laird austin
New Bee
hi i just thought i would put an intro up as i am new to the forum and bee keeping in general.
i have had an interest in self sufficiency and also bees for a long time but only recently decided to take the plunge and start to learn some more with the goal of having a few hives of my own. (plus all the family cost me a fortune each year buying honey as we all love it lol )
i intend to build my first few hives myself and am looking at using the top bar design, to this end i have managed to get some really good basic plans for top bar hives, which should not task my limited skills or screwed up body too much
one reason for this is i am partly disabled (with bad shoulders and back) and my youngest lad who also is interested spends most of his time in his wheel chair due to his condition too. i have over the last few months been reading as much as i can online and in this forum and have also acquired a good collection of bee keeping books for my library with more on the way (much to the annoyance of "er indoors"). i will also be joining my local association some time next month (either totnes or torquay)to help increase my knowlage base to a point where i feel comfy to get my own bees, being a fast learner with a lot of time on his hands i dont think this should take too long.
the other reason for building my own hives is due to a very limited budget, and hopefully it will let me save more to buy in my first bee's (must admit i was shocked at just how much a swarm can cost) so it will be an exercise in beekeeping on a shoestring/ low budget.
so please excuse me if i ask some basic or what may seem silly questions along the way, but we all have to start at the beginning sometime. and any help or advice will be gratefully received.
finally i was wondering if there was any bee keepers in my area (brixham, south devon) that may be able to help me gain some extra practical experience helping them out later in the season.
thank you for your time in reading this
i have had an interest in self sufficiency and also bees for a long time but only recently decided to take the plunge and start to learn some more with the goal of having a few hives of my own. (plus all the family cost me a fortune each year buying honey as we all love it lol )
i intend to build my first few hives myself and am looking at using the top bar design, to this end i have managed to get some really good basic plans for top bar hives, which should not task my limited skills or screwed up body too much
one reason for this is i am partly disabled (with bad shoulders and back) and my youngest lad who also is interested spends most of his time in his wheel chair due to his condition too. i have over the last few months been reading as much as i can online and in this forum and have also acquired a good collection of bee keeping books for my library with more on the way (much to the annoyance of "er indoors"). i will also be joining my local association some time next month (either totnes or torquay)to help increase my knowlage base to a point where i feel comfy to get my own bees, being a fast learner with a lot of time on his hands i dont think this should take too long.
the other reason for building my own hives is due to a very limited budget, and hopefully it will let me save more to buy in my first bee's (must admit i was shocked at just how much a swarm can cost) so it will be an exercise in beekeeping on a shoestring/ low budget.
so please excuse me if i ask some basic or what may seem silly questions along the way, but we all have to start at the beginning sometime. and any help or advice will be gratefully received.
finally i was wondering if there was any bee keepers in my area (brixham, south devon) that may be able to help me gain some extra practical experience helping them out later in the season.
thank you for your time in reading this