I'm taking delivery of my first hive today. It will be my first one as I've never kept bees before.
Its a bit late in the year though, so should I park the idea until next year and do more reading (already done a lot) and get myself on a course or two, or should I get some bees and get cracking?
I'm in the UK if that makes a difference.
Thanks
Posted Aug 8, 2014, 8:24 AM UTC
Waiting is definitely the better option. To winter the bees need adequate stores, and honey comb. Starting now would leave them with almost nothing to start the winter season. They don't even knot their queen if it's a package.
To winter them you would have to feed them a lot of sugar. First as liquid then when it get's colder you'd have to switch to hard candy, and basically keep them feed all winter. It just isn't worth the cost or effort at this point, nor is it the healthiest option for the bees.
Around here, you couldn't buy bees if you tried. No one sells packages or nucs this time of year.
I don't know what the UK scene is like, but I'd be sure and start researching bee vendors and ordering bees in January or February. Places do run out, especially after a hard winter such as the one we had in the northeast United States.
If you only have the box wait. Its very late in the year to just start a package of bees out, and they will be pricey.
Stay on the subreddit until spring and read all the posts you can. Use the search function for any questions you have before you make a new post and look for tips and tricks posts.
Thanks. That was my plan. I was half hoping someone would say "do it now, it'll be awesome!" as I'm eager to get going, but I think I knew waiting would be the best option (for the bees, if not impatient me)
I know that feel, bro. I want to start right now! Generally, that's how i approach my hobbies - dive in the deep end first and see how it goes.
But I've decided to wait until next year. Gather equipment, knowledge, and hopefully when I get my first queen, I won't be a complete noob.
Hopefully, somebody will tell me they have a swarm on their tree that I can come get, instead of buying a pacakge or nuc.