Although we have had a hive or two in the garden for a few years, my main contribution to the bees\u2019 welfare was to show my appreciation by consuming the honey they produced. However, over time my interest in taking a more active role increased as I began to understand that collecting honey is only a small part and that beekeeping is fascinating, has many challenges and rewards and, of course, bees are invaluable to the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is said that if bees died out man would follow four years later.” While this may or may not be true, because of pests and diseases honeybees are finding it more difficult to survive in the wild, so hopefully by keeping them we can contribute in some small way to their survival.<\/p>\n
Finding a beginner\u2019s course was very easy – the Somerset Beekeepers Association has many branches across the county. I signed up with the Somerton branch and they run six theory sessions from January to March and seven practical sessions from April to September.<\/p>\n
Theory sessions cover an introduction to Beekeeping, Occupants of the Hive, Equipment, Handling bees, Disease and more. I won\u2019t \u201cdrone\u201d on about these aspects albeit they are fundamental to getting started \u2026<\/p>\n
There are three castes and two sexes – all physically different with different tasks, but interdependent.<\/p>\n
Only one in the colony
\nLays eggs up to 2000 per day in summer<\/p>\n
10,000-50,000 in the colony depending on season<\/p>\n
Infertile female<\/p>\n
Undertakes all hive duties<\/p>\n
200-500 in the colony<\/p>\n
Fertile male<\/p>\n
Role to mate with young queens<\/p>\n
While the hives should be checked occasionally throughout the winter to ensure that all is well, the first inspections after winter happen around April. We did this inspection a couple of weeks ago and I found it both exciting and terrifying. The volume of bees and the noise when the roof comes off the hive takes a bit of getting used to. Wielding a smoker, a hive tool and trying to remove frames for inspection was a bit of a clumsy affair – clearly this is going to be a huge learning curve! However, I very quickly became engrossed in trying to identify and understand what I was seeing from what I\u2019d learnt in the theory classes. With help, I could identify the differences between the brood of the worker bees and the drones, and seeing the queen was exciting.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, both colonies have made it through the winter, one hive is much stronger, but both have lots of brood and some honey.<\/p>\n