Scrooge wants to keep bees, any advice.

[Jimmy]

I am considering keeping bees in my back garden (Preston Lancs)
However I don't particularly want to Join the "Beekeepers Association", no doubt this involves an annual fee.
I see many reports about bees in decline.
But my local BKA seems to want £65 for a basic training course.
Now with allotments you can get one without a training course and they normally come with as much free advice as you want from over the fence.

So is it possible to get free advice and get set up for a minimal cost.
Perhaps a friendly keeper could cast their eye across my proposed location and may "bee" offer a bit of advice.

I guess I might eventually bee interested in a course.

Thanks
Jimmy Aka Scrooge

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Jimmy,

The BBKA is a good place to start, it will put you in touch with folks and give you a great resource in the knowledge of the members, plus the BBKA membership will give you Insurance for your bees, which we find very useful.

However, whether you feel that the annual membership (£25 hereabouts including insurance for 3 hives and public liability insurance for £1 Million) is worthwhile is something only you can decide.

As to the courses, well, they are reputedly very good (our fellow beekeepers Pat and Colin have done it, but as we'd already had bees for 12 months when they started, they didnt learn much about the weekly routines, more about the diseases n other stuff)

As to free advice, well it is possible, as thats how we learnt, we were fortunate that on approaching the council allotment officer that she was supportive and had a colleague who was a beekeeper and very much in favour of bees on allotments, so he took us under his wing and showed us how to look after the girls for free. We did get 3 nucs from him, at a large discount, and we now count him among our best friends, but we were very fortunate in finding him, without his guidance we would have to have waited until we'd done the course in order to know what we were doing was right for the girls.

As to setting up cheaply, depends on exactly what sort of hives n set up you are looking for, You can build your own top bar beehives fairly cheaply, but if you want a more normal hive (which is easier to harvest the honey#) then expect to pay about £125 per hive with a couple of supers, plus the cost of your bees, which can be anything from £60 to £150 per nucleus, and then you will need smoker, tools, PPE and later on uncapping and extraction tools to let you harvest the honey. All in all its not a cheap hobby, but it is one that will soon become self funding and is also very rewarding and absolutely fascinating to partake of.

HTH
Regards
Suzanne

[Jimmy]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess what I really want is some one local to talk to and perhaps watch a few times as they do their routines.
Also perhaps they could cast an eye on where I could site a hive. It's not an allotment but a back garden with a reasonable amount of space.
Truth is, cost is not really an issue appart from my inbuilt scrooge tendancies, I suspect I must have some Yorkshire blood in the family !

Also, a thought there was a government initiative
Free training for backyard beekeepers : Directgov - Newsroom

So what's the best way of contacting someone local ?

Regards
Jimmy

[frias]

Hope you watched todays Alan Titchmarsh Show or can watch it on catch up. Lots about beekeeping.

[endymion]

I don't know a thing about bee keeping but a friend of ours has joined a local group and has been going along to meetings and classes for the last year, with a view to getting their own hive next year. They've learned a heck of a lot, and have also made a lot of contacts who will help them along the way once they get started.

I'm quite fascinated by bees, always have been. There's also an inaccessible colony in a nearby neighbour's house. It's been there for maybe eight or nine years, presumably renewing itself every so often when they swarm? (which sounds like a zillion motorbikes) They're no trouble at all, none of us have been stung - we do talk to them, maybe they like it?

I often read a bee-keeping blog in the Telegraph. I don't know how much you can learn from it though.

[dave_norm_smith]

Hi

I been toying with the idea for a while but maybe have a look at this as well for a more cost effective way to set up a hive.
Natural Beekeeping Forum - Top Bar Beekeeping Forum
Modified Abb Warr Hive -- David Heaf's Warr Project

Its a different approach to what you may know about bee keeping but you can make a more informed choice, once you know all the possibilities. The videos are really interesting.

All the best

Dave

[merlin]

Bee keeping is very popular out here, and the equipment appears to be very cheap, not that I am tempted at the moment though. A kilo of honey from the chap next door is about 7 levs £3, he seems to get loads of it.

[happy gardener]

Theres alway some one who wants somebody else`s paid for knowledge for nothing. Change your name from scrooge to short arms deep pockets

[veggiechicken]

Go along to the local beekeepers meetings. You won't have to join up immediately. Chat to them - they're a friendly lot (at least down here they are) and usually only too happy to help and advise. Maybe they have a training apiary that you could visit and get some hands-on experience first. I would definitely advise that initially as not everyone can cope with a hive full of very active bees - it can be a bit intimidating.