keeping bees

johnd123

hi all
i have been thinking about bee keeping for a long time now and am wondering if there is alot of work involved i dont want to add too much more work load to myself and was thinking of doing it more for the bees benefit rather than my own any good clubs or advice to be had

solargain

If you go on to http://irishbeekeeping.ie/index.php/find-an-association and find an association nearest you. They run beginners courses over the winter. Do the course first , it is usually 7 or 8 nights to give you an idea on what is required. Most also have apiaries where they show you how to handle bees. There are certain things you have to learn , after that one hive in the garden , requires about 1/2 an hour once every 2 weeks from April - July and after that a bit of treatment for varroa & the odd inspection to make sure they are ok & have enough room. Most end up with 2 hives so they can compare them

bpmurray

solargain wrote: »

one hive in the garden , requires about 1/2 an hour once every 2 weeks from April - July and after that a bit of treatment for varroa & the odd inspection to make sure they are ok & have enough room. Most end up with 2 hives so they can compare them

If everything goes perfectly, a few minutes once a week is fine (2 weeks is too long since they can seal queen cells in that time). However, the reality is that you'll have to work to prevent swarms, you'll probably have to feed in early spring and before winter (and, this year, up to late May!), add/remove supers (the boxes with honey) and so on.

To do all this, you will need a mentor from your local BKA to give you advice, another reason to join.

solargain

depends what part of the country you are in not all work that mentor system

patoinsf

What Part of the country are you in ?
As stated above the best way forward is for you to contact your local association. They will usually have a web page and/or a face book page so you can easily make contact with them. Most if not all Associations have members that will be more than willing to guide you through the in's and out's of what is involved. Our Association (Connemara Beekeepers) run a mentor system which works pretty well by putting newcomers under the guidance of experienced keepers for the first year or so.

solargain

Well in Cork there are over 60 new beginners every year , mentoring them on a personal basis is just not possible. Instead we have open apiary demonstrations April - June until the preliminary exam and for the month of June an open day every Sat for those that wish to come along or that have questions , but personally mentoring them is not possible due to numbers

So it really depends on where they are

brianmc

As everyone else has said...

For me the catch is that while there's not much work to do on a day to day basis, you need to keep on top of the jobs you do have to do and often on their schedule, not yours. Particularly when trying to control swarming, leaving something until tomorrow can completely change the outcome.

It can be tricky sometimes when you've a busy schedule.

patoinsf

Absolutely take on board what you are saying Solargain and it is great to hear that ye have so many new members in Cork to contend with.

solargain

The apiary on a Sat can have anything from 40 - 50 beekeepers there . Most work Mon- Friday ( need the job to pay for the beekeeping) , with Sat taken up at the apiary , it only leaves Sunday for our own beekeeping. Just not enough days in the week for mentoring

bpmurray

solargain wrote: »

need the job to pay for the beekeeping

Ha-ha - I know what you mean!!

Even if you don't use formal mentoring, I presume that any panicking newbee can contact someone to calm them down.

johnd123

thanks for all the replies im near loughrea co galway

solargain

The tribes are south of Galway have a look on www.irishbeekeeping.ie

DK man

More work and commitment than I was initially told about!

I joined the local club and I knew one of the senior members well who encouraged me to keep bees. He came over once when I was dealing with swarm cells. I haven't seen him since even though I had called him a number of times. So be careful about promises.

But it is a very enjoyable hobby and I personally love honey - we go through a jar a week in our house so it's great to have our own.

Best of luck

Effects

I'm sure a lot of senior members get a lot of calls from beginners and it's hard for them to deal with everyone. I had what I thought was a disaster when I killed my queen in September of my first year. Was hard to get someone from my association to help out but then Keith Pierce sorted me out and came to take a look at my hive. Luckily at that stage a new emergency queen had started to lay. She was late to start and it was October which worried me. I've learned a lot since then thankfully.
Time wise I find it doesn't take up too much time but as stated above, you often have to work at the bees schedule. You also have to plan ahead when ordering equipment. There's no reliable bee supplies in Dublin so I have to order everything by post.

patoinsf

Effects wrote: »

There's no reliable bee supplies in Dublin so I have to order everything by post.

I am located in Galway and any time I am in Dublin I have absolutely no problem getting hold of ***** for anything I want so I think it is a little unfair to make a general comment like that. I don't think I need to mention his business name as most beekeepers already know him.

[Mod]Removed mention of name[/mod]

Effects

I've had problems with Bee Supplies a number of times. No reply to emails, no reply to calls or texts for about a week, often longer. I've been told equipment has been put aside for me only to drive across the city and it's been sold to someone else. Final straw was when I took a trip over to find a note on the door to say he was closed that day. And three other people showed up at the same time as me. Complete waste of time when a simple message on the website saying they would be closed was all that's needed. Maybe they are running things a lot better now but they've wasted hours of my time and I wouldn't risk using them again.
I go with Dingle Beekeeping Supplies now most of the time. He replies straight away, sends orders out really fast and courier costs are really good. Mill Lane are pretty good too but their website is terrible.

bpmurray

I get everything from Carrolls - close to me (unfortunately - makes it an even more expensive hobby) - irishbeesupplies.com, and I've gotten some stuff from maceoin's in Cork too. Both are very reliable.

Cornerstonelad

I have found Donegalbees.ie to be reliable and very competitive as regards price.

Dublinflyer

I have to say I bought a hive and smoker from Donegal bees and they were of very poor quality. The hive just did not go together very well and the smoker does not seal at all and you end up with smoky hands. Just my opinion and I may have been unlucky. I bought some kit from Ben Harper and found his prices very good and the kit was top quality.