newbie wannabe beekeeper

Have thought off and on about keeping bees for a few years. Actually hoped that my husband might take it up as a hobby. Not that I’m afraid of bees or other insects but the thought of being up close and personal to a whole lot of bees kind of unnerved me. Well it’s a thought that kept niggling at the back of my brain and with this looming bee crisis, I thought I do a bit of research and pitch the idea to my husband (he never was good at taking subtle hints LOL).

Well I watched “Queen of the Sun” and became totally and completely enchanted by the honeybee. Totally converted myself LOL. You might say I’ve been captured by the magic of the wonderful honeybee. There are some oddly interesting and eccentric people at the beginning of the documentary, but if you want to watch a great documentary I highly recommend this one. “Vanishing of the Bees” is also really good but bloody depressing (sure glad I watched the other one first).

So now that I’ve decided to take on beekeeping, I’ve been reading and reading and trying to learn all I can. There is so much to learn! Is it crazy to think I will be ready to start a couple of hives this spring? Have joined the local bee association and will be taking a beginner beekeeping course in the spring. The local beekeepers group also has a newbie mentoring program. In the meantime, I’m looking for advice on recommended books, forums, DVDs etc., etc., etc.

Who all keeps bees here (besides Cynthia)? I’m excited and a little scared all at the same time. Weirdly not scared of being stung, but scared of making stupid beginner mistake and killing the bees.

You are going to love it I started out in high school helping the local beekeeper and let me warn you it becomes addicting I now run around 500 colonies. Just to let you know you will make mistakes its part of beekeeping just when you think you have it all figured out they change on you after 20 years i still make mistakes and learn new things from the bees. Use your local beekeepers i am sure they will be more than happy to help you, we beekeepers seem to stick together.

I too have been considering beekeeping for a couple years. I will be working for a local beekeeper this summer so I can learn and see if it is something I want to do. I am excited but also worried about getting stung.

Awesome! I signed up for a beginners beekeeping course starting the beginning of March. My dad was a beekeeper and had hives at my place, and I was always fascinated when he came over to tend to them. I am looking forward to contributing more to the good of the planet, too!

Oh a chord close to my heart. I began beekeeping in 2004, that entailed a level 1 and level beekeeping course, then on to another, very deep course, at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. What a journey of love and fun. The most I ever kept at during the peak times of my experience was 10 colonies. These had originally come from my two packages that I had hived during the course beginning and two nucs that I had purchased later. I had made splits and had increased the colony size. I have not had near experience as Honeybrook, running the 500 colonies, but it was still cool. To me anything more than 10 would be more than I would have liked to look after. We had a bad year and lost the bees. Of course, most of that loss was beekeeper mistake, I was consumed with readying our home for sale and moving and well, just lost the bees over a couple of years, as they dwindled, beekeeper error and it still plagues me. We brought all my bee equipment, boxes, extractor and all such stuff up to our new home in the Okanagan. After we moved, two swarms from somewhere pretty close by came and took over residence in some empty boxes. What a beautiful welcoming gift. I still do not know whose colony swarmed, but there are a few beekeepers in our area. I tended those colonies the first year, and somewhat the next year. Got very busy with life, and pretty much did not do very much with them. And did not do anything with them last year, other than one inspection. I know, very, very bad. I just was neglectful and that is all I have to say. I do know by summer end, I had one colony, the other was gone. Probably swarmed (of course), became weak with no enough bees, and the other colony probably robbed those bees and they perished. I was going to go out and see if this colony is still alive, but yet again, have not. My bad. Hmmm....don't even know why I am talking about this, it makes me sad. Happy thoughts....OK.

Bees are a most beautiful creature to have in your life. There are so many things to learn and every thing that you do learn about this secret life of the bee, will keep you enthralled. The more that you learn the more compelled you will be to learn more. The sound of the hive, the scent of the hive, watching the business of the bees, never ending energy. I miss those days back on the coast when my life was consumed with the bees. I know again that I will be in a place like that, with my heart and soul, but just not too sure when.

Dive in and dive in deep. Those courses will help you immensely, your bee friends will help you. Ask your questions, you will have hundreds of them. And others are so willing to give you their thoughts and time to learn. Yes...honeybees, one of the most important insects, and all the other pollinators too, of which there are so many. If you get package bees, do not expect honey the first year. Remember this. This will be the year for the bees to build up, to be strong, strong, strong, for the following year. That will be the year for gathering honey. If you get nucs, which are established, small colonies, you will more than likely be able to take some honey from those colonies. But remember, the bees are first. Honey is much better for them than anything else, and leaving them with lots of honey to overwinter with is a boon to that group of souls. Many fill the bees up with sugar syrup to ready for winter, and this is good too, that honey syrup will be gathered and the bees will fill up all the cells they can, the queen will have stopped laying eggs by the fall and those empty cells will be filled with food for the colony for winter. You will love your life with the bees. Much to learn, but hands on too, is one of the best ways to learn, basics first, hands on next. It is nice to hear that there is such an interest in saving our bees. They do deserve to be saved, they are important as the days are becoming long, this was lovely to hear!! Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.