Newbie to beekeeping and the flow hives

[Dawn_SD]

@Kiwi

Am I taking on to much at once or should I go for it?

Depends on how much time you have for beekeeping. Rather than type it all out again, here is what I wrote to somebody else with a similar question. Just multiply all of the hours by 3 if you are going to take on 3 hives:

Pics of the Flow frame in action

Hi Aimee, It can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. I would allow one hour per week per hive in spring and summer. In autumn and winter, one hour per month is probably plenty. You will probably need double that time for the first few months, while you get confidence in what to look for when inspecting a hive. However, once you have some experience, it gets faster. Extracting honey can be messy and time-consuming when you start out, if you don’t have a Flow hive. For me, I would say…

I think 2 hives is ideal to start with. Three strong hives is going to be demanding, but will give you a very good start with plenty of resources if one hive swarms or gets weakened for some other reason.

@Kiwi

He will even deliver them for me although he doesn’t know I’m inexperienced yet!

I presume he is selling them because he needs to give up beekeeping. You may be able to persuade him to mentor you for a short time, while you learn about beekeeping. Especially if you offer him some “compensation” for his time. My nucleus supplier offers training for beginners consisting of three visits with one to one training on your own hives for $165, just to give you an idea. I know you are NZ, and I am US, but I am sure you can work out something if you feel like it would help. I highly recommend it.

Let us know how it goes!