how many hives is to much

[Tonyatcwfarm]

I have decided that I have too many hives because I still have 50+ kilos of last year's harvest

Have you it in jars or buckets?

 

[Ely]

I started with 1 colony and made a split. That was perfect for me. 2 hives with no experience is very challenging so no need for greater numbers. The only thing to be learned from many hives instead of 2 or so hives is extra organisation skills and how to keep records. That should come secondary to recognising the ins and outs of how a colony works and the basic craft of beekeeping. Learn the management of lots of hives after you learn the basics about bees with one or two. Simple

 

[MJBee]

Have you it in jars or buckets?

Nope it's in 1 kilo poly pots, had some in 500g pots but sold all that. These pots seem to be the acceptable "norm" over here.

 

[Dishmop]

Geriatrics Rule ! OK ?

Yeh.
Grumpy old sods.

Must get these teenagers to understand that the 500 badge on the back of my Mercedes means its probably 5 times bigger than their Corsa, and that I have left them behind while they are fiddling with thier GPS because they have forgotten their way home.

 

[Pete D]

8 hives and 5 nucs at end of first summer.
20 hives at end of 2nd summer
20 hives and 10 nucs at end of 3rd summer
40 hives and 14 nucs right now in 4th summer

Spent a week with Chris B and his 300 hives in my first year to enable me to handle a lot of bees in a short time.

Learning fast

Oh and just turned 50, wish I had started 30 years ago

 

[enrico]

I did start 30 years ago and I know where my limits are ...... Eight is too much , six is good so go into winter with three!
E

 

[irishguy]

So what I've got from this thread, when starting, you can never have enough hives and for others, 2 is enough for them. Just like in life, some people are very cautious and others jump in the deep end. Which one is right, NONE! Because we are all unique on this big lovely spinning rock, we all do things differently and if they are happy with their approach then so be it.

 

[oliver90owner]

you can never have enough hives and for others, 2 is enough for them

Nooo! Either you cannot read or continue to only selectively remember what suits you!

You have ignored the posters who have suggested one is too many for some (you?); ignored the previous response from the BKA secretary, who either knows you, or knows of you (from previous telecons?), and suggested one at the most for you. (He was likely trying to be polite by saying two were too much for you).

Go back and read the thread properly. The truth may become clear. Getting, and reading, a beekeeping book should have been priority over getting bees IMO.

 

[irishguy]

you can never have enough hives and for others, 2 is enough for them

Nooo! Either you cannot read or continue to only selectively remember what suits you!

You have ignored the posters who have suggested one is too many for some (you?); ignored the previous response from the BKA secretary, who either knows you, or knows of you (from previous telecons?), and suggested one at the most for you. (He was likely trying to be polite by saying two were too much for you).

Go back and read the thread properly. The truth may become clear. Getting, and reading, a beekeeping book should have been priority over getting bees IMO.

Right, I've done that. Intact I've read 2 and not only that, I've read quite a lot over this last 2 years online and not to forget watching the guts of 10 documentaries on bees. I joined the local beekeeping association, completed my beginners course and have made 6 hives, supers,mesh floors etc... So IMO my next step was to get my hands on bees and take it from there. Tge week my bees swarmed was when my misses was in having the 4th addition to the family and I was mad busy. As for the swarming itself, I'm happy it happened be cause now I know the signs to look out for next year instead of going by what the books say. As for me starting with 2 hives, I still can't see a reason why I shouldn't have, yes I know some on here say its wasn't the best idea but then again, when I suggested "on here" that I was starting with one, quite a few said start with 2 incase the 1 hive I get is weak so best to start with 2. Now your saying buy a book first! Lol. Sitting scratching my head here because I'm getting advised all conflicting ideas.

 

[protheroe]

i am up to 47 hives and this is my fifth year(fourth full season).
its been a huge learning curve.i work 40 hours a week over 4 days and outside work just about every spare minute seems to go on beekeeping or hivemaking.unless you are loaded and can go out and buy 50+ hives at a time then you really will have your work cut out for you.tools alone are expensive.planer thicknesser,router and table,table saw and i couldnt do without a belt sander either.cedar in the rough will cost about 30 quid a hive with supers,then you will need roof metal,queen excluder and varroa mesh,frames and foundation.at the moment i probably have 80 complete hives(47 with bees),an empty bank account,constantly knackered and it really p****s the wife off on times.

 

[meidel]

i am up to 47 hives and this is my fifth year(fourth full season).
its been a huge learning curve.i work 40 hours a week over 4 days and outside work just about every spare minute seems to go on beekeeping or hivemaking.unless you are loaded and can go out and buy 50+ hives at a time then you really will have your work cut out for you.tools alone are expensive.planer thicknesser,router and table,table saw and i couldnt do without a belt sander either.cedar in the rough will cost about 30 quid a hive with supers,then you will need roof metal,queen excluder and varroa mesh,frames and foundation.at the moment i probably have 80 complete hives(47 with bees),an empty bank account,constantly knackered and it really p****s the wife off on times.

Get your spouse as keen on the bees as you - bee buddy/helpmeet in one and a happy household all told!

 

[Chrisfnvs]

All this talk about numbers of colonies, having lots does not make you a good beekeeper, i think putting the welfare of the bees as the primary consideration would be a good starting position.

 

[Mrs Webmuppet]

We have three hives now and that's quite enough. We only intended to have one, then were told we needed two for comparison purposes etc. but a swarm moved into an old hive our mentor had lent us 'just in case', having been carefully selected by the bees who were we to refuse 'free bees'.

My daughter and I spent a lot of time working on our mentors hives before he deemed us competent enough to have our own bees. We have to give a weekly update on our bees progress and he is always at the end of the phone if we have any queries.

We still attend our mentors apiaries regularly for further training. He has put us in for our assessments (Junior for my daughter and the basic for me). He pointed out to me the other day that we have actually done a lot of the things that the syllabus says we should know the theory of!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Sitting scratching my head here because I'm getting advised all conflicting ideas.

But what do you expect to hear? Ask two beekeepers the same question about hives, bees, or beekeeping problems and you'll get at least two different answers. You're even likely to get three or four different ideas or ways towards a solution because they'll have been there, done that, and know there's more than one way to do something.

Same with the number of hives for a novice. Some will say a novice should almost never get bees, not until they've been an apprentice for n-number of years. Others will take the other extreme and say to dive straight in, and learn as you're going along. The middle ground is probably best. It is, however, actually up to you to decide what you want to do - nobody will criticise you as long as your bees are doing okay.

You have to take what you want from the forum, ignore the comments or advice you don't like or disagree with - they aren't wrong just because they don't say what you want, it's simply a different point of view. But don't slavishly follow anybody's advice, because nobody here can actually see your bees, you're the only one who can do that.

 

[Pman]

I think two hives is best for insurance and comparing as you go. Over here we can't sell honey, only bees so lots of hives just means surplus honey in the garage, you can only eat or give away so much

 

[lilybetbee]

Why can't you sell?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You have to take what you want from the forum ignore the comments or advice you don't like

Which seems to mean all in this case