The BeeHolder, October 2011

I was thinking about my pastimes and hobbies and realised that many, if not all, tended to look back to supposedly better times. Then I thought about beekeeping.

If ever there is a craft that demands a forward-looking optimism it is beekeeping. I've been keeping bees (or trying to) for just over 10 years. Nowadays many more people are giving it a go. And why not? It is absorbing, challenging to the physical condition and to the little grey cells, relatively inexpensive and if you work hard enough at it, it can pay for itself. Not yet for me -- you understand!

There are loads of books about beekeeping and getting a selection is a sure way to madness. Buy one book and if you like it -- follow it. If you don't -- recycle it and get another. Don't keep both -- if four beekeepers are asked one question about beekeeping you will be given at least five very different answers. And (unfortunately perhaps) they will all be correct. So you have to find an approach or method that you like and one that works for you and that's about it!

But the bees don't read the books and will usually do what they decide they will do unless you are a very cunning and clever beekeeper. To be a cunning and clever beekeeper you have to keep bees for at least five years longer than you have already kept bees. Yes; you can never outsmart all the bees all the time. So you have to keep alert. Where did I put mine, I know I saw it recently. That would be just before the swarm which I was sure I had anticipated and prevented.

Most of my bees are housed in a custom built bee shelter. Here is a picture to save 1,000 words.

It is really a shed with a concrete floor, slatted sides, open front and a solid back (to thwart frosts rolling down the hill to the pond), built by one of our members – not me. This is the first year of use but so far the signs are encouraging. Bees inside the house are much better tempered when compared to those left outside. On the other hand, it may be that I am getting tired when I reach the outside bees. The bees really appreciate a clumsy beekeeper and show this by rising -- as if one body -- from the hive and indicating to the hapless beekeeper in a gentle spirit of warning, that one should be more careful - if there is to be a next time.

Do you recognise any of my comments as reflecting your experience? If so, perhaps you would share your experiences of beekeeping. There is no need to bother too much about the downsides to beekeeping. Just tell of the joys, great honey, making wax candles, balms and polishes, of "making increase”, of Queen rearing and swarm management.

Roy Norris

I'm sure that a lot of our beekeepers have experiences and knowledge well worth passing on. Why not write an article for the next BeeHolder? If you are interested, get in touch before 16th December!

Editor