BeeHive

[Citrine]

...I just bought one!!!!!!!!!

[saint-spoon]

How cool is that? There was a lady in the box the other week who kept bees soley for their pollonations services; the honey was a bonus.

[Citrine]

well, it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing. Ive always liked bees, they are fascinating creatures, really gorgeous.

So, I bought a hive!! dunno anything about keeping bees, but, I figure, that if i can offer a warm cosy house for the dwindling bee population, its a bonus.
I probably will feel guilty about nicking their honey, but need to look inot things a bit (lot!!) more......

AM SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

[chucky egg]

ohh wow!!!!
How cool is THAT?!!!
so many people I know - including so many on here - would LOVE to do that
You must keep us updated with everything you do. A Dear Diary. You can then you're own space on the site her!!!
I am so excited for you!!!!

[wendy]

Wow I also am I would love one.
Do you have to clean them out and empty the honey as I don't like it. I would rather just leave well alone.
Wendy

[Citrine]

Wendy, stop asking me questions, cos I havent a clue

Theres a bee keeping course down the road from me, think it might be prudent to go......

How difficult do you think it would be to make candles??

[chucky egg]

There's a candle making whatsit on the siteisn't there? it amde it look very easy.... ...

[saint-spoon]

Wouldn't it be good if you could only have a couple of bees that make just enough honey for your own requirements with a little bit over for friends and family? you can do it with chickens and sheep but i think that the whole bee thing has an untamperable size in order to work. I wonder how you make a bee hive, it cant be that difficult. i haven't got chickens yet and I want bees..... it's so unfair.

[Citrine]

He he he, SS you are funny!!

You can build your own hive, im not that way inclined, im afraid! Apparently bees are obsessive - all measurements for them are 9mm - anything bigger, they fill in with wax!! Must be to do with predators etc.

Just a freshly learnt snippit for you!!

[rachell24]

ooooh, I'd love a beehive. cant wait to hear more about it all!

Rachel

[saint-spoon]

I can feel a project coming on, one involving a 9mm ruler and lots of glue and stuff. Stuff is good, all sorts of things are made from it if you use the right glue.

[Mo]

Well, the best of luck.
I tried for a bit. It all started with an evening class in bee-keeping, just to find out if it was the sort of thing I'd want to do. But the tutor was dead keen and kept egging us on to buy hives, and offering us swarms that he'd captured.

I found that 1 hive and 2 hands were not enough.
You need to puff smoke at them to keep them docile (they fill themselves with honey to save their stores from the fire, then can't sting), and lift the frames out gently to look for queen cells. Not a job for clumsy folk like me.
And I never figured out how to avoid having to get more and more hives. If they are crowded they want to split into new colonies, so if you miss a queen cell (e.g. if the weather is bad for a week and you can't look when you should) then as soon as a new queen is safely sealed and developing the old queen flies off with half of the bees and most of the honey.

I found it worked better when a friend paired up so we could do it together, but then she moved, so she took the hives. I was getting allergic to stings by then, having had a crowd of angry bees inside my veil on one occassion.

I'm sure you will do better.

My mouth is watering at the thought of your tea time treats. New laid eggs (with soldiers) followed by bread and honey.
And what my mother used to call "best babies butter".

[ged]

Most interesting!I am interested in bee-keeping myself,I think Mo has the right idea,a shared project sounds practical to me.The late John Seymour summed his life up by saying if he had to do the SS life again he would not try to do everything himself.I look forward to further posts with interest.
atb
ged

[Citrine]

Well, we now have a 'real beekeeper'contact. He is going to give us guidance. Had a chat with him last night, he sounds really knowledgable (luckily!!!)
Going to see him for some hand on experience, and he said he will give us a nucleus of bees. (?). he said his are quite docile, and he has different strains which we could choose. ("could I have the stripey ones please?")

Mo, I'm glad youhave some experience, I'll be screaming for your help/ideas/knowlledge at some point, hope you dont mind!!! Did you find any particular book better than another? We've been advised to get a few.

Will keep you posted on how we get on - this might end up a very long thread though, so be warned Richard!! He he he!!!

[Mo]

Have you joined the local beekeepers association?
I felt very feeble little woman-ish among all the experts and DIYers, but there are demonstrations in summer, sometimes sales of spare equipment and you can borrow their extractor.
My experience is not much to go on - I gave up.

Have you got your smoker, wellies, hat, veil and white boiler suit? (bees don't like the smell of blue dye, and you wouldn't want to annoy them, would you?!)