A new year, a new bee...I mean me! I really should think a little less about bees. After all, I’ve only been keeping bees for one full season.
Having spent the majority of my working life outside, in agriculture, I never would have imagined myself behind a desk, working for my family's import and shipping business. And yet, that is where I find myself, after all, mortgages don't pay themselves. So between work and DIY on our fixer upper house, I found myself craving time outside and livestock to look after other than our four chickens.
It was an advert for a flow hive that first stemmed my interest in bee keeping. Knowing a local ''bee guru' I popped in for a chat and here I am, entering my second season of bee keeping with far more hives than I had initially planned.
The original plan was one hive at the end of the garden for my daughter and me to look after with the hope of a little honey. In order to make sure I had a fighting chance of looking after them correctly, I spent as much time as I could with my mentor, reading books and attending meetings. Then I found the Black Mountain Honey videos, another way of avoiding DIY but increasing the likelihood my wife's eyes will roll out of her head. I don't think there are many of the videos I haven't seen at least once.
My first hive in the garden was a success. Bee keeping wasn't as hard as I thought. It brought great times with my daughter (the expert queen spotter), and an excuse to sit in the garden drinking coffee, just watching.
It all changed in May. With the bug for beekeeping well and truly caught, I got the call....someone was packing up! The hives hadn't been looked at yet that season. Did I want to take them on? Well, that was a quick decision! So my one hive became nine, with enough second hand equipment for around another six to eight. I think I had a grin from ear to ear for some time.
It soon changed! I packed up my truck and off I went, on my own. The calm quiet bees I had in my garden were a distant memory! As I cracked the first crown board I was greeted with a new sound, one I had not experienced before, a roar. Having not had the pleasure of a grumpy colony before it came as a shock. I distinctly remember asking myself "what on earth am I doing?"!
These hives tested me! I was so close to calling other beekeepers and giving them away. I didn’t. I got stung, battered, and chased all the way around the apiary for the next few hours. Not to mention the following weeks. I spent the next week on YouTube, and talking to all those that I could, in order to come up with a plan. I soon worked out there was a simple answer; to re-queen. After many manipulations, splits and a few new queens, I got all but one hive ready to come out of winter as lovely calm bees.
While I wait, there is endless equipment servicing and building more. Not to mention the winter sales. I find myself almost constantly scrolling through the sales to find the equipment needed for my plan, checking my bank account, and then buying it anyway. I feel my wife's Christmas may have been a little disappointing; having seen all boxes piled up outside our door, day after day, in the run up to Christmas, only to receive an oven as her gift. What can I say? It was all in sale!
All this is now behind me and I hope to go into the 2024 season with 13 hives and the hope of expansion. I plan to continue to grow my bee numbers, have a go with sections and get some honey in. The joke being the use of the words 'bees' and 'plan' in the same sentence! I would love to have the skill and knowledge to get my bees to stick to my plan! However, during this all, I aim to record and share with you as much as I can thanks to the team at Black Mountain Honey.
Prepare yourselves for the likely failures, hopefully some successes, and probably a sting in the face, or two!
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