Bee Keeping

Corsendonk

Is it a viable option for a small holder? What specific crop honey is in demand? Whats the ratio between land and hives?

And can people have a successful hive in an urban or suburban area?

Reesy

Hmmm, many questions.

Yes, you can keep bees in an urban / suburban environment. It's more work (and you need a reasonable skill level) than in a rural area, because you have (human) neighbours to worry about.

IMHO, all local honey is in demand. Moreover it's hard, in general, to get honey from a specific crop in Ireland, because most of the landscape is covered with a variety of flora.

There's no set ratio of hives to (your) space. I have 4 of my hives on about 10 square metres - the bees will forage up to 3km. It's a good idea to keep them a decent distance from where humans hang out, but how far that is will depend on you & your bees.

IMHO there's little money in beekeeping in Ireland, but I guess it makes sense to add beekeeping to a smallholding. As well as honey, you can breed & sell bees, & make various products - and there is the pollination benefit too.

Many beekeeping associations run beginners' courses over the winter - find your local association here http://irishbeekeeping.ie/federation/affassoc.html

More info at dublinbees.org - or for loads of detail at a brilliant side, http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/newhome.html.

Good luck.

Tremone

But is there not a decline in bee numbers? I asked our local group and they told me to join up but I probably wouldn't get bees for quite a while as the numbers were low. They did not want to import bees due to infection/diseases etc
IMO what's the point being a beekeeper with no bees?

Birdnuts

Deleted User wrote: »

And can people have a successful hive in an urban or suburban area?

According to a piece on BBC recently - the most succesfull hives in the UK are now in subrban areas!!

Traonach

Birdnuts wrote: »

According to a piece on BBC recently - the most succesfull hives in the UK are now in subrban areas!!

Less pesticides used in urban areas compared with rural areas. Rural areas especially areas with large amounts of tillage can be quite lethal to bees due to the huge pesticide use.

St. Leibowitz

Tremone wrote: »

But is there not a decline in bee numbers? I asked our local group and they told me to join up but I probably wouldn't get bees for quite a while as the numbers were low. They did not want to import bees due to infection/diseases etc
IMO what's the point being a beekeeper with no bees?

I think that that's exactly the reason to keep bees. You may have to wait to get the bees, but once you've got them, you can build your colony, and then maybe be in a position to help someone out with a start. We need to increase the number of colonys and keepers in order to increase the number of bees. Beekeeping is definately on my list of things to get kicked off. I was hoping to do a course this winter, but it looks like it'll probably be next winter now.

bbam

St. Leibowitz wrote: »

I think that that's exactly the reason to keep bees.

Are there no commercial reasons to keep bees?
Is there any guideline on the return from keeping a number of hives?

Tremone

I'm also thinking of starting into bees, I would have a field wherte could control the climate a little bit. Is there any crop or fauna that would entice bees?

St. Leibowitz

There's lots of bee friendy plants, but I planted a few sunflowers last spring, and even today, wet and windy at the start of October, there are still bees foraging in them. I also planted a few borage plants. I have never seen so many bees foraging around any plant during the summer as I did with the borage.

The plants which bees forage from dictate the flavour and quality of the honey. Where there are huge fields of the same flower, (the main contender in Ireland would probably be oil seed rape fields), the honey tends to take on the flavour characterists of that plant. It's good to plant a mix of plants, and also very importantly, a mix that provides flowers right through the season, so that he bees will always have something to forage on. No point in planting a huge quantity of plants that all flower for the same two weeks. That'd an issue with the rape fields. A large area dedicated to a two week flowering window.

adopt a bee hive

You can do a course in wicklow or dublin. Join you local beekeeping. After you do the course you will be able to get some bees. It's worth doing the course it will give you a good grounding and you will learn to look after your bees well.

muckyhands

Corsendonk wrote: »

Is it a viable option for a small holder? What specific crop honey is in demand? Whats the ratio between land and hives?

From what I know its not so much a ratio between land and hives but a ratio between how many colonys the local flora on the land within say 2 miles of the hive locations can support.

Your best bet would be to to join your local association- you will make contacts with experienced beekeepers who would be in a position to look at your site and assess what flora is available and how many colonys that it would support, for example 1 acre of the common 'weed' Willowherb would support approx. 2- 3 colonys of bees that should gather 100lbs of honey given good growing conditions/ weather (Ted Hooper 'Bees and Honey'). I know its unlikely you will have 1 acre of Willowherb growing nearby but they may be able to ascertain approximate figures so far as how many colonys of bees the local area flora can provide for. They may also be in a position to advise as to the type of honey your bees are likely to produce depending on what plants are growing locally.

Beekeeping is an expensive hobby to get into but commercial beekeeping isn' t something I personally know anything about...

You would really need to look at whether there is locally produced honey available in your area and whether you can find a niche in the market that you can avail of...

Hope this is of some use.:)

allium

To answer Tremone, I offer two main suggestions, one to provide good quality protein when little else may be available and the other to provide some nectar when the hive population is high, but there may be a gap in the availability of nectar (the "June Gap".)

1) Willow (some types better than others) for the high quality protein/pollen.
You should consider crocuses as well (might not suit)

2) Cotoneaster or Pyracantha for the carbs / nectar

Cotoneaster will certainly entice the bees. If there are honeybees within range, they will cover your cotoneaster when it's providing nectar.

Longer term, you might consider sycamore or even horse chestnut trees too?
You could include clover in any grass reseeding.

