Adam's Apiaries: That first hive arrives.

With a call from my mentor on a Thursday evening to say that he was happy that the colony was ready, and that the weather looked right, this was it, we would move my first hive to my garden.

Having spent the last few months looking after all of my mentors' hives with him, including the hive that would become mine, I felt quietly confident. After all, he was not far down the road and YouTube is on your phone. My original plan was only for a couple of hives, one at home and any others where I worked. I am lucky to have a reasonably sized garden, so finding a space for them was not an issue. I had my worries, the main few being that we have chickens, dogs and a child. But, after a full year of having them, and the queen (Buckfast) laying on all 11 frames (commercial) with 5 supers, no dog, chicken or child was harmed. At this point I would have liked to have written not a single sting, but my wife got a little to close with the lawn mower one afternoon. One single sting. A single sting that did leave a rather large mark for roughly 6 weeks, but only a single sting, and it was really her own fault.

For those who have read my previous blog, you will know that the bees that I took on later in the year were not so friendly, and never in a million years would I want those in my garden!! To be honest, I wouldn't want them on a out apiary either. I have realised, and come to appreciate, just how much I switch off when working with the bees, and grumpy bees don't allow that. Having grumpy bees in my garden would just be a no!

With an early start, the hive was in it's now spot on a rainy Saturday morning. With 3 days of rain forecast, the plan was to keep the bees in to orientate to their new site and avoid too many drifting back to their old home. Even with all the reading, and YouTube videos, the moment I was left alone with the hive, I turned into an first time parent!

I wanted everything to go well and did not want to make any mistakes that could would cost me my bees. Over that first weekend, and the weeks to follow, I found myself constantly ducking my head out of the back door to check they were ok. I think at this point the eye rolling from my wife nearly made her dizzy as she realised I had yet another distraction from rebuilding our house! Finally, I got a grip on myself as I remembered that bees have been on the planet for how many years? I'm sure moving them a couple of miles down the road won't be the end of them.

If your reading this and thinking of starting beekeeping, or are a year or so in, this is why I'm here, writing blogs in the hope of showing you that bee keeping really is 'No Nonsense'! I don't have years of experience, nor 100's of hives to look after, I've made mistakes, had successes, and know the simple joy of a re-queen working, with the hive going onto prosper ( just got to get them through winter first).

The 'Boss' checking that all is well.

With the hive now settled in and a week gone by, it was time for me to get my first inspection done, on my own. I say 'on my own' but really the new 'Bee Boss' was there to help. So, with a hive tool in hand and the smoker alight, my daughter and I headed down the garden as cool as a cucumbers (on the outside anyway!).

In my head every possible thing that could go wrong was going to. I reminded myself that my mentor would have never let me have the bees in the first place if I wasn't ready. Far more importantly I'm 'dad', and as my 8 year old is trying to scoop up handfuls of bees I cant act like I have no idea what I'm doing!!

Roof off, crown board off, and dummy board out, lets get into it. By time I had got the second frame out, my training kicked in. My mentor had been great and after 50 odd years keeping bees there was a set way to go through the hive and it had been drilled into me. As I talked my way through the brood nest there was a slight issue, no queen! Eggs and brood in all stages, but could I find the queen? We decided to do a second quick pass just to double check. You can guess who spotted her first, with glee! I had been out done by my daughter. All present and correct we smoked the bees down with a few puffs and put the hive back together.

With the inspection finished there was one last task, filling in my inspection records. It was 4 stores 3 drawn but not in use and 4 brood. Or was it 3 brood, and 4 drawn? This is a problem I have had all the way through my first season, by time I have finished the inspection I'm not 100% that my records are correct. This is one of the areas I really need to improve on this coming season. As I put to the test some new queens, I want to improve my knowledge of what is happening within the hive over the course of the season. I feel that good record keeping will help with backing up what I see along the way.

After one season, and thinking back to the amount I learned, being hands on with the bees and pushing myself to get better, I can tell you that what may seem daunting at the beginning soon becomes a joy. Simply watching them come and go with a coffee in the morning, to the experiences that I have shared with my daughter, the hive in garden has been one of my best ideas yet.

Don't get me wrong, there has been moments where my inexperience has shined, like the time I sent a video to my mentor in a panic convinced that they were swarming and it turned out that it was just an orientation flight. How was I to know? It was the first time I had seen it. The bees are almost like clockwork with this and I do love to go and see the next generation of bees getting ready to go.

Sometimes its the simplest things that will catch you out.

From the experience of my first year, I would stress the importance of having that support network around you, from a mentor, your local society, You tube or simply another bee keeper that is happy to help when you call. Do your best to get time with some bees in the height of the season, a nuc of bees is one thing but a full hive with a queen laying up every cell she can is very different. Even though nice calm bees that are not out to get you, there is still a lot of them!

The noise is amazing but might be overwhelming for some. Simple things can help, like not getting the cheapest bee suit on the market. Give yourself a confidence boost by getting a slightly better one. This season I will be using an Old Castle hive Farm Sentinel Pro 11 suit, kindly given to me by my wife. Knowing that the chance of taking a sting is greatly reduced really does help.

Beekeeping Suits & Accessories - Old Castle Farm Hives

For now the bee suit can stay in its packet. Time will be spent hefting to make sure the bees have plenty of stores to get to spring, finishing off all the equipment, doing my best to plan and nip any bad habits in the bud, and finishing off my small honey room (but that's another story).

I guess I better get some of the house done too!!