Poorly chicken

[ThinkingChickens]

That is seriously my question! Every time I go looking for more information about bee keeping I feel a bit overwhelmed. It seemed a far less serious leap to get chickens. I have wanted the Eglu Beehaus since I saw it, but I feel like owning bees is crazy time consuming.

 

I live on a small lot in a rural community, but I have neighbors. Our lots is maybe 7000 square feet. I have an area behind our studio (like a big shed) where I plan to have a larger expanded vegetable garden. I figured on putting the hive near the fence back there, situated partially under a plum tree. The hive wouldn't face any houses. How well have those of you done with small lots and hives? How well do the hives do in winter with snow? I live in the California mountains and we get snow a few times each winter. I'd say we never have more than 5'.

 

I wish I lived in the UK where I could take a bee keeping course. I'm having a hard time finding a bee keeping course around here.

[troyca]

Poor you!! I learned a lot from books and lots from trial and error. Forums helped but beware the more established ones can be full of know all smartypants who like nothing better than giving negative input about what mistakes you are making.. This one isn't in that camp.Subscribe to bee related magazines.Join a beekeeping association by internet. Get a mentor.

Lots of us in the UK have bees is areas such as the one you describe. I live in an urban area and my bees are at the bottom of my 40 foot by 70 foot garden It is less about the space [in my limited experience- I have been beekeeping for 5 years] and all about the bees. I have had calm bees,angry bees and variatons. I have learned to seek out a supplier that can give you a calm queen who determines what behaviour you can expect. No one wants nasty bees whether they are in the middle of a field or 100 meters away. That is why it is that old saying -it is about bee KEEPING not bee HAVING.The bees don't read the books but you are meant to be manipulating them.

As far as the time it takes I don't consider it does take much more time than any other hobby-none at all it the winter! In short, read all you can .There are some good[and awful] youtube films about how to do it,as well as comercially made DVDs.The nature of the hobby is that you start small and as the colony builds so does your confidence. If you can get bees without putting them through the trauma of the postal system then good. Choose a strain that is calm and weather tolerent. Find out what the nearest beekeepers keep. This year I am trying Buckfast and am impressed with their nature and industry. They are tolerant of my inadequacies too! Be prepared to learn lots,spend quite a bit and be stimulated by an extremely interesting and rewarding past time. Oh and give/promise the neighbors honey-that usually gets them on side!I am often asked how my bees are doing by people I barely know!

[Daphne]

I'd add that you don't need to worry about the snow unduly, although I don't know what temperatures you get? We've had -10 here and beeks further north than me will have had it much colder, and thats not good for them. In fact snow is meant to be an insulator. I've been told off on this forum for not insulating my hives (you can do it quite easily with polystyrene inserted inside), but so far (3rd season) I have had snow on top of the hives (4-5 inches) and drifted up to the entrance (about 12") and the bees have survived just fine; this assumes the bees are fed, have been left enough stores and don't catch any disease of course!

 

Its good advice from Troyca, I couldn't have done this without going on a course and having a mentor. If there is no such thing near you then I would subscribe to a mag, but I think having a real live person to chat things over with is the best. There is an excellent other forum in terms of the knowledge it contains, but my goodness they can be extraordinarily 'discouraging' is the politest way I can put it.

 

My plot is a reasonable size and I back onto open land. However, my most recent issue, and I don't mean to put you off, is that my OH is seriously allergic to bee stings. This has put me off big time from keeping my bees at home for safety reasons, but its also led me to think about insurance claims. Over here, we get insurance from belonging to the British Beekeeping Association; I would strongly urge you to find out where you stand in case somebody gets stung and tries to sue.

[ThinkingChickens]

Gosh, thank you so much for taking the time to write. I'm printing this so I can read it in the morning over coffee (I get blinder at night). I will definitely look for a bee keeping club because I didn't even think of that. I'm also glad to learn snow isn't a big deal. We've had 17 degrees f but that is rare. More often we are high 20's to low 30's and snow is never more than a few feet at a time.

[Kermit]

A couple of other bits - snow shouldn't be a problem if they can still get air. Temp should also be OK - Finland gets -40C and they keep bees fine, just make sure they have enough feed. Second - if you find someone nearby who will help you, then think about what type of hive you are using. The Dartington/Beehaus is designed to take UK size frames, so you will have to import your equipment. The US use other types/sizes of hives. All are standard, but not standard to UK Dartingtons/Nationals. Additionally, the Dartington is a long, deep hive and some of the manipulations are different to those done in move conventional hives. Your mentor may not be used to this type of hive.

 

Hope that helps.