Author Topic: bees (Read 5195 times)

the-goodlife · « **on:** May 04, 2009, 11:14:03 »

im thinking of keeping bees too? i would like some advise on what i need etc.

also i will need a bomb proof bee suit as im allergic to bee stings lol

Melbourne12 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2009, 12:40:02 »

FWIW I can tell you what we've just bought as newbies:

Hive parts (flat pack) bought from local BKA, who have Thorne "seconds" at a very good price. I think the whole hive with one brood box and one super came to £110 including mesh floor, queen excluder, crown board and roof.

Smoker
Bee brush
Uncapping fork
Hive tools (both types)
Large plastic tray to put hive boxes in during inspections
Large toolbox to contain paraphernalia

Bee suits
Gloves

The very best bee suits come from Sherriff's http://www.bjsherriff.co.uk/ But they are quite expensive

We got ours from Maisemore http://www.bees-online.co.uk/categories.asp?Sector_ID=5 The ones with the fencing type masks seem to be favoured over the more traditional round ones.

Rhubarb Thrasher · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2009, 12:44:59 »

there was a piece by Terry Wogan in the paper yesterday where some allotmenteers were banned by the local council from keeping bees - because they broke the "No livestock" rule

tonybloke · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2009, 14:04:48 »

Quote from: the-goodlife on May 04, 2009, 11:14:03

im thinking of keeping bees too? i would like some advise on what i need etc.

also i will need a bomb proof bee suit as im allergic to bee stings lol

first thing you need is this!!!
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6201762&WT.term=Guide+To+Bees+And+Honey&WT.campaign=1263&WT.source=google&WT.medium=cpc&WT.content=604447225&cshift_ck=1327704522cs604447225&WT.srch=1
(other bookstores are available)
;)
then you should join your local beekieepers group
http://www.yorkshirebeekeepers.org.uk/first.html
that'll do for a start!!

Twoflower · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2009, 14:49:57 »

Have you ever seen inside a bee hive, with bees in it? If not i think that is the best place to start. Find the local beekeepers assoication, they are usually only to happy to help, and it means if and went you do get bees you know who to turn to if you have problems.
[quote also i will need a bomb proof bee suit as im allergic to bee stings lol
[/quote]
I think that if you keep bees you are going to get stung!
:-\

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2009, 17:41:09 »

What do you mean by 'allergic'? Are you referring to local itching, pain, swelling, and the like, or to generalised effects such as hives or turning faint? The former is just a normal reaction. It always hurts, briefly, but you do gain some immunity in time, and you soon find that the swelling and itching disappear. Any generalised symptoms are due to allergy, and should be taken very serious.y.

I don't believe in wearing full plate armour, rather in keeping good tempered bees! It took me a while to learn what this means, but while I don't object to the odd sting on the hand (I wear marigolds, and a sting through those is just a pinprick), I won't keep bees which actively try to get me. Anything like that and they get requeened. Almost the only time I get a 'proper' sting these days is when a bee gets up my sleeve. Almost inevitably, it gets trapped between clothes and skin, and you can't blame it for stinging, any more than you can blame a bee I've half squashed getting a frame out.

tonybloke · « **Reply #6 on:** May 04, 2009, 18:51:48 »

i visited a local keeper this morning, and watched / helped as he checked through his 10 colonies. ( I should get my own bees in a fortnight)
you can't be too prepared!! ;)

Twoflower · « **Reply #7 on:** May 04, 2009, 20:08:57 »

Quote from: tonybloke on May 04, 2009, 18:51:48

i visited a local keeper this morning, and watched / helped as he checked through his 10 colonies. ( I should get my own bees in a fortnight)
you can't be too prepared!! ;)

Excising isn't it ;D I've started to help out with my father in law. He found a swarm for me and he is trying to re queen it. I find the hive fascinating it's just the noise they make when smokered as they go down into the comb that makes me want to run ;D

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #8 on:** May 04, 2009, 22:58:57 »

I always think they sound like a dynamo. The smell of an open hive is usually fantastic, unless they're making willowherb honey. That smells like rotting vegetation, but the end product is fine.

Twoflower · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2009, 10:28:16 »

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on May 04, 2009, 22:58:57

I always think they sound like a dynamo. The smell of an open hive is usually fantastic, unless they're making willowherb honey. That smells like rotting vegetation, but the end product is fine.

