We'll be keeping bees from next year

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

So jealous, want to keep bee's but dont have the space. Can you keep this thread updated as to how you go or blog about it somewhere please - would be interested to know how you get on.

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Yes, will do. There won't be much to report until March, when we've booked to go on a course which spans a couple of weekends. Although I can take a few pictures of the site to start off with.

But it might be worth contacting your local Beekeeping Association. I didn't realise this until yesterday, but our local one has an apiary in which you can rent space to put your own hive or hives. I don't suppose that they'd be able to accommodate a large number, but if someone wanted just a couple, then that might be a possibility. Of course, it depends on proximity. If you're on the IoW and the apiary is in Southampton it might not be such a good wheeze.

Cheers, I'll give them a shout. Who is it you are doing the course with? SWMBO wants to keep pigs so I was going to send her on a course as a present (we wont get pigs till we get a bigger place), a bee keeping course would make a good pressie also.

So who do you buy the bees and hives from - is that the beekeeping association or are there 3rd parties that do it?

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What will you do, put them in a little time machine so they can go back to last year

Sorry.

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Bi-atch pee!

The course is actually run by the local Beekeeping Association. You probably need to phone your local one - I see that there is an IoW one listed here: Local Associations

I don't know much about the best places to buy kit (yet ) but I think there's a lot of second hand stuff available. The local association will have honey extraction equipment for loan or hire.

It's worth looking at Beekeeping equipment and bees. Beekeeping supplies the worlds largest range from Thorne on line sales. for a comprehensive but expensive list of kit. Apparently they have a January sale of "seconds" which are good value. We think that we'll take advice locally as to what to buy.

If you're looking for a stocking-filler Christmas pressie, A Book of Bees: --and How to Keep Them: Sue Hubbell: Amazon.co.uk: Books is both informative and a charming story.

Some pictures of the extremely unprepossessing site for our apiary. We'll be tidying it up over the next couple of months. Apiary 2008 - a set on Flickr

Are you going to plant fruit trees/flowers around the hives?

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The November edition of 'Country Smallholding' magazine has an interesting article about the worldwide decline of Bees and its impact upon us.

There is also a book called 'A World Without Bees' which sounds pretty interesting. It's co written by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum. Afraid that I don't have the ISBN, but here is the link for you.. Amazon.co.uk: A World Without Bees: Alison Benjamin, Brian McCallum: Books

If poss, could you post up the details for the course?

There's little point in planting much, since the soil is too impoverished and the area too shaded for plants to prosper.

We might plant some blackberries along the eastern boundary to create a "hedge" that will force the bees to fly up above head height to avoid nuisance to other people on the allotments. If I can find anything that will thrive on the poor soil and produce flowers with nectar, then we'll have a go. Maybe some wildflower mixture scattered over the area might work.

Spring beekeeping classes 09
Middlesex details

are the courses that are run near where we live. The best way to find a course is through the BBKA Local Associations

If it's on a vacant allotment plot, surely the bees will help polenate the fruit and veg growing on the plots.
The hedge will then bee (sorry couldn't resist) counter productive won't it

Now that social group is back up and running again, how did you get on with your bee keeping?

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Take pleasure from leisure. Think it do it!

Here are a few pictures from earlier in the year ... Bees - a set on Flickr

I'll try to keep the set up to date and add a few more pix of our two hives.

Fingers crossed, we've had quite a successful year, for beginners. I bought a colony of bees to start us off, and we got given a swarm by the local BKA. Funnily enough, the swarm have been hugely more productive than the bees that we bought. I think I was swindled with my purchase - it's easy to con a beginner! They were supposed to be a new colony on new frames. I now realise that they were heavily infested with varroa mites, and on old frames.

Anyway, we'd found ourselves with two colonies by the end of May. The first lot were housed at the local BKA apiary, and the swarm at their "out-apiary" awaiting a visit by the bee inspector to check their health. We were keen to join in with the BKA, and in return were given much useful advice. During the summer, we made weekly inspections, and even the weaker colony got to the point where they filled the main box with brood and started to show signs of swarming.

We managed to dissuade them from swarming, and actually got a modest harvest of honey from the stronger hive. I bought an extractor from eBay (bargain!) and we spent a couple of interesting weekends extracting, straining, and bottling honey. I read somewhere that most beekeepers start with bees because of the honey, and most people leave beekeeping for the same reason. I can see why. It's a major exercise, and I can imagine if we had to deal with 20 hives instead of 2 that it might stop being fun and become a chore instead.

We had some stupidity over our allotment plans. One old plonker objected to our plans, and we've had to move to another allotment site. That's a bit of a bugger, since the arduous clearing of brambles and establishment of trees was all for nothing. Ah well, all good exercise, I suppose. Sadly the local BKA wouldn't back us up. Their policy is to cave in to all objections, however ill founded.

But that little problem aside, we're now settling down for the winter. Our two hives are currently in a local churchyard. It's a fabulous location in terms of forage for the bees, but of course isn't as secure as an allotment site. We've just put wire netting around the hives as a precaution against woodpeckers, which just love to discover a nice box of insects as a Christmas treat. Both colonies were flying right into mid-November to forage on the ivy, and we've provided slabs of fondant to make sure that they don't starve.

So, apart from the traditional Boxing Day treatment of oxalic acid against varroa, and maybe the provision of more fondant, the lids will remain on until next season. Provided they don't get any of the unpleasant diseases that confined insects can suffer from, they should be out and about when the snowdrops, crocuses, and willows signal the start of spring.

nice write up Nippy, it sounds like all is going well and the phot of the swarm marching up into the hive looks awsome.

it sounds like we are in a similar position at the end of our first season. I bought a nuc in april but instead of getting a honey crop this year I've expanded to 2 colonies and a nuc. I'm hoping to get through winter with a max loss of 1 out of 3.

it sounds like your local BKA is a lot better than mine, they dont even have an apiary, they've cancelled the beginners course this winter and are basically doing bugger all

where about in the coutry are you?


here's my litte corner of a someset orchard