Interested in Bees?
DINGWALL & DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION
Most frequently asked questions about starting beekeeping. (Updated November 24)
Q1 I have been thinking about beekeeping for a while now and would like to know how to go
about starting.
A1 When starting beekeeping it is often best to belong to a local group for a while before having bees
as it gives you the opportunity to see what equipment, clothing etc., that is needed and to see people
handling bees. By the time you are ready for bees you will know plenty of people who are only too
willing to pass on advice and maybe even a swarm to get you going. It is a very “hands-on” hobby
and practical demonstration is by far the best way of learning. Membership of our Association is £15
per year – not a lot for all the information you may acquire during the year.
Q2 What protective clothing will I need?
A2 It is very important to feel comfortable looking at bees. If you are anxious about getting stung you
can become clumsy which then causes more problems and things can soon get out of hand. It is
obviously best to aim eventually for the full purpose-made protective clothing, but the club can lend
you a suit if you come to any of our summer meetings. Bee suits are a lot less expensive than they
used to be, try Loch Ness Honey or Thornes for their range of clothing and accessories. It is a
chicken and egg situation – you need protection to find out whether or not beekeeping is for you but
you do need the proper protection to handle the bees
Q3 What equipment will I need to start off?
A3 (a) A beehive consisting of a varroa monitoring floor, brood box, crown board, roof and honey
supers per colony. It is always best to have 2 colonies.
(b) A smoker – bees are pacified by smoke and although you can overdo it and stress them with
too much a smoker is part of basic beekeeping equipment and serves to make handling them
easier.
(c) A hive tool; again, basic equipment for prising frames apart and scraping away
excess wax and propolis.
When thinking about equipment it is well worth asking for a catalogue from EH Thorne or our local
supplier Loch Ness Honey. A Thornes catalogue is a great way to learn of the range of beekeeping
equipment available.
Q4 What type of beehive should I be looking at?
A4 The standard beehive for hobby beekeepers is the National hive – it is single walled – is basically
18” square and extra equipment such as frames, queen excluders etc are readily available. They
are easily strapped together for moving (to the heather) if you so wish. See Thorne’s catalogue.
It should be remembered that when using second-hand hives, either purchased or fallen heir to,
that they must be thoroughly cleaned and blow torched to eliminate disease and wax moth larvae.
Q5 Can I make my own hives?
A5 Yes, plans are available but internal measurements need to be precise to suit British Standard
frames with a ⅜” bee space in the appropriate places. The quality of the wood is also important
and the best hives are made from Western red Cedar. Fittings can be bought from Thornes ie
frames and wax foundation and frame runners etc.
Q6 Do bees require a lot of time spent on them?
A6 Beekeeping is one of those things that may not need regular attention except perhaps May - July
when it is the swarming season. You set them up for winter in September time by making sure they
have enough stores to see them through the winter, protect the hives against mice and treat them for
varroa, then they can often be left alone until at least March time. You need to check the weight of
the hives for stores around Christmas time and do another varroa treatment at about that time which
only takes 5 minutes per colony.
You don't look inside them until it is warm enough to be outside in shirt sleeves so that can be the
end of April. Until then it is observation at the hive entrance watching for pollen going in so that you
know that the queen is laying. After that more regular attention is needed from May onwards.
Checking for queen cells (sign of intent to swarm) at least every 9 days till the end of June is
necessary if you want to prevent them swarming. After July they will not need attention except to
make sure they have enough room for any honey they may collect i.e. heather. As all bees are
basically wild they can look after themselves, all we have to do is try to encourage them to store more
honey!
Q7 Where do I get bees?
A7 There are four main sources of bees.
(a) You can buy a complete package i.e. queen and bees on five frames, known as a nucleus
colony. Packaged nucs are available
(b) You can purchase a queen which arrives in the post with a few bees as attendants, and hope
that a friendly beekeeper will set up a nucleus for you using frames from his/her colonies.
(c) You can buy a complete colony from a beekeeper who is wanting to sell up. Usually in that
case it will involve purchasing beehive etc. As well. You are then open to the risk of bad
infestations of disease, the unknown age of the queen etc. This method is best done by
recommendation.
(d) By taking a swarm from a fellow beekeeper who has either not enough equipment to house
the swarms or has been called to collect a feral swarm which he doesn’t require. These
would probably need to be treated for varroa as soon as they are hived if it is unknown
where they are from.
Q8 What is the ideal situation in which to keep bees?
A8 A large garden is perfectly OK as long as you can position the hives so that they are well away
from any public footpaths etc. and obviously not in a position where they could interfere with normal
garden occupation such as putting out the washing (they can splatter washing with droppings
especially in Springtime), children playing, sunbathing (!) etc. They are best placed facing out over
a field but not too open and susceptible to strong winds. They should not have trees overhanging
which will constantly drip onto the hives and cause annoyance to the bees. They are best not put
into a frost pocket and should catch as much sun as possible. Definitely not in a damp boggy area
or where livestock can use the hives as scratching posts. We are often told that bees and horses
don’t mix. You must always bear in mind that it is virtually impossible to get Public Liability Insurance
to cover you for a claim against you by someone who thinks your bees have caused problems. The
answer is, of course, that they have to be able to prove it is your bees that did the deed.
Q9 Can you recommend a good book
A9 The most popular introductory book on beekeeping these days is the, ‘Haynes Bee Manual’ by
Claire & Adrian Waring. Other popular ones are “Guide to Bees and Beekeeping” by Ted Hooper and
also a “Beekeeping for Dummies”
Q10 Are there courses run for beginners?
A10 Dingwall Association currently run a six week beginners’ course which prepares participants to
sit their Basic Bee Keeping Certificate as well as giving them a lot of good beginner knowledge.
Other associations such as Inverness sometimes hold indoor courses over winter usually open to
non-members.
Q11 Is Beekeeping frustrating?
A11 Yes, it can be, the bees never do exactly what you want them to do. The weather is often never
ideal and if it has been good and the bees have stored plenty of Honey they can just as quickly use
it all up again if the weather turns bad for a prolonged period
Swarming is not completely controllable as it is one of the bees’ basic processes of regeneration
and always happens when you are least prepared.
The weather may be good but if there is not enough moisture in the air the nectar flow in the plants
may be poor.
There is no guarantee that you will get honey every year.
Q12 Is Beekeeping addictive?
A12 Yes – the more you see bees working as a colony and you wonder at the organisation of workers
and amazing fertility of the queen you cannot fail to be entranced with watching them go about their
daily business even supposing you never harvest a drop of honey. We are constantly being
reminded of how valuable bees are to life through pollination of crops etc. and for that reason alone
we can only be constantly amazed at the value of such small creatures.