Creating A Lovely New Apiary
The Mole at our new apiary site I have my bees at ‘out-apiaries’ and have never risked keeping them at home. That’s a personal choice which works for me (and my neighbours) but I have far more hives than could…
Category: Beginning Beekeeping
Advice for beekeepers in their first years
Beekeeping Tips From A Walrus Wild comb made by a swarm (try to avoid this!) Just in case there are any fairly new or potential keepers of bees reading my blog, here is a quick run through of things to…
Installing Bees For The First Time
New cedar hives in a field Moving New Bees Into Their Hive My three previous articles have been for prospective and new beekeepers because this is the time of the year when beginner classes get going. If you are enrolled…
Your First Honey Bees
Poly nucs in autumn. They move into hives next year. How do you get your first bees? The Intolerance of Humans Newcomers to beekeeping will soon discover that there are rival factions in our ranks. One might expect that we…
Beginner Beekeeper: What To Buy?
Cedar National Type Hives First Time Purchases For New Beekeepers Once you have decided that you really do want to become a beekeeper, you have some buying choices to make. It can get very frustrating listening to the conflicting advice…
Look Before You Leap – Beekeeping
The Mole and The Walrus Beginning Beekeeping - Before You Start How Many Beekeepers? Look before you leap - beekeeping. The UK is home to thousands of beekeepers. Tracking down the exact number is impossible; not every beekeeper is registered…
Becoming A Master
Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash In the UK, we have something called a Master Beekeeper. It's a qualification in apiculture that requires years of studying, passing exams and practical beekeeping assessments. There are divergent views on the merits…
Choosing A Hive Type
Houses for bees Every year, about now in my part of the world, a new intake of future beekeepers starts evening classes run by their local beekeeping association. These courses are generally excellent from what I've seen. Beginner classes are…
Nine Years In
Hollyhock in Ulta Violet light I am coming to the end of my ninth beekeeping season. I started with two hives, and now I have nearly forty, including nucs. My journey has just begun, but at least I'm through the…
Give us a Break
Mr & Mrs W taking a break in Argyll Somebody asked me yesterday, "what makes a good beekeeper?" I don't know if I'm qualified to answer that, but what I said was, "If you can keep your bees alive from…
Let’s Keep Some Perspective
Pollen even in Winter Losing sleep about bees Beekeepers, especially those new to the noble art, get anxious about a multitude of factors surrounding the keeping of their bees. I know this by looking at posts on beekeeping forums and letters in the…
Schrödinger may have had a point
A Cat There is a saying which goes something like “ask 10 beekeepers the same question and you’ll get 11 different answers!” This makes things very difficult for anybody starting out as a beekeeper, which is why I would recommend…