Notes from an old beginner (From Smallholder)

Notes from an old beginner

9:50am Wednesday 27th July 2011 in Bees and Honey

My first contact with bees, when I was 18, was on a holiday job on a farm in Scotland, where I helped old man Lindsay to produce honey using a wooden barrel extractor, with his instructions given in an Ayrshire country accent. He said his German prisoners of war had been able to understand him better than us Sassenachs.

Many years later, a local allotment beekeeper tried to get me to join local beekeepers: but I didn't. Then I talked to our coach driver on a Canadian trip who was a real enthusiast, and after our return I went to Cambridge Beekeepers apiary at Wandlebury, saw the apiary and signed on the line for the beginners' course.

I enjoyed the excellent course which made me realise that there was a lot more to good beekeeping than I first thought. That spring I went to the Peterborough Beekeepers' auction to buy a WBC hive and suit.

I chose a WBC because our plan was to have a traditional looking hive in the garden. So after renovation of the hive and buying new frames and foundation I considered myself ready to start. All our neighbours said they were content for bees to be in our garden.

In May, I was given a nucleus of bees from the Huntingdon Association and I was set up. Much of what I had learned so far seemed to be falling into place; the bees were multiplying and behaving perfectly. Then one day a neighbour called to say he had been painfully stung by one of my bees.

To maintain good home and neighbour relationships the bees were moved to a farm site. The WBC is still in our garden, looking very traditional and is set up for any interested swarm, but no takers so far.

That year I extracted about 15 lb honey and the bees survived the winter. Good, I'm now a beekeeper. At a bee related evening event, I was talking to an experienced beekeeper and he said that I would probably not be satisfied with only one hive, which was my plan, but that I would expand to two and probably more; he had 8 colonies.

Looking for new adventure, I said I was available to collect a swarm and soon had a call for one which was on the inside of a recently re-netted, perfectly kept, vegetable garden. The first part went well, with bees walking into an upturned waste paper basket, but the few remaining bees insisted moving outside the net each time I had been on the outside to capture them; a garden trowel was useful. I had several interested spectators who, despite my warnings that bees can be unpredictable, insisted on getting close for photos. There were no mishaps, the swarm was hived and it thrived; I now had two colonies.

I volunteered to be a bee buddy for a beginner which made me re-think some of the habits I had adopted. I enjoyed showing him my colonies and helping him get set up.

He was offered a swarm and all went well for his first season, with his hive down his garden. I had told him that in my experience that the second year is even more interesting than the first.

Then what do you say when, a normally calm, bee buddy’s wife phones you to ask what she should do when, after watching her husband do an inspection, is chased into the house with some normally good tempered bees in her hair?

New beekeepers should look for chances to accompany experienced beekeepers on their inspections; I have found them very instructive. They don't all do it well; I have experienced impatience and roughness. But usually it is a beneficial experience.

For example, if there are a lot of bees on a frame and you don't want to shake them off, if you can blow on an area, they will move away and then you can see the cells. If you have followers when you want to take off your bee suit, if you move into a hedge gap or shrubs then the bees will lose interest.

Low moments are rare but include the loss of a colony to wasps, when on the previous inspection, seeing a couple of wasps, I could have reduced the hive's entrance. And to find a colony, early in the year, to have died which when tested was disease free: so the cause was probably starvation.

As experience is gained there are fewer 'what do I do now' moments. Earlier this year, during an inspection, searching for the queen, with my head in a cloud of bees, I noticed the farmer's dog by my leg wanting acknowledgement, which he clearly was not going to get. All he got was a tense 'clear off'; he wandered off, bored.

The rewarding moments are an inspection of a healthy colony on a warm day and listening to the sound they make. It is a thrill when you find and mark your first queen.

It is enjoyable to watch the bees comings and goings trying to work out where they've been from the pollen colours. It's a pleasure to give honey to family and friends and receive appreciative comment.

I continue to be fascinated by these stinging insects whose purpose in life is to follow orders, multiply and to produce honey and to continue to enjoy the company and advice from a diverse community of beekeepers.