Topic: We'll be keeping bees from next year

[Melbourne12]

We've been thinking about keeping bees for a while.

There's a plot on one side of our allotment site that's under a line of mature trees.  Nothing grows there - even brambles have a struggle.

So we wrote to the Borough Council to ask if we could keep a couple of beehives on there.  We promised to look after the hives properly, best practice and all that, and pointed out that what with the decline in bees nationally, it could help with pollination.

Today they wrote back and said that provided we joined the Beekeepers Association and followed their advice, and limited ourselves to four hives in the first year, we could go ahead.

So we're booking ourselves on a beekeeping course next March, and with luck we'll be setting up a couple of hives soon afterwards.

Must resist jokes about getting a buzz by not beehiving ourselves  ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

Good for you. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Sinbad7]

Brilliant news Melbourne.

I wish you all the luck with them.

Sinbad

[ceres]

Great news!  Someone on our site has hives in a similar postition, we always have bees around our plots.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[manicscousers]

great news , something I've thought about but don't feel there is the room, it's a very small site  :)

[tonybloke]

same here! I've just assembled my 1st hive, Commercial brood  with national supers, top bee space.  ;)

[Tin Shed]

You lucky thing - my uncle kept bees and the honey was wonderful.
Someone on our site wanted to keep bees, but the council wouldn't let them in case the bees swarmed and stung someone!

[Melbourne12]

Thanks for the offers of advice, and for the encouragement.  I'm sure we'll be needing advice as soon as the practical part starts - it all looks so straightforward in theory, but I'm sure that the reality is more complicated.  A bit like golf.  ;)

Apparently, according to the local Beekeepers Association, there were some hives on the site years ago, but whoever kept them didn't manage them very well, and there were several swarms which alarmed the local residents.  So we're obviously on probation to make sure that the bees don't cause a nuisance.

[betula]

Good luck.

Robert is very experienced and I sure will be helpful :)

[OllieC]

Apparently, according to the local Beekeepers Association, there were some hives on the site years ago, but whoever kept them didn't manage them very well, and there were several swarms which alarmed the local residents.  So we're obviously on probation to make sure that the bees don't cause a nuisance.

It should be great fun, good luck!

I've stood in the middle of a swarm, wearing a t-shirt & they just fly around you... they look much worse than they are!

[Robert_Brenchley]

We've had several swarms on the site - I once broke into someone's plot to retrieve one of mine, others have been strangers - and nobody's been too bothered yet. Swarming bees don't normally sting, unless the weather's been bad and they're starving. But a swarm in flight can be an impressive sight. there are some which are so compact you hardly notice unless they go directly overhead, other times they're 50 yards across and the sky turns black with bees. If there are a lot of drones they sound like a jet aircraft.

[mike.jones]

I have also just got permission from the local Council to put bees on my allotment. They re all very positive to the extent that the committee yesterday agreed to donate a lavender plant for each plotholder (50 in all) to provide some late forage. I have kept bees for four years now but feel it is very important that gentle bees are kept on a public place like an allotment. I think I have found a supplier. Beginners will quickly find that the most difficult part of beekeeping is getting bees in the first place.  Totally agree with Robert on swarms, very impressive and usually gentle although they look pretty scary in flight. Good luck.

[manicscousers]

hiya, mike.jones, welcome to the site.. we'd love bees on our site but it is quite a small place and some of the plotholders have expressed concern..we'll have to keep on talking  ;D

[jonny211]

I'd love to keep bees but am unsure of how much it takes (money wise)to get them up and producing.

Also is there a lot of hubandry involved ie squashing the 'wrong' queen cells if they look like bad-uns or there's too many?

Jon

[Robert_Brenchley]

Raising queens is a lot easier than you probably think. You may be thinking more of swarm prevention; there is an old tradition of trying to prevent swarms by squashing the queen cells. It doesn't work.

[tonybloke]

 quote I'd love to keep bees but am unsure of how much it takes (money wise)to get them up and producing. quote
http://www.beekeeping.co.uk/products.htm
http://www.thorne.co.uk/

have a look on these!
good luck with your x-mas pressie list!! ;D ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Don't buy for Christmas! Thorne's are horribly expensive, but if you wait till New Year you can get the seconds half-price in their winter sale. The bees won't care if there are a few knots in the wood.

[Melbourne12]

Don't buy for Christmas! Thorne's are horribly expensive, but if you wait till New Year you can get the seconds half-price in their winter sale. The bees won't care if there are a few knots in the wood.

That sounds like good advice.  I've been told that if we want two working hives, then it would be sensible to buy three in order to make handling the brood combs easier.  Is that sensible? 

Also, here are some pictures of the extremely unprepossessing site for our apiary. We started tidying it up this weekend, and we'll get it shipshape over the next couple of months.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jznorman/sets/72157608581208320/

Also at the weekend we explained our plans to the two senior members of the allotment site.  They were a bit dubious at first.  The previous beekeepers (apparently there were two of them) had created problems, and one allotment holder had been taken to hospital with “over 100 stings”.  The story was that the beekeeper had turned up to tend his hives and the nearby plotholder had checked with him that it was OK to carry on digging, and had been told there would be no problem.  The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by a swarm of grumpy bees, which had stung him repeatedly.

We were also told that there had been nine swarms in the one season, from seven hives (!!!).  This does seem excessive, and I wondered whether the stories had gained in the telling over several years.

In the end I think we convinced them that there needn't be a problem.  The senior members keep quite a large number of chickens, and in the days of the previous apiary the chickens had been allowed to free range around the hives.  We said that we'd be delighted to resurrect that arrangement, so there may be some mutual benefit.  They have some electric fencing to keep the chickens on one side of the wire and predators and vandals on the other, so that could be an advantage for us.

[angle shades]

 :D lucky you, we aren't allowed bees on our site >:(/ shades x;

[Robert_Brenchley]

Nine swarms from seven hives is possible, but you don't want bees like that! It sounds like a swarmy strain, badly kept. but as you say, the tale may have grown in the telling. I should have at least two hives - you're better off with two colonies as if you lose one queen, lets say, you've got the other to fall back on. Spare gear is sometimes vital, but if you buy one or two nucs (small colonies, expensive!) or get swarms (usually free) then you're most unlikely to have any call for it the first year.

Bees can get really agitated when examined, but you really don't want bees like that. I get steadily fussier; my rule is that I don't mind the odd stong on the hand as I'm bound to squeeze a bee now and then. I wear the thin yellow rubber gloves you get in Tesco's, and by the time a sting has worked its way through it's nothing more than a slight itch anyway. If I get stings elsewhere, it's usually a sign they they're trying to sting, and I aim to requeen that colony as soon as I can arrange it. Someone in the local Beekeepers' Association should be able to suggest a source of good-tempered bees, and it really does make a difference.