# Bees



## stephenpug

Well just bought my first bee hive (no bees yet) and I have ordered another for the spring compleat with bees so hopefully I will get lots of honey come august does anyone keep bees that can give me some tips as there is only so many books you can read and I am going cross eyed reading them all


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## Zebedee

Hi Stephen

I may have a couple of excellent books you can have - but will have to search. May have given them away already???

I used to keep bees and loved it - but I became allergic to the stings and almost got to the stage of having to carry one of those syringes you jab into your thigh to counteract anaphylactic shock!!

You may have to get another keeper to "do" your hives if you are away for more than a week, especially early in the season when they are making queen cells as fast as they can!! Otherwise you will lose most of them to swarms. 8O 

Be careful where you get your bees from. There are at least two bee diseases to look out for. Also make sure somebody doesn't unload an aggressive hive onto you!!

Beekeepers are generally very nice people, but if you have a hive of nasty little brutes the temptation to pass them on is considerable - hopefully before any queen mating flights from your other "tame" hives. 8) 

Good luck. It's a great hobby, and I still miss talking to my bees on a hot sunny afternoon.

Dave


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## stephenpug

Thank you Dave I would love any books you can find (let me know how much you want for them plus postage) I am getting my bees of a bee inspector called Richard lindsey (the great little honey co Stafford) I have known him a number of years and he has promised me very gentle prolific bees lol , but we are looking forward to the challenge


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## Zebedee

Brother Adam lived to be 99, so there's something to be said for the hobby.

http://www.buckfast.org.uk/site.php?use=bees

Can't find the books and Mrs Zeb thinks I gave them away years ago to someone else who was starting up. If I do find them they are yours for the cost of postage - or if we meet up at a show or something they will be free.

As I said already - beekeepers are nice people! :wink: :lol:

Dave


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## stevethebeekeeper

http://www.amazon.com/Beekeeping-Dummies-Howland-Blackiston/dp/0764554190

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bees-Bottom-Garden-Alan-Campion/dp/0907908977

Two books for you. The first one is 'americanised' but still has good info and pictures in.

A lot of the 'older' books are quite heavy reading. I do recommend getting beecraft as that has lots of good info in.

One thing I will say is get on a course with a local association. They will teach you the basics. They should also help mentor you as well. It will also hopefully save you from inadvertently killing your bee's.

You should also register them on the NBU Beebase register.

There is also loads of advice on beekeepingforum.co.uk I used to use the BBKA forum but the new forum software is well and truly naff and killed it some what.

It is a great hobby and I love it. The honey and wax comes in handy as well.  What sort of hive did you get?


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## stevethebeekeeper

I did forget to mention have a good read of the beebase leaflets about various diseases and mites. You will need to know some as they are notifiable to the ministry.


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## stephenpug

Hi Steve thanks for the reply i have been on the basic course and also supscribed to beecraft (christmas present) but i have to admit richard lindsey has been very good,i am going for national bee hives as these are the most popular but we are getting very inpatient cant wait for spring and the arrival of our hive proper


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## stevethebeekeeper

Good luck when you get them. Try and get your second hive going through the summer with an artificial swarm. It will mean a slight loss in honey but it is worth the extra security as you go through the winter. It also means that you have the ability to rob one if you end up with a queen loss or other problems in the other.


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## Kev1

Do you store them under the bed?
or in the gas locker !!!


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## stephenpug

stevethebeekeeper said:


> Good luck when you get them. Try and get your second hive going through the summer with an artificial swarm. It will mean a slight loss in honey but it is worth the extra security as you go through the winter. It also means that you have the ability to rob one if you end up with a queen loss or other problems in the other.


well steve i have done what you said and got another hive put the nuc in last friday (another £120 for the nuc) it is all adding up to a bloody expensive jar of honey all i am doing is feeding sugar syrup1-1 but not a lot going into the supers hope you are doing better than me lol


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## rogerblack

I would offer you the bees that I've just discovered have moved into the eaves/cavity wall of my house here but you probably wouldn't be interested as I assume from their appearance they're Mason bees or similar, they certainly don't look like honey bees. 

I thought I'd been hearing buzzing near the bed in the mornings but had put it down to just another senior moments thing :roll:


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## stevethebeekeeper

Nucs are a little pricey. I have only ever bought one, that was from an association member when I first started. A lot cheaper than those that sell them for profit.

I now give away swarms to friends that need them, it can be a gamble for them, but it is free. So if they lose them it is not a huge loss.

Until the start of last week mine were still being fed due to the weather. I use fondant as it is far easier to deal with than syrup.

But with this weather the past few days I have supers now filling quickly and just put a third one on yesterday. I expect to extract this weekend as it is OSR honey. We shall see what the weather does!

I shall be looking at doing some AS splits as well to replace my winter loses.


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## stephenpug

stevethebeekeeper said:


> Nucs are a little pricey. I have only ever bought one, that was from an association member when I first started. A lot cheaper than those that sell them for profit.
> 
> I now give away swarms to friends that need them, it can be a gamble for them, but it is free. So if they lose them it is not a huge loss.
> 
> Until the start of last week mine were still being fed due to the weather. I use fondant as it is far easier to deal with than syrup.
> 
> But with this weather the past few days I have supers now filling quickly and just put a third one on yesterday. I expect to extract this weekend as it is OSR honey. We shall see what the weather does!
> 
> I shall be looking at doing some AS splits as well to replace my winter loses.


Been up and had a look today both hives have just started to put I little honey in the first super but I am going to the iisle if Wight for a week on Friday so I have now got 2 supers on each you never know your luck lol (i hope it will also give them a bit more space)


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