Spruce's honey bees

Loli

Home work for tonight "bee folklore" looks like Zigs is being lazy again

Spruce

 

Very spooky Spruce

 

I've been doing my homework sir....makes for interesting reading

 

Did you know that if a Bee is buzzing around a sleeping child it means they will live a happy and contented life.....and apparently a virgin can always walk through a swarm of Bees and never get stung.......best not try that one eh

 

No, Zigs just got thrown off the net for no apparent reason.

 

Spruce has probably already observed that behaviour in his bees havnt you Spruce? :WINK1:

 

yes feed me Symour:WINK1:

Spruce

 

I have a few question spruce as I hope to one day keep bees myself.

My other half is againist the idea as he feels that our garden is too small to keep them away from our neighbours. Our garden is roughly 116ftx20-30ft though and I think he's being to over cautious. How do you tackle this problem?

Is it really an expensive hobby and can you build a bee hive from scratch or does it have to be bought?

 

I seen a little insect house for sale at dunham park, it was like a bird house but a bit bigger and with all different compartments for different insects including bees it looked great think it was £60

 

Have a look here Jane

http://www.cornwallhoney.com/top-bar-bee-hive.html

 

Hi JJ
My 1st sugestion is to do a course most Beekeeeping Society run them over the winter time about 6 / 7 weeks then in the spring you get the oppertunity to go to the Assosiation Apiary to handle the bees. If you let me know the area you live in I will give you details of your Local Beegroup, best to sighn up early for the couse if anything like mine over the past 3 years they have a waiting list to attend.

Sorry to say but unless you have a very large garden and the neigbhours a good distance away and understanding I woudnt keep them in the back garden, when they swarm and they will even with checking on a regular basis none of us get it right 100% you wont be very popular and can be quite scary when it happens its the noise and the amout of bees in the air "its a sight to behold" and somthing never forgotten and normaly do it on a hot balmy day when everyone is out in the garden !! .
If any one gets stung fingers point , I had a neigbhour that had bees go into the cavity wall I got the blame for this and they wanted £175.00 to have them removed , best part of it I had moved them two weeks earlier to a local farm so "not mine" I told him, but he wouldt have it and we never spoke again apart from dirty looks from him and his family.
I did keep them in the (garden) house I am in now and its very rural but neighbours very close on either side , mine swarmed last year and I nearly had a realy bad falling out with next door so they now live in a 5 acre field 5 mins away in the car and I found it by looking on Landshare and a familty wanted a beekeeper to keep hives on their land so I count myself very lucky and the family are just the best people you could meet they have even offerd me part of the garden to have as a veg garden if I want as they now know I love gardening.

Cost, Hive about £200 with everything, and bees 10 years ago £40 or £50 now with it being so popular £140 upwards , beesuit dont go cheep and buy from ebay so your looking at £75 upwards so a lot to pay out but honey I sell £5.00 lb 1 jar and this year I should get 80lb from both hives as they are still building up into a full colony and if you have a realy good year as I did 5 years ago 160lb from 1 hive so its not bad to get somthing back from a hobbie that is totaly amazing.

My mum came to visit me a couple of years ago and she was 75 at the time and I got her kitted out in a beesuit and to see her face when I took the roof off was just amazing , she was so taken aback of what she saw somthing I will never forget .

The beebeeping Society would be your best route plus they can also keep the cost down as you can borrow equipment for extracting the honey as they arent cheep either , plus you will get lots of help.

Spruce

 

£60 , buy a couple of bamboo canes and cut them up put them in a clay pot on the fence in the sunshine and you will have your own little Mason Bee house

£60.00 Does it look like Buckingham Palace

Spruce
PS Waiting for that photo of the canna

 

Blimey, isn't it easier to grow a Maple Tree?

 

If only

Ziggs most people say this about growing tomotoes

Spruce

 

Thats true. Wonder what honey from bees fed on Maple Syrup Trees tastes like?