I am now a Beekeeper!!
Discussion
dickymint said:
Thank you Scol all is well 
Don't delay with the bees. It took me over thirty years to actually get started which I now deeply regret as I'm not exactly in my prime now 
Glad all is well. Don't delay with the bees. It took me over thirty years to actually get started which I now deeply regret as I'm not exactly in my prime now My waiting to 'get started' is down to young children & not being entirely sure where to locate any hives. There's three potential spots, but as always each has pros and cons. Any tips for recommended space around a hive at all?
Watching the flow hive in action is fascinating. Is the partial/gradual opening to avoid overstressing the mechanism?
Scolmore said:
Glad all is well.
My waiting to 'get started' is down to young children & not being entirely sure where to locate any hives. There's three potential spots, but as always each has pros and cons. Any tips for recommended space around a hive at all?
Watching the flow hive in action is fascinating. Is the partial/gradual opening to avoid overstressing the mechanism?
Kids often love bees and the honey extraction process, so it’s worth making the time if you can. My waiting to 'get started' is down to young children & not being entirely sure where to locate any hives. There's three potential spots, but as always each has pros and cons. Any tips for recommended space around a hive at all?
Watching the flow hive in action is fascinating. Is the partial/gradual opening to avoid overstressing the mechanism?
The main thing when it comes to siting hives is having a bit of space to work around them. You can do it if you just have one side accessible, with somewhere to put the hive parts down when you’re opening it all up for inspection, but ideally you’d want to get round 3-4 sides if you can.
If you’ve got a very large garden then don’t automatically relegate them to a far corner.
If you have bees with a good temperament then you can do other things near the hives. We garden easy within a metre or two of some and for the past couple of weeks have been eating on the patio barely more than an arm’s length away from a swarm we caught in a nuc box (basically a mini hive) that is pointing the opposite direction. A lot also live in our front garden and bother no one (but we do have a few people will stop to watch them for a while, which is fine).
If you point the entrance to the hive at a wall or hedge then the bees will gain altitude quickly to get over this and then fly over the heads of neighbours (who probably won’t even spot them). We’ve never had any neighbours who are anti-bees and all appreciate the occasional jar.
The only thing that can cause concern is if you have a swarm. It can be a lot of bees and is noisy! Can be worth reminding any close neighbours that although a swarm can seem scary, swarming bees are really docile and focussed on finding a new home.
An awesome feeling stood in the middle with no suit on though.
Got the first extract of the year done. Approx 45-50kg from four supers + two extra frames.
(It’s an approximate because, although we can count 150 jars, the kitchen scales won’t weigh the bucket we put aside for cooking!)
Quite happy with that as it was from three hives that had all been split earlier in the year and there’s a lot of semi capped honey being worked on too.
First full year with a radial extractor. The extracted frames have almost no comb damage (big improvement vs the tangential!) so hoping the bees will be able to fill them fast when they go back in (as less need to spend time on drawing fresh comb).
(It’s an approximate because, although we can count 150 jars, the kitchen scales won’t weigh the bucket we put aside for cooking!)
Quite happy with that as it was from three hives that had all been split earlier in the year and there’s a lot of semi capped honey being worked on too.
First full year with a radial extractor. The extracted frames have almost no comb damage (big improvement vs the tangential!) so hoping the bees will be able to fill them fast when they go back in (as less need to spend time on drawing fresh comb).
Great stuff Looney.
Glad you’re happy with the new extractor, feel I need to mention though that comb damage is avoidable with a tangential. I have to use one for heather, so all mine are done tangentially and I don’t remember the last time I damaged a comb. It’s important to spin them at a relatively low speed on each side until the frames balance out before cranking up the speed.
Glad you’re happy with the new extractor, feel I need to mention though that comb damage is avoidable with a tangential. I have to use one for heather, so all mine are done tangentially and I don’t remember the last time I damaged a comb. It’s important to spin them at a relatively low speed on each side until the frames balance out before cranking up the speed.
Tbh, part of the reason we saw as much damage as we did was down to over exuberance of children when it came to both uncapping and spinning. We’d been borrowing the tangential for about 5 years and figured that it was about time we bought our own and, with the increasing number of hives, figured an electric would solve the latter problem (as well as making it all faster) and if we were going electric it might as well be radial.
Now we’re getting more honey this years investment is going to be in improving quality of the final product.
We’ve always gone straight from extractor —> sieve —> intermediate tank —> jar in a matter of minutes. Never had any complaints about the product but after a few jars suddenly crystallised a couple of months ago, I want to add a proper settling stage to allow skimming and reduce the potential for crystallisation.
Now we’re getting more honey this years investment is going to be in improving quality of the final product.
We’ve always gone straight from extractor —> sieve —> intermediate tank —> jar in a matter of minutes. Never had any complaints about the product but after a few jars suddenly crystallised a couple of months ago, I want to add a proper settling stage to allow skimming and reduce the potential for crystallisation.
Been quiet in here on the bee front so thought I’d give the thread a nudge and see how everyone’s got on.
Our late season wasn’t as good as early on, mainly I think due to it being so dry but took the final couple of supers off at the weekend (later than we’d usually do, but it has stayed warm) and started getting the bees ready for winter. Approx 35-40 jars to fill once the extract has settled.
All of the hives are looking good going into winter, with three strong ones on brood and a half, and four on single brood. All Apivar strips in place. Just waiting for the fondant to arrive so we have that to hand to start feeding.
Did debate whether to split the stronger colonies and make up some nucs but decided against it this year. Depending on how things go next year we may do that as we’ve setting up a second apiary and could handle a couple more hives there (if you’re getting suited up for two hives it doesn’t take much longer to deal with four).
Tend to be a bit lazy on the beeswax but will probably get all of that dealt with this week (the summer cappings are all still sealed up in a bucket).
Beyond that we’re really just into making sure everything is in good order for next year. With the larger extractor the uncapping is now the bottleneck, so looking at what I can build or buy to allow a number of frames to be uncapped ready for loading whilst the extractor is spinning (as simple and easy to clean as possible).
Hope everyone else is ending the season in good shape.
Our late season wasn’t as good as early on, mainly I think due to it being so dry but took the final couple of supers off at the weekend (later than we’d usually do, but it has stayed warm) and started getting the bees ready for winter. Approx 35-40 jars to fill once the extract has settled.
All of the hives are looking good going into winter, with three strong ones on brood and a half, and four on single brood. All Apivar strips in place. Just waiting for the fondant to arrive so we have that to hand to start feeding.
Did debate whether to split the stronger colonies and make up some nucs but decided against it this year. Depending on how things go next year we may do that as we’ve setting up a second apiary and could handle a couple more hives there (if you’re getting suited up for two hives it doesn’t take much longer to deal with four).
Tend to be a bit lazy on the beeswax but will probably get all of that dealt with this week (the summer cappings are all still sealed up in a bucket).
Beyond that we’re really just into making sure everything is in good order for next year. With the larger extractor the uncapping is now the bottleneck, so looking at what I can build or buy to allow a number of frames to be uncapped ready for loading whilst the extractor is spinning (as simple and easy to clean as possible).
Hope everyone else is ending the season in good shape.
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