Whats Going On Newbies.

[Millet]

From recent observations i have not seen many Beginner posts .
Are they to Frightened too post in case of ridicule.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Probably!

 

[alfazer]

As a relatively new beekeeper I would tend to learn from lurking and searching, rather than post and face a roasting. I think the Beginners' section should be a bit of a safer haven. I don't want to get tangled up in the battle of the egos.

Also, some of the Facebook beekeeping groups can be a friendlier place for beginners to ask questions.

 

[Plenty of honey]

As a relatively new beekeeper I would tend to learn from lurking and searching, rather than post and face a roasting. I think the Beginners' section should be a bit of a safer haven. I don't want to get tangled up in the battle of the egos.

Also, some of the Facebook beekeeping groups can be a friendlier place for beginners to ask questions.

Yes, I've seen some of the Facebook "help and advice" theres a difference between giving sensible , non defamatory and non condescending advice which is actually correct, than having thirty different replies, all saying something completely different.

I ve found this forum to be the best of all, its got a great number of experienced beekeepers, who have all been beginners. Dont be put off by this, even a well seasoned beekeeper runs in to an occasional problem.

If you meet a beekeeper who knows it all, then find someone else to ask, because were all learning, every time you open up a hive.

 

[GaryB]

From recent observations i have not seen many Beginner posts .
Are they to Frightened too post in case of ridicule.

I'm a newbie Millet, and I have made a couple of posts, asking the usual "not sure" question, but I must say that I have had replies from all the more experienced beekeepers, and although there are sometimes many different opinions on what should be the course of action, I like the fact that there are the different opinions, and it excercises my logic to consider all the differing advice and make (hopefully) the correct decision. Besides that I do like the jousting that takes place between some of the members. Although it sometimes can be a bit tedious, it does make for a lively forum, rather than one that is stale and boring. At the risk of offending some members, although I know him not, JBM has given me some sterling advice for which I thank him, as indeed have many other members. I can only speak for myself, but as a newbie, I have learnt a great deal from the forum, and I hope that the other newbies out there that haven't yet posted are learning by just reading and taking a back seat. I'm sure they will post when they get that inevitable "not sure" situation. to you all.

 

[Erichalfbee]

From recent observations i have not seen many Beginner posts .
Are they to Frightened too post in case of ridicule.

The whole forum is fairly quiet.....

 

[Brigsy]

I've received some great help here. I normally restrict myself to the beginners section to prevent some replies like" Just use your Brain" , which one prominent member wrote to me. (And doesn't post in the beginners section....)

The brain then has to be used to decide which direction to take for the opposite advice one inevitably gets!

 

[Erichalfbee]

There's lots of excellent often innovative advice here. I've learned a lot from quite a few dedicated beekeepers who don't mind repeating the same bits of advice all the time. The Collective can unravel a complicated problem or disentangle tangled information. The problem with FB is that threads get subsumed by new ones and consequently lost. At least you can do a search here. One tip; if a search on the forum yields little Google sometimes does a better job of finding it.

 

[Webby]

I don't mind posting questions as I'm a first yr beek but there are one or two on this forum who seem to be out for an argument all the time, one in particular. I'm sure most know who I mean. Lots of great info on here so long as you remember not everyone does it the same way.

 

[Bearhouse]

I can usually find what I'm looking for by using the search button, but would also agree that I have to think twice before posting in case whatever question I have opens up another contentious thread.

I totally agree that different opinions are valid, my mentor and other well respected members of our local BKA all have differing opinions. As a very newbie I consider it my responsibility to read as much as possible and try to learn as much as I can. Hopefully then, any decisions I make will be informed ones, rather than just doing what someone else tells me, or guessing.

I have seen too many threads which result in people metaphorically rolling their eyes at newbies. Yes, some of the questions might be silly, people could find the answers themselves, but the fact they they have sought out a dedicated forum to ask questions shows good intent; surely they should be met with patience and encouragement?

The questions asked here are generally useful ones. Try looking at some of the things that people ask on newbie Facebook groups; they are actually quite worrying in some cases!!

