feet away from the hive and you're interesting;
eight feet away and you might as well not exist.
16) Aviva Premiership Rugby v bees?
Close one - but a half of rugby is only 40 minutes long.
17) 1 : 1 syrup tastes nice.
18) Going solo - transferring bees/frames from nuc to new hive - isn't as scary as it might be. You know, I might be able to do this!
19) One hive looks so lonely.............
20) The smile on a new beek's face, is just as stupid as the look of someone who's just completed their first open water dive.
What did you learn on your first day?
Dusty
1) A nuc transit box is remarkably unprepossessing
- so no dramatic drive home in a bee suit. Dammit.
2) You get the smoker going, dress up, open the nuc and...........
nothing much happens.
3) A smoker is child's play if you were in the Scouts.
4) Not much continues to happen - then, suddenly, an hour later, you realise there's a hell of a lot of bees flying around.
5) Some of these little beggars don't know how to fly!
6) There's a lot of bees in a nuc.
7) The temperature of the base of a smoker is slightly higher than the melting point of the lid of a wheelie bin.
8) Cloud of bees in my garden;
over the (high) fence, there's nary a sight of a bee in nervous next door neighbour's garden - phew!
9) None of those clever clogs on the Forum, pointed out that an absolute essential piece of kit, is a garden chair.
10) A bright sunny day with frequent fluffy clouds doesn't half mess with the bees' heads.
11) Pollen comes in such pretty colours.
12) Three hours, four hours - no time at all.
13) A feisty cat needs lots of reassurance when she realises there are bees in her garden.
14) Yes, if you look carefully, you can see which bees have what jobs.
15) Six feet away from the hive and you're interesting;
eight feet away and you might as well not exist.
16) Aviva Premiership Rugby v bees?
Close one - but a half of rugby is only 40 minutes long.
17) 1 : 1 syrup tastes nice.
18) Going solo - transferring bees/frames from nuc to new hive - isn't as scary as it might be. You know, I might be able to do this!
19) One hive looks so lonely.............
20) The smile on a new beek's face, is just as stupid as the look of someone who's just completed their first open water dive.
What did you learn on your first day?
Dusty
