Topic: First steps to beekeeping

[Svengali]

I have a garden of about 1/2 acre, and the section that I am thinking of keeping bees in is bounded on two sides by an 8-10 ft lleylandii hedge. Can I face the hives towards this hedge, rather than face into the orchard (the house is about 45 meters away, the other side of the fruit trees), if so, what distance must I leave between the hives & the hedge?
There are no houses the other side of the hedge, only pasture.
The only other house is about 80 meters from where I am thinking of putting the hives.
JeremyB

[Jesse]

Jeremy that sounds like an ideal spot for the bees, wish our garden was that big with no neighbours nearby, that's what worries me about keeping them in our garden is if neighbours complain. I'm not sure about the height of the hedge, I'm sure Robert or someone else will know, but I've been told to point the hive towards a hedge to force the bees up high when flying off from the hive, not sure if there's a limit on how high the hedge should be though. It's a good idea to join your local beekeeping club because they'll give you a lot of help with buying hives and colonies etc. and you also get the insurance which I think is very worthwhile. :)

Lady Cosmos, hope you've managed to prevent the swarming :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

It sounds perfect; once they're up above head level they won't bother anyone. Mine are ten feet back from a hedge, but you can go closer if you need to.

[Lady Cosmos]

And Jeremy, keep in mind that , if possible, the opening of the hives should point to the east. Important so that the bees can start as early as possible to get the pollen. And that they can get the nectar before ten o clock in the morning.
You will get much more if the hive opens to the east.  ;D
   

[Svengali]

Ah - the hedge is due west! The fruit trees & the bulk of my garden are east, so it looks as if they will have to face inwards - mind you, the wildflower area & fruit trees will be more easily available.
Robert - you have caused chaos! I spoke to the apiculture centre today, and learned that for the last couple of weeks, their email has gone berserk, and their postbox is filling up faster than they can empty it! - They had no idea why, but I suspect it is the popularity of this site, and response to this thread!
I did learn that they are not one business, but a co-operative, with many bee-related ventures operating together. Apparently most of the individual catalogues are in preparation at the moment, and will not be available for a while.
JeremyB

[Robert_Brenchley]

Sounds good for business. Anything to encourage a cheaper alternative to Thorne's! Don't worry if the hedge does face west; my hives are in the shade until late morning, and it doesn't worry the bees one bit. I think the thing about facing the rising sun is a bit of an old wives' tale - there are lots of them in beekeeping. Safety should come first, and facing the hedge will stop them flying into anyone.

[Jesse]

the question about the hive facing east was raised at our course, the consensus was that it didn't make much difference so if it's not possible to face the hive east no need to fret. :)

[Lady Cosmos]

Thats why I wrote Yesterday: IF POSSIBLE....
If you have hives at different spots you see big differents in the amount of nectar.
Bees from hives east start much earlier to collect, no doubt. I see that every year.
But it is NO MUST.

[Robert_Brenchley]

How much of that is the direction they face, and how much varying amounts of available forage?

[Lady Cosmos]

Example: having 6 hectares , that is 6 X 10.000 M2, of hyacints and on both sides of that field are hives.  12hivesX 10 windows ", that are the big ones, with 2X food, 2X empty, 2 X full brood and 4Xinsides,   The east opening hives, the bees start early in the morning because the bees see the light earlier, collect many more times than the west opening hives.
So if you not ONLY go for the honey, but for the bees as well, it makes not much difference.
One other part of our land has trees , about 4000 M2, and there are at the moment 16 hives,  16X 10", 3X 7"and some 3". Those hives are at 3 different spots.
More or less the same inside qua food, empty etc. Inspecting the inside shows a big difference.  So that means many more bees, many more new beehives to make by our own swarming technique, and at the end much more honey :P

[Robert_Brenchley]

How are they doing this year? mine have been expanding like mad the last few weeks; the stronger is now in the forst super, and beginning to store honey up there. I have native bees on single broodboxes.

[Svengali]

Hi Robert (or anyone else who can answer this) I have not received anything from the apicentre - although I was warned that things might be delayed - but I want to get prepared before the year drags on too long.
Are you aware of any other suppliers of economically priced hives that I could look at?
JeremyB

[Jesse]

Jeremy the only other place I know of is Thorne but I'm not sure how competitively priced they are. Have you joined your beekeeping club? Someone mentioned at another forum that their local club get a discount from Thorne when buying equipment.

I forgot to update here about our meeting on Sunday at the apiary. The hive we looked at was preparing to swarm, there were a LOT of queen cells being built in the hive, must have been around 20 or so. The hive has two brood boxes on because they're wanting to split it, we broke off the queen cells and added another super. Here's a picture of me, it's taken with a camera phone so doesn't pick up the bluebells and primroses well but it's so pretty there under the trees with a carpet of flowers.

[Svengali]

When I looked at Thorne's site, I almost abandoned the idea of beekeeping altogether. Their prices are frightening!
I have found most of the equipment elsewhere at a fraction of their prices (look up "beekeeping" on ebay, & visit some of the trader's shops), but not yet come up with reasonable hives. Robert's link to the apiculture centre looks very promising, but I spoke to a very harrased proprietor who, since Robert posted the link, has been swept off his feet! Even if their £36 hive is a reality, I suspect that it could be next year before they can fulfil new orders - But if they can do it, surely there must be others!
JeremyB

[Jesse]

I know some of the members at our club go to beekeeping equipment auctions, perhaps there's something like that near you? You could register at the beekeeping association forum and ask there http://www.bbka.org.uk/phpBB2/index.php or I found this place, more expensive but not as much as Thorne http://www.beekeeping.co.uk/products.htm go to the bottom of the page and click on catalogue.

[Svengali]

Two very useful links - many thanks

[Robert_Brenchley]

Thornes' normal prices are astronomical, I don't know how they've got the nerve. The best time to get woodenware is actually New Yeaer, when they sell off all their seconds. Try the local beekeepers' Association, in case there's anything going second hand, or one of the auctions that's been mentioned.

The one time I tried to control swarming by breaking off cells was a omplete disaster. If you've got spare gear, demareeing or Taranoving, or a shook swarm are all better methods. Every possible method can be found here: http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/

[Robert_Brenchley]

I found one of my hives preparing to swarm today, with five queen cells and the broodbox packed out with wall to wall brood. So I demareed it, ie separated the queen from the brood. She's at the bottom in the original broodbox, with a little brood to hold bees down there, and lots of empty comb which they'll clean out ready for her to lay up. All the resrt of the brood is now at the top in a separate broodbox, with the queen cells, and one end propped up on a oupl of bits of stick to give them a separate entrance the virgins can use at mating time. They'll hatch out, mate, and start a new broodnest up there. At the end of the season I'll separate them and get an extra hive out of it.