And yes, Webby, one member who seems hell bent on causing argument just for the sake of it.

 

[Tony M]

From recent observations i have not seen many Beginner posts .
Are they to Frightened too post in case of ridicule.

I'm a very new beekeeper - started early June. The colony did not start well (queen problems, eventually fixed by buying a new, well-mated queen) - now preparing two colonies for winter, and all is going well.

I have a decent mentor, I'm in the local BKA and I read a lot. I also spend far too much time digging for answers all over the internet! I've thus found answers to the questions I've had so far (quite a few on this forum).

I'm not put off asking questions by any notion of getting slagged off by others - but I do try not to ask daft questions ('cos these would probably deserve a gentle chiding, at least). Beyond that, I'm perhaps not a great "forumer" - if I don't have something potentially useful to contribute, I tend to keep quiet.

I quite enjoy the "sparking" that occasionally occurs between some members - some of it has learning in it, some doesn't (and sometimes it's quite beyond my understanding). There seem to be almost as many reasonable answers to any problem as there are folk to offer them - the trick is to apply the brain to the available information and then decide what's going to be best for YOU (or me!).


Cheers,

Tony

 

[REDWOOD]

I had a lot of good advice here when I first started and made a lot of good friends, I can only say to any new beekeeper who may be looking on is to ask questions, the only stupid question is one not asked, Generally you will get most of us saying the same thing here and you will get a few who like to do it their way, which is nothing wrong with that just different.

I'll tell you a little story, I needed to make rhombus boards and I didn't know what size to drill the hole so I contacted Dave Cushman who replied with, " I have and others have drilled their holes 33 mm, I don't know why or who decided on 33 mm but they work, perhaps you could tell me one day"
Given the challenge I did make two boards one with a 33 mm hole and the other with a 50 mm hole and guess what, the 33mm worked quicker.
The moral of the story is ask questions as one day you can give good advice to others

 

[alfazer]

I suppose the longer a forum has been running, the bigger the range of questions that have dealt with. So a newbie has a question, they do a quick search of the threads and find their answer without having to ask for themselves. If they do ask a question, chances are someone will will reply with a link to a thread on a similar topic.

So I think naturally the threads on various hive manipulations start to dwindle over time. It's the topics like bee research or current affairs that keep the forum active.

 

[mintmoth]

I agree with others that a search will generally bring up a thread on the subject I'm after, and (as with most fora), goggle searches produce better results, generally returning the beekeeping forum in the first three or four sites listed.

And when I haven't found a thread to help, then posting a question has always given me a workable answer, and often offers of help too.

I'm sometimes a bit surprised, even as a newbie to beekeeping myself, at the very, very basic questions that are occasionally asked though.

And if threads occasionally go off the rails, well, you don't have to stay on the train.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes it would be a sad thing if the forum became simply an encyclopædia

 

[REDWOOD]

We all learn something new everyday


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[peacoops]

I spend so much time reading all the threads, which are informative/entertaining and confusing in equal measures and had actually decided you were already despairing of me when my last question didn't get an answer!

 

[Poly Hive]

The forum waxes and wanes in activity levels with the season really. Come March it will be people thinking about supering and swarming and so on and so on and now it is Winter prep.

If a question is unasked it festers and niggles. Get it out here and get it sorted.

PH

 

[peacoops]

Thanks Poly Hive, it was time specific and now I've dealt with it the best way I could think of at the time (with no problems - phew)

 

[pargyle]

What I've always like about this forum is the acceptance and welcome it gives to new beekeepers - the advice offered is always varied but beekeeping is about making your own decisions based on all the information you can gather so it often brings together the various options you have available and then the choice is yours.

I don't think I've ever seen a new beekeeper pilloried or parodied on here unless they have seriously got off on the wrong foot. It's been a great help to me and I have lots of virtual 'friends' on here that carry me along.

The key to it is to keep up with the threads that interest you and try and discard those that offend you - a few minutes a day on here will pay dividends.