Completely new to bees!

Hi,

I am doing my research into keeping bees and just want to know where to start. I am completely new to it and I don’t know anyone who keeps bees. My main reason for starting this is due to the decline in bees that I keep reading about and I think I can offer a great place for some bees to live. I live on a small holding (in Cumbria, North west England, 1 hour below the scottish boarder) so animal husbandry is not new to me and I think I can put in the time they require to be well cared for.

So, where do I begin? Are there any online tutorials for first timers? Etc. etc

Many Thanks,
Larissa

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Hi Larissa,

I started beekeeping last year and will tell you how I started, hope that will give you guidance on how to start.

  1. I viewed all the beekeeping videos posted by FlowHive on YouTube especially the Beginners with Louise
  1. Watched other YouTube videos with beekeeping

  2. Went to beginners course with the local beekeeping club in my area

Before I started the course I knew at this time I was ready to have bees, so I placed an order for Nuc with a local beekeeper.

I was very fortunate that the beekeeper gave me a very personalized service, I left my Flow Brood Hive with him and he let his bees build their colony in there. Once he had a new queen and she was laying well, he called me to pick up the hive. I felt very supported by the whole club.

This year I plan to have 3/4 hives so I don’t stress of losing the hive over winter.

I hope this helps

Paras

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thankyou! I will start looking at these videos :slight_smile:

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I used to keep bees in Cumbria but not as far north as you. Join a local beekeeping club. If you go to
https://www.bbka.org.uk/about/local_associations/find_an_association.php you can find your nearest one. They will be running beginners’ classes soon. Getting your hands into somebody else’s bees and finding a mentor are the best ways to get started.
Honeybees are not in danger by the way but solitary bees and some bumblebees are. You can help them by reducing your pecticide use, keeping wild areas and planting trees and flowers for them. Where in Cumbria are you?

I found the beekeeping videos by the University of Guelph on youtube to be excellent.

I also love the books by Michael Bush, and Brother Adam.

Can’t wait for spring to get my bees!

Simon

In your research you will most likely read that if you asked 10 beekeepers the same question you will get 12 different answers. Read as much as you can, join online forums, watch and subscribe to beekeeper accounts on youtube such as Michael Palmer, 628Dirtrooster, Fat bee man, etc. There is so much out there on the internet. I have included two web links that have a ton of good information.

In the end you have to do what is comfortable for you but try to focus it on what is best for your bees. This is probably one of the friendliest forums that I frequent. Some of the others don’t have as many users that are as open minded and tend to get nasty and critical if you don’t do things the traditional way. Processes and techniques evolve over time. I have used this example before: If technology hadn’t evolved we would still be wiping our backsides with leaves.

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/textlinks.html

http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

Welcome to Beekeeping!

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