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I've got Bees :D
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random

Joined: 01 Jul 2006
Posts: 158
Location: Sk�ne, Sweden

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 6:47 am Post subject:
I've been working my 2 hives for 3 years now and never been stung. I work them without gloves too. They're Buckfast types, very gentle and very productive. I'd always recommend two hives rather than one, that way if one has a problem you have the raw materials in the other to help correct it.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 7:05 am Post subject:
Wonderful that you have gentle bees Random, definately the best of all worlds there. Have to say mine are generally very good, nobody has been stung in a couple of years now, but we do practice a fairly minimal intervention beekeeping these days, this colony seems to prefer it, They reallya re fascinating critters though, wouldnt be without them now if I could help it

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 8:00 am Post subject:
Mine are just the normal mongrels that you find in these parts. I was tempted to requeen with Buckfasts but was advised by more experienced beekeepers that you need to keep requeening with pure buckfast as the crosses can be tempermental. I usualy get stung a few times a year. The first always reacts with plenty of swelling but usualy by the second or third just mild irritation.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 10:02 am Post subject:

sally_in_wales wrote:

Wonderful that you have gentle bees Random, definately the best of all worlds there.

Have to say mine are generally very good, nobody has been stung in a couple of years now, but we do practice a fairly minimal intervention beekeeping these days, this colony seems to prefer it, They reallya re fascinating critters though, wouldnt be without them now if I could help it

can you explain what you mean about minimal interventionist (dunno looks like a real word...) beekeeping and how frequent your visits are compared to 'normal' beekeeping.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 10:17 am Post subject:

all we do these days is check them in the spring for signs of varroa & treat if needed (fortunately not needed this year) then put supers on in the summer and take them off in the autumn. We leave them a full super of hney and only feed if they look like they need it. Thats it pretty much unless we see a real reason to rootle round in the brood box. Mostly we just let them get on with it. Weve been very lucky that varroa isnt a big problem in this area, plus ours were rescue bees who had been abandoned for several years with varroa strips in place, which is a bad thing as it tends to make the mites resistant to treatment, so we were advised by our inspector not to dose just for the sake of it unless we saw signs of mites as it probably would make the problem worse.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 10:26 am Post subject:

Well I've finally taken the plunge and contacted my local Beekeeping association - I've been wanting to have a go at this for ages - My only problem being whether I can have bees in the garden and if I cant where else I could put them

I recently went to a talk about beekeeping whilst at Oakleaf Lammas camp and its really wetted my appetite again - Even the kids are keen on the idea - Here they are wearing the beekeeping suits

I wonder how long it will be before I get a reply - I'm all excited now

Joanne

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 10:31 am Post subject:
What about checking for swarming? I'm keen to find out just how much work is involved with a bee hive. Most books talk of checking every 7-10 days in spring and summer.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 7:27 pm Post subject:

I agree with Sally_in_wales. I look at my bees on a daily basis, but from the outside. If there are a lot of bees hanging around the outside of the hive not doing very much between May/August then chances are they are congested & might be preparing to swarm. I keep mine on a double brood system which is usualy more than enough room for even a very prolific queen. You can tell a lot just by looking at the entrances. If you see plenty of pollen going in then the queen is laying. If you see drones present in the late autumn (November) the queen has probably stopped laying or has died so you need to get in ther early the next season & provide them with brood of the right age so they can raise new queens or requeen with a bought in.
Every time you open a hive you are disturbing the bees so if all looks well from the outside I tend to leave them alone.
If you are worried about swarms escaping just keep an empty hive with some old comb in it & nine times out of ten the swarm will head to it.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 8:06 pm Post subject:
We artificially swarmed ours earlier this year by just simply splitting the double brood box and letting them sort it out. Two happy hives later, it all seems to have worked ok. We took a gamble on there being queen cells and it must have been a good hunch.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 06 7:59 am Post subject:

If you do that & there are queen cells present chances are they will still swarm. You are better seperating them by removing 2 or 3 combs of eggs/larvae, shaking off the bees & placing over the original brood box with an excluder between. After a while the young nurse bees will come up to attend the developing larvae.
If you then separate the following day you have a nucleus with plenty of young bees which are the best nurses &eggs/larvae of the right age for them to raise a new queen from.
Your original colony will have the queen with plenty of space to lay in, & all the older foragers which should still gather a good crop.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 06 8:38 am Post subject:

I've had a reply from Lancaster BeeKeepers already - they run introductory beekeeping courses for members at the end of August and their next meeting is on the 19th August and is all about using wax in products which sounds really interesting

So I'm probably going to take the plunge and have a go - At the very least I have spent �20 on some interesting talks and at the best I'll end up with my own hives

Joanne

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 06 9:06 am Post subject:
Go for it Joanne, you will get a chance to meet other beekeepers & hopefully get some invitations to go & assist when they are working their bees, that way you will learn a bit before you fork out to much money.

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