It's that time of year when people who've been pondering getting involved in beekeeping start asking themselves: "What do I need to do next?" So while it might not be the most imaginative first post I thought I'd have a go at covering some of the frequent questions that have come my way around this.
I will caveat all of this from the outset that a lot of this is my personal opinion from 15 years or so as an active beekeeper. For several years I was Education Secretary of my local Association involved in training/coaching people interested in beekeeping as well as those now keeping bees and looking to learn more. Ultimately though Beekeeping is my hobby, I'm not offering my opinion as being "expert" and I'm sure there's a saying somewhere about opinions ;)
Why do I want to keep Bees?
A few years back there were lots of people wanting to keep bees to "save" them. Honey Bees, especially, were in the news and there were lots of stories around how no bees meant we all had to eat grit. Don't start beekeeping because you want to help the environment.
If you want to help bees or pollinators more widely you can do much in your garden to foster an environment that will satisfy you and our flying friends without taking on the responsibility of animal husbandry.
Let a corner of your garden grow wild, if you don't have a garden maybe grow herbs in a window box, put bee or insect hotels up, stop using pesticide sprays, have a look at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and so on. There are lots of passive things you can do to help pollinators and give you the satisfaction of watching them coming and going to the environment you've given them. Anyone with a couple of pots of Lavender, Rosemary or Thyme will attest to the variety and volume of bees coming their way.
The cold, hard, honest, truth is that the second you decide to put Honey Bees in a box, you're responsible for livestock and you now have a duty to care for them.
Does it sound like I'm trying to put you off? Yes, I am. If I haven't, carry on. What do you want from the Bees? Honey? Just to see them come and go? Aspirations to make a living from it?
For me Beekeeping is a hobby and it's the bees I am most interested in, I love just watching them come and go to the hives and I will never get bored of going through a hive. I also enjoy the engagement with the wider community, I do village fetes, I loved being Education secretary, I take observation hives, where you can see inside the hive, out and so on. I don't actually like honey that much but I get a kick from the enjoyment other people get from it, especially when it's mine.
What's your motivation to be a beekeeper? Hold on to it, it will be valuable when things aren't going right.
What's actually involved?
The UK active beekeeping season is essentially from mid March to end of June, weather and bees depending. As a hobbyist beekeeper you need to look at your bees at least once per week within this period. That is a significant commitment. Effectively it then spans into the end of August but you can probably not have to look at your hives quite as methodically.
What I'm trying to point out here is that there is a significant time commitment involved, especially when it's a hobby. I work 60+ hours a week in the job that pays my living and I don't book weekends away from April through June because I'll need to do something with the bees.
From the end of March you need to start thinking about swarming. Up until a few years ago I would bet my life that most hives thinking about it would swarm at the end of May but that seems to be becoming far more variable. I've seen hives swarm in early April up until the end of July and it's your duty as a beekeeper to manage that. You need to inspect your hives at least once per week within that period. That is quite some commitment and there are going to be times when the weather is working against you but you have to inspect that hive because you know it is going to swarm, or a new queen is going to emerge. Are you prepared to give up that weekend away, or day out with friends to look after your bees?
With practice you can be in and out of hive in less than 10 minutes outside the time to get there, put on your kit, light the smoker, look at your notes from last time, find the bit of kit you need and so on. So while it is a time commitment, it isn't necessarily that onerous day to day.
The art is to figure out on this inspection what you think you need to do on the next. That will only come with time and practice. Looking at the Hive now, what do you think they will be doing next week?
My basic plan is to establish:
Is there a queen?
Do I have Brood In All Stages (Eggs, Larvae and sealed Brood)
Do they have enough food?
Have they got enough space?
What else?
The last point can only come with experience and will vary depending on the time of year, are you trying to get honey, maybe you're trying to raise new queens, is there a chance of swarming? The first couple of years in beekeeping can be very reactive, but as you learn to "read" a hive and observe what the bees are doing you can start to recognise the signs of what they're plotting and adapt your plans accordingly. I always go to an apiary with a plan of just what I'm intending to do when I get there. The bees may have other ideas and throw something unexpected at me but I have a pretty good idea what I'm going to do.
How do I learn?
As a starter, wannabee, beekeeper your local association is a goldmine. There are four national associations: