Why You NEED More Than One Colony of Bees
As a passionate beekeeper, I'm here to share with you why you need more than one colony of bees when you're starting out on your beekeeping journey. While it may be tempting to opt for a single colony to keep costs down, this approach can set you up for potential failure and frustration down the line. This isn't a blatant upsell post. If you can only afford one colony, I will show you later on how to split that colony to get your numbers up fast in the first year of beekeeping. An action that comes with some surprising benefits!
The Risks of a Single Colony
When you invest in beekeeping, there's a significant upfront cost involved. You'll need to purchase a beehive, a bee suit, a honey extractor, and of course, the bees themselves. By putting all of your money into a single colony, you're essentially putting all your eggs in one basket.
As an inexperienced beekeeper, there are numerous things that can go wrong with that one colony in the first year. The two most common issues are swarming and the colony becoming queenless due to a drone-laying queen.
Swarming
If your bees swarm, the queen will leave the hive, taking a significant portion of the colony with her. This leaves behind a number of virgin queens, and if those queens fail to mate successfully, you'll end up with a colony that has no eggs, no larvae, and no way to replace the queen. At this point, you may think the colony is queenless and try to introduce a new queen, only to have the virgin queen kill her. These bees are then destined to fail over winter taking you from one colony to ZERO colonies. Time to start again, or even worse... Quit!
Drone-Laying Queens
Another common issue is the colony's queen turning into a drone-laying queen. This means the queen is no longer able to lay fertilised eggs, resulting in a colony filled with drones and no worker bees. Again, this leaves you in a precarious situation, with no way to easily rectify the problem, unless identified early.
If either of these scenarios occurs with your single colony, you're left with a significant problem. You've invested all that money, time, and effort into a single hive, and now you're back to square one. The only way to get back on track is to purchase a new nucleus colony, which can be a costly and frustrating experience. Check out the video below where a colony has failed and there is no way to save it. Just imagine if this was your only colony of bees!
The Benefits of Multiple Colonies
Having more than one colony of bees provides you with a valuable safety net and a wealth of opportunities to learn and grow as a beekeeper. Let's explore the key advantages of maintaining multiple colonies:
Flexibility and Problem-Solving
If one of your colonies experiences an issue, such as swarming or a drone-laying queen, having a second colony allows you to take action. You can use frames of eggs or emerging brood from the healthy colony to help the struggling one. This gives you the flexibility to test for the presence of a queen, rear a new one, or simply boost the population of the weaker colony.
Without a second colony, these options are limited, and you may find yourself in a situation where there's nothing you can do to save the hive. By having multiple colonies, you can navigate these challenges and ensure that you don't end up back at square one.
Balancing and Manipulating Colonies
No two colonies of bees are exactly the same. They may differ in size, configuration, genetics, and the makeup of their populations (drones, nurse bees, foragers, etc.). Having multiple colonies allows you to balance them, taking resources from the stronger ones to support the weaker ones.
For example, you can take frames of brood from your larger colony and give them to the smaller one, helping to boost its population and ensure it's survival over winter. This kind of colony manipulation becomes much easier and more effective when you have more than one hive to work with.
Increased Resilience and Productivity
By maintaining multiple colonies, you're building a more resilient and productive beekeeping operation. If one colony experiences a setback, you have the others to fall back on. This means you're less likely to lose your entire investment, and you can continue to harvest honey and other hive products.
Additionally, as your colonies grow and thrive, you'll have the opportunity to make splits and increase your apiary. This can lead to greater honey yields and the ability to sell or trade excess bees and queens, which provides you an excellent way of recouping your initial investment.
Getting Started with Multiple Colonies
If you're just starting out in beekeeping, I highly recommend investing in at least two nucleus colonies. While the initial cost may be higher, the long-term benefits far outweigh the extra expense.
If you can only afford a single nuc, don't worry – there's still a way to get a second colony up and running quickly. As soon as your first colony is covering all the frames in the brood box, make a split and purchase an additional mated queen. This will give you two colonies before the swarming season, allowing you to navigate that critical period with more flexibility and resilience. You should still even get some honey in the first season and it means both sides of the split are less likely to swarm in their first year.
Splitting Colonies
Splitting your colonies is a fantastic way to increase your apiary and ensure you have multiple healthy hives. Here are the basic steps:
Identify your strongest colony, one that is covering all the frames in the brood box.
Locate the queen and gently place her, along with a few frames of brood, bees, and honey, into a new hive body or nuc box.
Fill the remaining space in the original hive with empty frames or drawn comb.
Purchase an additional mated queen and introduce her to the queenless portion of the original colony (after waiting 8 days and taking down all the emergency cells).
Monitor both colonies closely to ensure they are thriving and building up their populations.
This an simplified version of how to split a beehive. If you want to see the detailed version with all of the steps, here is a link a guide on my website on how to split a beehive:
By making this early-season split, you'll have two colonies going into the swarming period, which can be a challenging time for new beekeepers. Having that extra colony gives you a significant advantage and helps ensure your beekeeping journey gets off to a strong start.
If you need top quality mated queens to split your beehive, we stock a wide range of mated queens, which are available throughout the season:
Expanding Your Apiary
Once you have two or more colonies established, you can continue to grow your apiary by making additional splits and nucs. This not only increases the number of hives you have, but it also allows you to select for desirable traits, such as gentleness, productivity, and disease resistance.
As a general rule, I recommend aiming for a minimum of 3-6 colonies. This number provides a nice balance, allowing you to effectively manage and manipulate your hives without becoming overwhelmed. It also gives you the flexibility to experiment, try new techniques, and have a safety net in case one of your colonies experiences an issue.
Remember, the more colonies you have, the easier it becomes to balance and support them. You can take frames of brood, honey, or even entire colonies to bolster the weaker ones, ensuring that your apiary remains healthy and productive.
Accessing Additional Resources
If you're interested in taking your beekeeping to the next level, I encourage you to check out the resources available on our YouTube channel. There, you'll find a wealth of information on a wide range of beekeeping topics, from queen rearing and disease recognition to honey extraction and swarm management. We also offer a 1:1 mentoring service through our bee mentoring programme:
Bee Mentoring Programme - https://www.blackmountainhoney.co.uk/beementoring
YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaa4pgaAzz8DCjiYJrx9cMA
Additionally, you can join our Discord server to connect with other passionate beekeepers, ask questions, and share your experiences. It's a great way to learn from a community of like-minded individuals and stay up-to-date on the latest beekeeping trends and techniques.
Join Discord - https://discord.gg/ZHTvt3bmDR
If you're interested in purchasing queens or nucleus colonies to expand your apiary, be sure to check out our queen bee and nuc offerings on our website, Black Mountain Honey:
Buy Queens - https://www.blackmountainhoney.co.uk/buy-queen-bees
Remember, beekeeping is a journey, and having multiple colonies is a crucial step in becoming a successful and self-sufficient beekeeper. By investing in that second (or third, or fourth) colony, you're setting yourself up for a more rewarding and fulfilling beekeeping experience. So, what are you waiting for? Let's get started on building a thriving, resilient apiary!
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