2019 Beginner's Journey in Beekeeping in the UK

9 March 2019  |  Admin

FarmCare is buzzing - literally!

 

Actually, we'll be buzzing very soon, perhaps towards the end of May.  Yes, we are taking the plunge and getting into bees.  These little insects have long been a source of fascination to me.  They work as a team, they are incredibly important in the food chain, they need our help, they have loads of girl power, boy bees are rather similar to humans and make me laugh, and of course they give us honey.  In addition to all of this, they offer the opportunity to learn.  There is so much to beekeeping.  It is a simple, yet complex past time and who doesn't enjoy a new challenge?  Beekeeping has gone of for years, all over the world, but it's rare to find a beekeeper who thinks he knows it all.  At its simplest form, you have a hive and bees.  If you are lucky, you might be able to completely ignore your bees and they'd thrive.  But beekeeping is also relatively expensive to get into, and if you have a hive wipe out from predators, disease, a swarm or insufficient food, that is a huge and expensive set-back.  If you want to have bees, you need to monitor them about once a week during the Spring and Summer, and just a few times over the winter months.  Apparently about 30 mins a week is all it takes, but if you spot a problem you need to step in quickly.  That's where the knowledge comes in.  You need to know what a problem looks like, and what to do to fix the issue!

 

I am going to document my journey into beekeeping.  I've started a beekeeping course and will be selecting our hive next week.  I will post videos of the hive-set up, and details of all our decisions, mistakes and triumphs along the way.

  • Beekeeping course
  • Understanding bees
  • Beekeeping history
  • Bee hive selection
  • Bee 'gear' selection
  • Bee selection
  • Bee hive construction and placement
  • Introducing the bees
  • Introducing the kids to bees
  • Monitoring the bees in year 1

Stay tuned and share your stories too!

 

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