Im Wayne, a short summary of my beginning in bees is that I have had an interest for years, always saying I will one day. Not too long ago I went to The Ginger Factory and Yandina, near Buderim, spoke to the beekeeper there lots and he suggested some books and ways to start. Story short, I now have all the gear, but no bees, and still waiting. Im in the Ipswich area, and on the way to joining the Club here but by the time I get to go to a meeting, then have the committee accept me then go onto the clubs Nuc list it could be months before I get my bees, they are of good price, but am after hopefully something a bit quicker then that. Hoping to hear from anyone in the SEQ area who supplies Nucs who could help me out?!
Wayne, I would contact @JeffH on the forum, he is up in Buderim and is likely supplying NUCs still (although I am assuming he has a waiting list too).
I have several hives up in the Ipswich area and they all do extremely well… so you are in the right part of the world with some excellent resources (namely @JeffH) on your doorstep.
Thanks, I think I may have found a nuc, if all goes well. I have been watching JeffH on youtube and thought it was quite amazing how I kicked started my bee journey right in his back yard. If something does halt this nuc opportunity I will definitely look at JeffH as I was thinking of asking him anyway.
If you go to @JeffH, I am sure you will get a “ripper” of a queen and a very strong starter colony!
Jeff doesn’t do things by halves - your bees will be strong before he hands them over, not just a 3 or 4 frame nucleus. He also does mentoring if you need some guidance in the early days.
Thanks, Im pretty sure the nuc Im getting is decedent from JeffH. I am still unable to message him, would some one be kind enough to get him to contact me on here?
Hi Wayne, sorry for not responding earlier. Nothing has come through in private messages. I’m really pleased if the nuc your getting came from my bees originally. So many of the nucs I sell to new beekeepers end up not doing very well. I’m selling all my new queens & keeping the old ones for myself. Not a good plan. However, if your nuc doesn’t work out, I’ll have a new queen for you if you want a colony from me.
PS, My phone number is in my profile if you ever want to phone me. cheers
Hi Jeff. Thanks, Ill definitely keep in touch. Im actually interested to here your thoughts on joining a club or not. Im not really sure if I want to commit to one as I already belong to 2 in other areas and feel I can get plenty of help and mentoring on here and elsewhere.
Honestly, for what it’s worth, I’m sure there’s a good club in your area but I think you’ll do just as good or even better by not joining one.
I think the best advice anyone could give would be to keep your beekeeping uncomplicated. There’s only a few main points to remember. Keep your hive clean & easy for the bees to keep clean. Keep your frames straight & in good order & don’t be frightened of replacing comb with fresh foundation, if needed. Keep the worker population up. Exercise swarm control. Don’t persevere with old queens. Also acquire an understanding of bee culture. Two great videos on Youtube to watch are “Nova tales of a Beehive” & “City of Bees”.
Once you have an understanding of what bees do in the wild, then you can apply that understanding to your beekeeping.
He went to a club meeting once, I think. Didn’t find it useful, but found an old-timer experienced beekeeper to show him what he needed to know. Now I think Jeff has a natural talent and a feel for bees, so he probably didn’t need a club. Most people benefit a bit. Even more would benefit from a mentor or friend who has an established track record of keeping bees (done it for more than 5 years, let’s say).
So I am not Jeff, but I would suggest you join a club in the area where your hive will be located and try a few meetings. The membership is usually pretty cheap. Local knowledge can be immensely helpful - it was to me when I moved 6,000 miles to a different climate. The key point is local knowledge - if I moved my hives into a different climate zone, I would need new local knowledge from that area too. Right now, I am pretty comfortable with the way things are where my hives are located.
So, if you are not getting anything out of it after a while, drop it later. Meanwhile, you are giving yourself the opportunity to pick up some nice gems.
Thanks heaps guys, I was intending on joining, its cheap but so far Ive had little help other then buy their stuff only and I cant join for a long while… my main reason for joining was help getting going and renting the extractor…
Hi Dawn, I have never been to any club meetings. When I started out, I was commercial fishing & spent a lot of time at sea. I never knew when I was going to be home. Plus I started growing my own veges. Going to club meetings never even entered my head. I was lucky I had 3 good mentors. One was a prominent local queen breeder (Clive Covey), the other was an elderly full time beekeeper who sold a bit of gear. The other one was a retired beekeeper who loved fishing. I shouldn’t forget a fourth mentor, the son of the queen breeder (George) who sold me my first hive. I can still recall the passion George had in his voice whenever he talked about bees.
Thanks for setting me straight, @JeffH! At least I got the mentorship bit sort of right… I think you would be a great mentor too. If I ever moved to Buderim, you would be top of my list of people to bribe to put up with my annoying questions!
