| Non-motoring > bees | Green Issues |
| Thread Author: devonite | Replies: 22 |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 02:07
bees - devonite
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Thinking of trying a new hobby, i`ve always fancied a beehive, and now i`ve got the time. Anybody here keep bees? - there are some useful tutorial vids on you-tube, but most seem to bee american. Our local bee assc has an apiary and does training courses on Sat mornings, and i plan to join, but as its 20 miles away and i`ve only my pushbike i won`t be able to attend many meetings. Hives seem plentiful on ebay, but as a "swarm of bees in July isnt worth a fly" i dont plan on starting till next Spring, plenty of time to gen-up and gather tips and snippets of personally experienced info you dont find on film or in books! Any tips/ info gratefully received! Ta! |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 08:24
bees - madf
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I started Beekeeping last year . Now have 6 hives!...All home built. The costs can be very high... Two sites to read: www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/ Best UK site. www.biobees.com/index.php For "natural and DIY " I am madasafish on both. Email me if you want to talk. Mike |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 08:27
bees - Zero
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| I went to B&Q but they didn't have any swarms in in stock. |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 09:23
bees - R.P.
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I went to B&Q but they didn't have any swarms in in stock. You'll get stung by them. |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 21:44
bees - Westpig
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>> I went to B&Q but they didn't have any swarms in in stock. Does that make you a wannabee? |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 21:51
bees - R.P.
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| He should have gone to Bee and Queue - schoolboy error. |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 08:40
bees - Iffy
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...I started Beekeeping last year . Now have 6 hives!... Well done for doing something positive for our countryside. A doctor friend used to keep a couple of hives. The honey was among the best I've ever tasted. Most of the stuff in supermarkets is sickly slop by comparison, although their ranges have improved in recent years. |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 09:13
bees - madf
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Much supermarket honey is a mixture of honeys and the cheap stuff is Chinese, from bees treated with all sorts of chemicals .. I try to keep bees in as natural a way as possible, using very little smoke and no gloves... which if you have placid bees is easy. But some bees - often great honey producers - are really vicious.. Not for urban settings. Fortunately our adjacent neighbour is an ex farmer, does not object and likes honey - so bribery works..:-) Bees are not cheap to buy as demand has exploded due to publicity.. see.. www.bid4bees.co.uk/category.asp?id=98&name=Bees With two new hives and two sets of bees , plus clothing etc, you could spend £1k to start with... if you are willing and able to do so.. You can of course start for much less than that. Last edited by: madf on Thu 14 Jul 11 at 09:14
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 09:22
bees - Iffy
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...you could spend £1k to start with... 'Liquid gold' might be an exaggeration, but a jar of naturally produced, not blended honey is worth a few quid. Presumably you could sell some to defray the costs a little bit. I sometimes see 'farmyard gate' sellers while trundling around North Yorkshire. |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 13:07
bees - madf
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I a good year a good hive can produce 80 to 100 lbs of honey. Local sales fetch £3 to £5 per 1 lb jar or proportionatley more for smaller jars.. Most hobby beekeepers run at a loss!. I made all my own hives - first one with purchased wood and then with scrap (pallets) wood..so each hive costs about £25 to make .. Smoker, beesuit are other purchases. Made my own hive tool from scrap steel. Then of course you can buy a honey extractor £200 + to c £800 depending on size, feeders, sugar to feed them , treatment for varroa..etc etc. But you can be mean and save money by DIY... |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 16:05
bees - Ted
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Start with half a bee and see how it goes ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlrsqGal64w&NR=1&feature=fvwp Ted |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 20:54
bees - Dog
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| www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/8632497/How-to-become-a-beekeeper.html |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 21:03
bees - Harleyman
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Pity you didn't mention this a few days ago; I've got a swarm of the little blighters in my bedroom chimney you'd have been welcome to! They invaded next door's chimney on Saturday; Sunday morning he smoked them out, they swarmed, then decided that my chimney was favourite. Unfortunately they chose the blanked-off bedroom chimney, which has a vent at the bottom, and despite the efforts of a local bee-keeper they're still there. I've put gaffer tape over the vent to keep them out of the bedroom, but the advice given is that I might as well leave them there, as they're unlikely to have built up enough reserves to survive the winter, and will die off come the cold weather. Shame, it was quite a big swarm and the one we caught was healthy. Last edited by: Harleyman on Thu 14 Jul 11 at 21:05
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 23:52
bees - rtj70
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| www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8638087/Puppy-stung-to-death-by-bees-prompts-fears-over-craze-for-bee-keeping.html |
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New Thu 14 Jul 11 23:55
bees - Londoner
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If I won any money on the GeeGees, I think I'd buy a farm. I wouldn't keep B's though. I'd grow a few Ps, and keep a few Ns and some Us. Maybe get some of those new extra large sheep - W's. Naturally, I'd keep my Is on them to make sure they don't get any sort of DsEs. I'd do a bit of weeding with an O, but only work till T time. Then I'd sit on my Rs and relax watching the evening heat As and eating M & Ms. I may be all at C for the first few weeks, but then I should be OK. |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 07:19
bees - Manatee
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| Can't remember where you are located devonite, but a friend near here (West Herts) is giving up beekeeping because of the physical effort involved, lifting etc. She has all the gear and presumably wants to dispose of it. |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 15:07
bees - devonite
