Newby starting with bees

[kenkew]

Bees, well, I love 'em and love their honey. Possibly later this year I'll have the chance to have my own hives. It's not something I'm daft enough to jump in at the deep end at, so where is my starting point?
OK...I need knowledge, that I'm doing book-wise so far.
What's the practical starting point? Are hives home built (not bad at putting things together) or are they too complicated and have to be bought?
When is the best time of year to start out? Where do I get my first colony? What are the benefits and pitfalls? To produce for re-sale; what are the legal  requirements and possible profits? How often would I need to attend to the hives?
In short; Is it a worthwhile venture??

[Robert_Brenchley]

It is, but it can be quite expensive to start. Hives aren't cheap; they come flat-packed and are fairly straightforward to assemble. Once you've got the gear you've got it, as there's very little that wears out. This is the time to get your bees; you need either a swarm or a nucleus. The latter is a small colony with a young queen.

[kenkew]

Thanks so far Robert. I have a field, some time and a book or two to-date, Next step?

[Toadspawn]

I would recommend joining your local Beekeepers Assocaition. Most counties in the UK have one and it should be possible to find the address from the BKA website or your local library.
You should be able to get answers to all your questions, probably you will be able to obtain some second-hand equipment and maybe a swarm of bees.   
Alternatively make friends with a beekeeper near you.
If you get a stock of bees this year don't expect a supply of honey. They will need to build up and store food to survive the winter. Plan on getting honey next year and use this year to learn how to handle thm.

[kenkew]

That sounds like sound advice. Any more info from keepers that would help would be very welcome. New to me as I said, but it's something I've always wanted to try. How about overall set up costs, (approx) and a few 'do's and don'ts'?
Ta!
PS: I intend to place the hives close to moorland...that should give some pretty earthy tasting honey!

[Robert_Brenchley]

The first place to try for equipment is the BKA; with luck, they may know where you can find a second-hand hive. If you get everything new, and buy bees, you're probably taking about four hundred-ish. With patience, you can get it a lot cheaper.

[kenkew]

Thanks for that Robert. At least I have a figure to work around. The possibility is there and if plans work out for my UK return trip then I intend to make a start on it. In the mean-time, have a think about your early bee-keeping days and help me to avoid the problems. Thanks, Ken.

[Toadspawn]

Ask Thornes of Wragby for a catalogue. You will then see all the things available , some essential, some nice to have, and see the cost of these things new.

If you are very close to moorland then you might find there is a shortage of good nectar and pollen producing plants unless the bees have access to agricultural crops or garden flowers. The dominant flora on moorland is heather. This flowers late in the season- August/September but the production can be variable. Heather honey is very different from other flower honey being a thixotropic gel which cannot be extracted by conventional means. However, it is so very different, has  a wonderful taste and smell (personal choice you either like it or hate it).

You need to have a hive full of young flying bees or sealed brood and very few eggs in order to make most effective use of heather.

[kenkew]

Sounds like a challenge! How far will bees fly for nectar?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Many miles if they really need to. Normally, only a short distance. Thorne's are the biggest supplier, but they're also hideously expensive. Try these:

http://www.thorne.co.uk/

http://www.bees-online.co.uk/start.html

http://www.parkbeekeeping.com/parkbee/index.htm

http://www.stamfordham.biz/

http://www.beekeeping.co.uk/

[kenkew]

Thanks Robert. Lots to absorb there! Be back to you in 'quite awhile!!'

[triffid]

Seconding what everyone else has said already...    but also posting a few reasons to join your local beekeepers' assoc before you go any further.

A chance to look before you leap: Now is a good time to see how busy things can get for beekeepers (swarm management, queen rearing, honey harvesting -- fingers crossed! -- and pest and disease control).
Somewhere to get courses, mentoring, advice, assistance...
Insurance (for public liability and in case your bees/hives have to be destroyed because of disease are just two reasons for that) 
Club-owned equipment (I'm thinking here particularly of honey extractors which cost hundreds of pounds -- a lot of cash unless you have quite a number of hives)
Places to sell honey (local county days etc -- with our BKA the cost of the stall gets split between the sellers pro rata according to each ones sales).

Plus, many associations will help their beginners out by donating swarms to them (sometimes a bit of a double-edged sword as you give your beginners bees that may just be swarmy by nature), or else breed starter colonies for beginners to buy at reduced rates.

Re selling honey: don't go into this to make money! You can make a little (a hobby that pays for itself plus a bit) but unless you get quite large scale or start breeding queens for sale or stuff like that it's not a thing that's easy to make a living at.

You also asked about:
regulations -- a beginners' beekeeping course will cover the essentials. (eg hygiene, weights & measures, labelling.)

and time commitments -- from spring till autumn, each colony needs inspecting regularly. Textbook = at least every nine days (weekly is most people's solution)... Can be quite lengthy until you get practised, as you need to check each frame. Plus time spent making up hives, frames (for the bees to build comb on), harvesting and preparing honey (and cleaning up afterwards!), cleaning and filtering wax, plus making general running repairs.
Traditionally, beekeepers had a quiet life between November and February but even then you need to pop down and check that hives haven't been disturbed/damaged.

Please don't take the above as discouragement.... bees are fascinating and wonderful and I wish I had time to spend more time with them than I do!