Bee keeping experience

I was randomly invited on a bee keeping experience on the roof of the Royal Liver Building on Liverpool's waterfront. What a fascinating hobby it is, really inspired me to have a go. I've got access to a large garden in rural West Lancashire perfect for a hive and I've sent an email to the local bee keeping society I'm hoping to start next spring.
Anyone else keep bees on here any advice much appreciated.
Cheers

You've done the best thing contacting your local club. Similar to on here, there will be loads of useful information from their members, probably second hand kit etc. I would also recommend going on a course but in the meantime I woud recommend Haynes Bee Manual. Yes it's the same company that does vehicle manuals but it covers most of the basics. Shop around for a good price, I got mine from one of the bookselling sites for £9.
It's a great hobby and has lots of benefits; I love honey but as a woodturner, use my own beeswax, and an hour with the bees is a great stress reliever.
One word of warning, you will start with one hive but soon find you need/want more. I've got 4 hives on my allotment and that's ideal for me. All of those hives were populated by bee colonies we gathered from swarms in the neighbourhood so I've never 'bought' any bees, but that's another topic.
Good luck with you new interest.

I used to help me neighbour regularly
We used to go out locally and collect a Bee swarm
He had kept Bee’s for years and been stung loads of times
Until he went into anaphylactic shock one time
He was diagnosed with being allergic to their sting so he had to get rid of everything

Aame thing happened to the bloke on the course, he's now on bee venom therapy, could take 5 years until he's built up enough immunity.

Best thing I did was to get into beekeeping.

They are amazing creatures.
But beware, just like Enfields, hives have a habit of multiplying.

I only wanted one hive, last year I had 7, gave 4 away at the end of the year to other keepers in the area.
My 3 remaining grew to 5 earlier this year as the swarms started and so did the call-outs from friends and family, who know.

But the sad part is, I'm down to 2 strong hives and one a bit poorly due to wasps. They hit the new colonies quickly, and one of the older ones is fighting hard to keep them out.

The first time I got stung, I had forgotten to do up the suit all the way as I had opened it to get my glasses out - 3 stings around the belly button and lesson learnt.
But now the stings don't hurt as much, a stinging nettle gives me more trouble.
I was worried about the anaphylactic shock thing as my father is very allergic, but so far I'm OK.

Enjoy your time with nature. They are a fascinating animal and well worth looking after.

Keeping bees has taught me many things.
The Queen is not really in charge, she just tells everyone what to do, until they decide they want a new Queen.
One thing is, I think they are the exact opposite to humans: One bee is a useless twat, loads together are a complex colony all working together; One human is generally sensible, in a crowd........

I used to keep bees about 10 years ago but I lost my 2 hives in a huge storm we had. Just last month decided I would get back into it again and bought a flat pack hive, some frames, wax foundation and another couple of bits and bobs from Temu. Very impressed with the quality of everything and it should go without saying the price was unbeatable.

All I'm short now is some bees, I have the hive set up with some squeezy honey and maple syrup on a tray inside it hoping to attract a swarm and have friends and neighbours on alert to call me if they see any stray swarms I can rescue.

Great hobby.

As above, you will need at least three hives and two nucs. Plus all the rest of the paraphernalia that goes along with it.
If you decide to go down the rabbit hole you could end up with a microscope.
Shame, I had to give it up because of arthritis, sold all my gear off two years ago.
Wonderful times though.

I've contacted the local bee group, hopefully joining in November and doing a beginner course in March.
Looking forward to it.

Beaver said:

I used to help me neighbour regularly
We used to go out locally and collect a Bee swarm
He had kept Bee’s for years and been stung loads of times
Until he went into anaphylactic shock one time
He was diagnosed with being allergic to their sting so he had to get rid of everything

Click to expand...

That's what happened to me also - I kept two colonies and was used to getting stung occasionally then within a week it went from being a nuisance to life-threatening.

The hospital doctor said "next time you get stung, jab yourself with two EpiPen and dial 999 and they'll send a helicopter - you're looking at lung collapse within half an hour and that's not good "

So I sold the lot.

My advice would be to take better care than I did and avoid getting stung. You would think that you would get immune to it but the opposite can happen. It's a really interesting hobby and I always buy honey from small producers when I see it.

Best of luck

Wow. That’s pretty extreme. The Mrs reacts badly to bee stings but has been able to get away with a very expensive bee suit.

We have half a dozen hives at present, which is kind of middle of the road for us.

OP, don’t just start with one. Get two. It’s much easier to sort issues if you have extra bees to work with.