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Great stuff folks! - loadsa reading there! - talk about counting chickens, but as soon as i mentioned it at the pub, my order book filled up for the next three years!! everyone seems to like honey, but are scared to death of bees! ;-) The bee assc i mentioned costs £17 a year membership for upto three hives, and you can purchase everything you need through them, (jars to medications) at discount prices, you can use all thier gear, honey extractors etc free of charge, and they will even give you a colony to start you off, inc 2nd hand hive! sounds like a bargain to me!! Madf - did you intend to have six hives, or was it anecessary? - what month do you think would be best to start? i know a swarm in june will have time to survive winter, but would like to start a bit earlier and maybe get one harvest in the first year! or is that rushing things? thanks all!! |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 15:32
bees - Dog
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Does all honey (in this country) have to be heat treated (like milk) by law I wonder? When we lived in Tenerife, I used to buy raw honey with bits of comb on the top for £5 a jar |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 17:21
bees - madf
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devonite did you intend to have six hives, or was it anecessary? Started with two last year... two swarms and a split gave me four more this year. I intended to have err.. shhh can't say.. less than 10? - what month do you think would be best to start? Well you could buy a nucleus now (a small hive with 5 frames of bees - and put them in a full hive and have a reasonable sized hive prior to growth stops (mid August).. Then you would have to treat them for varroa and feed for winter.. Whether they survive the winter depends on luck, where you live, and how good a beekeeper you are. i know a swarm in june will have time to survive winter, but would like to start a bit earlier and maybe get one harvest in the first year! or is that rushing things It's July .. You could raise a swarm before winter but being a beginner and probably ignorant of handling bees (apologies if not) any mistake is likely to be fatal.. A mentor to assist would be nice but if you are up to snuff, not essential. Any harvest year 1? If you start in April . I got my first bees April 2010 and had a full hive and honey by August.. If you start now, no chance.. bees need honey to survive winter.. Silly question> Are you allergic to bee stings? Have you been stung recently? Taking any painkillers regularly - they react badly with bee venom. See Anaphylactic shock www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/ which can be fatal - and has been to some poor unfortunates. If you have not been stung yet, I suggest you get a really bad sting where the bee sting plus sac remains in you for about 20 seconds.. Hand is best.. If you swell up like a balloon or feel dizzy or (see above link) reconsider. As a guide, I keep with bare hands and have gained some immunity. Last year I hgad some 35 stings... this year about 20 odd so far.. (Most not from my bees but our Association's Apiary). Choice of bees is essential. You want calm, serene good tempered bees which don't come out and chase you round the garden when you cut the grass, Siting a hive by itself is a BIG subject. Got snotty difficult neighbours? Can they see you have bees.? Are the neighbours obnoxious. STand by for threatened lawsuits. Lots to consider before you take plunge including attitudes of nearest and dearest.. see link above.. You need to read up and do a craeful risk assessment. Bees are normally perfectly OK.. BUT bad bees or badly handled bees - or bees with some animals - can be dangerius ranging form nuisance value to death.. Sorry for the sombre tone at teh end.. Most people have great enjoyment from bees and no real issues but be aware there are real risks. |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 18:26
bees - devonite
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Thanks for the insight Madf! - not rushing into this blindly which is why i dont plan to start before next spring, gives me time to at least gain a bit of know-how if not technique! also it wouldn`t bee fair on the bees if i attempted to try and keep them overwinter straifght off. Never been stung by a bee, but once got stung over 40 times by Wasps when i worked on the farms, digging out a badly sited nest. Wasps apparently dont like blue-denim and will attack it viciously, and as my stings were all on my legs, there may be some truth in it. Are there any particular materials bees dont like? i`ve heard that human sweat is also a no-no when working a hive? have they a preference for antiperspirants? finally, you mention placcid bees, which breed are reputedly placid? i`ve heard that African are downright evil, but the English Honey bee (which is the variety i was thinking of having because they are in severe decline) are particularly prone to varroa. How big a problem is hive beetle? or is that mainly an American thing? cheers! |
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New Fri 15 Jul 11 20:13
bees - madf
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Bees do not like wool. Or hairy material - they get stuck and panic. Or anything black (especially gloves - reminds them of bears). They don't like sweat. I used to look at my hives after a run - before any shower - and had to give up. Normally placid, they attacked and stung! Hive beetle is US - not UK yet. Types of bees? Italian and Carniolan are very placid as are Buckfast. The English native bee bareluy exists: some are mild, some are evil. Some hybrids of different types can be evil dependng on the gene mix. I have Carniolans- very placid but prone to swarming - but alll bees will swarm in a good year... As for varroa.. all species suffer..Lots of controls to limit numbers but eradication? nope. I can recommend www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Bees-Honey-Selling-Beekeeping/dp/1904846513/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310757027&sr=1-1 to read... and your local library has hundreds of bee books... Some books are available as free downloads...At teh Hive Entrance by Storch is old but good.. Last edited by: madf on Fri 15 Jul 11 at 20:14
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New Sat 16 Jul 11 11:28
bees - corax
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I try to include as many bee attracting flowers in the garden as I can. Things like lavender, perovskia (honey bees in particular seem to love this), eryngium, chives, marjoram, sage, knautia macedonica. I don't cut the lawn very short, this removes the old clover heads and they regenerate very soon. I have heard there is a theory that bees need variety of pollen to keep them healthy - rather than relying on one type of flower in field. It's a bit like asking us to survive on McDonalds for weeks and weeks - you're not going to feel too good after doing that. I can imagine them having conversations in the hives. "Yeah, it's not like the good old days - we had loads of different pollen then, the roads were lined with it". "What do you get now? Nothing but oilseed rape and a few poppies every now and then". |
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New Sun 17 Jul 11 21:28
bees - henry k
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>>You need to read up and do a craeful risk assessment. >>Bees are normally perfectly OK.. BUT bad bees or badly handled bees - or bees with some animals - can be dangerius ranging form nuisance value to death.. >> On a lighter note China's bee-wearing contest www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14175993 |
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