Thinking Of Beekeeping?

Kevin O'Regan asked:

Now onto a much more important question... what is beekeeping like exactly?

I puff just a little smoke into the hive entrance about a minute before I open up. I lift the roof and puff little in the top, then a lift supers and puff a little between them. Never a lot.

The bees on top of the frames stick their tails in the air, extend their stingers proclaiming 'make my day', but I note it and carry on gently & slowly. Quite soon, most of those stingers disappear. I take out the dummy board (a wooden board that substitutes for a frame -- easy in a large hive like a Dadant or Jumbo, tricky in the UKs 'standard' hive, the National. I place it by the side of the hive, rarely shaking the bees off first.

I gently separate the first frame and lift it, taking care not to trap the bees -- lift straight and there's room enough. I look quickly for the queen, but if I don't see her it's rarely important. I look for signs that she's around -- eggs, like tiny threads in the bottom of the cells, take a little practice and need good light, but normally give proof that she's there (for the fairly rare exception, look up 'laying workers').

By now there are quite a few bees flying around asking "what's going on here"? But if you're gentle, that's probably all they're doing.

Look at the brood pattern. If it's in nice concentric elipses, you have the 'perfect' pattern, if it's a bit patchy, then reality is creeping in. If it's very uneven, then you may have a problem, chat to your new friends in your local beekeeping association, or write to the newsgroup. Learn why brood sometimes goes patchy -- it can be important. There are one or two diseases and now a rather nasty parasite of bees called 'varroa' -- you'll need to learn about them.

When swarming is a risk (say April to July), look for queen cells. These hang vertically, rather than the usual horizontal, and are much larger when fully developed, looking rather like a peanut in its shell. If you get more than two, the colony is almost certainly preparing to swarm and you should try to control that. Read up on swarm control before April :-) If you get only one or two, don't panic -- look up 'supersedure'

The nature of bees and beekeeping is such that you will get stung sometimes, though hopefully not too often. It can hurt a bit, but it's not agony. Most people swell up quite a lot the first few times. That's normal but can be a little frightening. It's normally not an allergic reaction (though even many doctors don't understand that). However, if you get a widespread rash, or have trouble breathing or get palpitations -- take medical advice, you may be allergic -- though even that's managable now.

Bees are great. They pollinate our fruit and vegetables, they mind their own business unless we're nasty to them, when they will defend themselves, but thet're pretty magnanimous -- if you're ok with them, they're ok with you.

And they really are alive! Hold on to a hive. Feel the warmth from those creatures within. Watch them going about their work collecting nectar, pollen, water and propolis. Smell them -- they even smell nice. Listen to that contented hum when they're happy & working. This is a bug? hey, maybe bugs are not all bad ;-)

How often would you look at the hive and gather honey etc.?

As a hobbyist/small producer, every weekend between about April and July. When you start it might be a hour a colony (they're so interesting), later, maybe 15 minutes. professional -- two minutes and then probably at the wider interval of nine or ten days.

You're looking for signs of swarming preparation, disease and general well-being.

Of course, you're seeing much more than that!

Happy beekeeping, see you around maybe.

Gordon