Thats put me off the stuff! I like star flower honey best, it's not to sweet and you can get it out of the jar!!!

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2009, 10:54:27 »

No need to be put off, it's lovely honey once it's been evaporated down. Starflower is actually borage.

Toadspawn · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2009, 22:47:43 »

It is difficult to beat heather honey for flavour and odour but it is a type of honey you like or hate, there is nothing in between, a bit like Marmite.

Twoflower · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2009, 22:59:46 »

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on May 06, 2009, 10:54:27

No need to be put off, it's lovely honey once it's been evaporated down. Starflower is actually borage.

I know i went to see a set of hives on the borage last year, thunder black sky and blue flowers, wish i'd had my camera :) What colour is willow honey? I've never tasted heather honey always to expentive and i don't know anybody how collects it. It's a long way to the moors from here :) and don't you have to cut the comb? I like marmite though : ;D

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2009, 08:59:41 »

Willow honey is rarely seen since at that point the weather is still fairly cold, and they're usually still using up stores rather than building them up. It's a main source of pollen, but they do collect nectar from it. One of my books notes that honey has been produced from it, but says nothing about colour.

The easiest way to use heather honey is as comb honey. It's commonly pressed out of the comb, which does involve cutting it out of the frame and destroying it.

tonybloke · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2009, 10:42:51 »

helped a mate put open mesh floors under his 2 new hives yesterday, and found and marked a queen !! ( not bad for a couple of beginners) ;)
My 2 nuc's should be ready for collection in a fortnight.
We off to visit the waveney beekeepers http://www.waveneybeekeepers.co.uk/
this afternoon at Barsham, they having an open day, and we (mate and me) have been invited over. ;) ;)

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2009, 13:51:39 »

Open mesh floors are a really good idea; like most things in beekeeping, they were tried in the 19th century, but in this case they didn't catch on till recently. I find I get a lot less chakbrood using them; it's a fungus disease of the larvae which, like most fungi, flourishes in the damp. Condensation in the hives vanished overnight when I first installed them.

Finding queens is important, and I promise it gets easier with practice!

the-goodlife · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2009, 15:46:34 »

well, here we go !! i have lots of bed time reading to do went to the local libary and took out all the books they had on bees :-\,

and the info on here has been great :)

Vortex · « **Reply #17 on:** May 11, 2009, 23:48:07 »

I was able to spend an hour yesterday with a beekeeper I know as he and his son tried to get their hive swarming under control after on of his (current) 16 hives got away from him on Friday.
In total he checked 3 hives whilst I was there, the first catching it just in time as the queen had slimmed right down and was within 24 hours of swarming. He put this queen and a chunk of brood into a new brood box and a virgin and most flyers back into the original hive.
The second hive, was his prized "soft" bees, and were in ideal health, no queen cells and the queen in laying prime.
The third hive, whilst the same size as the second, were more active. It's strange standing with bees all around you in just a veil, yet with the bees showing no inclination to sting. Whilst the queen in this hive showed no signs of slimming down to swarm, there were a number of good queen cells, and two of the brood combs were taken out as artificial swarms.

A facsinating hour, which is just as well, as two of us are taking on hives under his guidance, and more interesting we either caught his swarm that got away or another from nearby.

All this is in preporation for the demolition of 7 acres of nearby corsican pine and it replacement with heathland - which in 2 years will be covered in heather.

Next year I hope to have 2 hives of my own at home.

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #18 on:** May 12, 2009, 09:10:24 »

If he's got a hive of good bees he needs to raise queens from that one, and requeen the others. I've got strange bees (they've all got a stripe, and I don't have any all-striped colonies) are staking out one of my hives, and chasing away my black bees. Chances are there's a swarm out there considering moving in. I hope they do, I need to populate it!

Toadspawn · « **Reply #19 on:** May 12, 2009, 23:07:46 »

I caught a swarm yesterday. It was on the trunk of a tree so had to brush the bees into a box. They seem to have settled down in their new hive and they have done a lot of 'spring cleaning' and at the moment seem to be gentle in that they don't bother me when I am leaning over the hive watching them going in and out. Unfortunately they are stripey bees and not dark bees. However, hopefully, as it is a May swarm it will build up quickly and maybe produce some surplus honey. Might be able to take two colonies to the heather moors this year.

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Author Topic: bees (Read 5195 times)