I have now expanded to 9 colonies this year, I might not get alot of honey but the aim this year was expanding the colonies for future security.
I have also changed the naming structure of my queens, the way I now name the queens e.g. Green.3.4 (Colour of the year, 3 represent how many generation of queens is from my own breeding, 4 represent the number of the queen in the year relating to the generation queen.
If all 9 colonies come out of winter and are strong, I plan on holding a beginners course in beekeeping.
Just joined the forum and starting to assemble some Bee Keeping knowledge before purchasing our Flow Hives, we are newbies! Already watched many videos and read up on lots of info. Me (Jim) and wife (Jo) have a small holding near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, UK and now looking into getting some bees both for aiding the environment and of course some lovely honey. Getting quite excited about it but understand weāre coming to the end of the season here for bee keeping, etc.
First couple of questions:
Am I right itās too late to start a hive now late summer UK and wait for Spring, or could I start ok now and theyād survive ok through the winter assuming they could get some stores going within the brood box?
Unsure of the right Flow Hive size for the UK, am I ok with the 6 frame or do I need the 7 frame to aid getting through the winter with extra stores of honey? Website seems to be suggesting 7 frame would be better for our cold winters but multi deals are only on the 6 frame hivesā¦ Any advice appreciated on what others do here (or is best) in the UK.
Look forward to chatting and learning in the future.
Regards
Jim & Jo
Hi Jim and Jo,
Welcome to the world of bee keeping. I started 3 years ago, in Sheffield, with a flowhive so a little head of you. Second question first: Any flows hive size is fine for the UK, but decide now what type of hive you are wanting longer term. World wide Langstroth are most popular, but in the UK āNationalā, which are smaller, are more common. Decide now as changing later on is expensive. There are pros/cons of both. I have langstroth, and they come in 8 and 10 frame sizes of brood and super boxes [6 or 7 flow frame sizes, as flow frames are larger]. I didnāt realise this, so when my flow hive arrived as 6 framed size and my other new equipment was larger I had to adapt things.
6 framed size is fine for our UK winters, and your down in Lincolnshire, which is a little warmer and milder.
Your first question: Is it to late? Well it depends. Starting a hive if from a swarm/ nuc is just about possible but the summers flow of nectar is all but done here [may be different your way], and you are right they need time to build up stores. You could feed sugar. If you have a local beekeeper who can help guide you that would be ideal, and also perhaps supply you with a small hive to get used to bees and working them. Thereās a lot to learn.
Have you done a local course yet? Do you ahve a good local bee association? Here in Sheffield I did the course, and made āBee buddiesā. We chat and share our successes and failures for encouragement and learning. So networking helps. we help each other out if a new queen is needed etc.
So keep reading, its not too late to āstartā a hive in my opinion, but I think youād need a good sized nuc to get things ready for winter time.
It is always good to start your beekeeping with a course, however sometimes you end up with bees 1st and learn as you go. Itās never too late to start, however starting late in the season means you would have to feed your bees to get through the winter. I normally feed my bees after I take the super off, as I have taken all the honey. However they do bring in the ivy honey in and Autumn honey which they consume.
Sometimes finding a colony late in the year is harder than and it is possible to get one easy in spring. Also it is best to get bees locally from a reputable breeder who has gentle bees. Starting with a very defensive bees can be off putting for beginners and makes your experience unpleasant.
The other think I would recommend is that you start with 2/3 colonies, it is more expensive but it is worth it in the long run. Starting with one colony is more stressful as you always worried about it surviving and also you donāt have any other colonies to compare your colony with. With 2/3 colonies you can salvage a weaker colony and have a better success.
I started with 6 frame and there is only one bee supplier in the UK that does hives / parts for 8 frame Langstroth. However if you go for the 7 frame FlowHive you have many choices for additional brood box or parts in the UK.
The most common hive in the UK is British National Hive, the frames are smaller and have longer handles on the frame which makes it easy to hold. You can get a FlowHive Super only if you choose to go with that option.
If you were near by, you could always pop over and see my set-up, I have 9 colonies of which have 6 in FlowHives and 3 as back-up colonies for next year.
I do plan teaching a beginner course next year, so the additional colony would be good for the beginners to open up and learn from.
In my head Iāve leaned towards the 7 frame (10 frame) boxes as planning to run only 1 brood box with the super so a little more room for brood, bees and storage for winter, however now Iāve heard the 6 frame (8 frame) box is ok in the UK I need to have some further thought as these have deals on them whereas the larger ones donāt???
I think our local bee club will be the Leicestershire & Rutland Bee Association which on first glance appears to be a good one and we will plan to join that soon. Hopefully they will run some courses for us to learn further.
Do you leave the super on in winter with honey in for food for the bees or take it off?
I donāt leave the supers on for winter since the ivy honey the bees collect sets. Therefore I shall remove the supers after harvesting end of this month.
I let the bees clean-up the supers so I can store them away for winter.
As @Paras says, take it off. I have some additional reasons for doing so though:
Bees start sealing everything with propolis in the autumn. When they seal gaps in the Flow frames with propolis, it effectively sticks the frame together, making it almost impossible to operate the open/close mechanism the next season.
You shouldnāt have a Flow super on without a queen excluder. If the queen lays in the Flow super, the cocoons mess up the Flow mechanism. With your climate, your bees will cluster in late Autumn until early spring, and they tend to cluster where the food is. If that is above a queen excluder, the queen can get left behind and die from hypothermia. Not good!
Hi Fran, I allow the bees to consume the ivy honey over winter, I donāt collect that. On the larger colonies I would double brood and on smaller colony itās single brood.