Good luck with it.

bertie1

There is no real better plant to put in for bees because they need a year round supply of pollen & nectar , I live in a rural area. Early spring there is gorse , willow & hazel for early build up , then the hedgerows start to bloom ,blackthorn, whitethorn,sycamore and horsechestnut dandelions . Winter sown oilseed rape may be sown locally if it is I get an early crop of honey , after that the blackberry & clover yield depending on the weather , autumn ivy fills the boxes for winter stores.

Bees need forage all year round & fly once the day time temps get over 10C

Some hives produce more than others even in the same field , others get into swarming mode cast swarms and miss the main honey flow , it depends on how you manage them, the year & the weather.

Demand locally is for locally produced honey not that imported stuff you find on the supermarket shelves ( non EU blended)

Last year out of my 10hives about 5 produced surplus honey , approx 500lbs. There is a lot of work in them , do a course with your beekeeping society , there are plenty of bee stocks available, Coolmore bees in Cork I know has over wintered stock for sale in the spring, most beekeepers will have some stock for sale in July. You have plenty of time if you get them in July to build them up to over winter , they will be ripe for producing a surplus crop of honey next year.

WestportCFE

We are offing a Beekeeping Course at night all the details are here

http://www.westportcfe.ie/dept/view/35 It is only €95 and starts on 21st Feb at 7pm and runs for 8 weeks.

bertie1

Cork Co Beekeepers are also doing a series of lectures starting next Wednesday night at 7.30- 9.30 in room D160 Cork Institute of Technology

February 15th Preparing honey for sale and show. Jim Power
February 22nd Keeping Bees Healthy. Dennis Ryan
February 29th Swarming Scenarios. Noel Power
March 7th Making Mead. David Lee
March 14th Queen Rearing. P.J. Curran

Further details on http://www.cocorkbka.org/index.html

JCabot

Im living in west Cork and interested in keeping bees, however my home is coastal with very little shelter and its very blustery. Do you think bees could trive in this environment?

bertie1

Don't see why not , the only problem is half the forage may not be there if you are facing the sea. There is a lot of heather near costal locations , if it is very blustery the bees don't fly either . you may find a more sheltered position about a mile form the sea, they would do better there. There are a lot of bees kept in West cork

Cul a cnoic

I and a few other beekeepers around me are only a half mile from the sea in West Donegal and the bees work fine. Plenty of honey last year.

I have a wind break around the hives which keeps the sea air from blasting them as I am in a very exposed location but on the down side, this wind break also keeps the cold in during cold spells.

arse..biscuits

I have hives in Dublin city centre. They are doing great. Urban areas are fine for bees.

bertie1

How are you bees doing in all this wet cold weather

Cul a cnoic

bertie1 wrote: »

How are you bees doing in all this wet cold weather

Hello bertie1, I put on supers very early this year as the false spring we had here a few weeks ago had the bees working nearly too good and I was fearing an early swarm. Don't know if what i did was right or not but it hasn't hampered them in any way.

Had a peek into the hives last weekend and there was a lot of bees working in the supers, so I would say things are looking good for now, bar the wind, hail and rain we are experiencing here of late.

bertie1

So did I , but I am very exposed here & its too cold to look into any hive , they are coming out for a few hours after lunch when it warms up but havn't been able to open the hives since the 12 April. I only got some of my queens clipped & marked , thought I would get a chance to get back to them. The weather being the way it is they are unlikely to anything yet but another 2 weeks & I will be expecting trouble if I don't get the rest clipped. .

Cul a cnoic

Beautiful evening here with the temp over 18 degrees so I changed the hives from the solid floor to the mesh type on the two hives. Inspected both hives quickly and everything was as it should be. As said above, both hives have the supers on and the stronger hive had a heavy super, so they are working good.

Thinking of splitting the stronger hive and am going to add another brood onto it in the next few days. from what I'v heard, its a good method of dividing and creating another colony.

doctor evil

Any one here going to the preliminary exam this month?

bertie1

Hoping to do the senior practical & scientific in July in Gormanstown

bbam

bertie1 wrote: »

There is no real better plant to put in for bees because they need a year round supply of pollen & nectar , I live in a rural area. Early spring there is gorse , willow & hazel for early build up , then the hedgerows start to bloom ,blackthorn, whitethorn,sycamore and horsechestnut dandelions . Winter sown oilseed rape may be sown locally if it is I get an early crop of honey , after that the blackberry & clover yield depending on the weather , autumn ivy fills the boxes for winter stores.

Bees need forage all year round & fly once the day time temps get over 10C

Some hives produce more than others even in the same field , others get into swarming mode cast swarms and miss the main honey flow , it depends on how you manage them, the year & the weather.

Demand locally is for locally produced honey not that imported stuff you find on the supermarket shelves ( non EU blended)

Last year out of my 10hives about 5 produced surplus honey , approx 500lbs. There is a lot of work in them , do a course with your beekeeping society , there are plenty of bee stocks available, Coolmore bees in Cork I know has over wintered stock for sale in the spring, most beekeepers will have some stock for sale in July. You have plenty of time if you get them in July to build them up to over winter , they will be ripe for producing a surplus crop of honey next year.

Would I be way off the mark in saying you had 1,000 half pound jars from five hives. These would sell for about €4/5 to a shop giving you a gross of say €4500 ?

bertie1

bbam wrote: »

Would I be way off the mark in saying you had 1,000 half pound jars from five hives. These would sell for about €4/5 to a shop giving you a gross of say €4500 ?

Completely way off the mark ,

Firstly a shop is not going to pay you 4-5 Euro for a half lb jar.

Secondly a lb jar here sells for Euro 5.

The cost per jar with lid & label 50cents per jar.

A shop would be looking to put 100% mark up on anything it sells. Do the maths the max I would get if I sold to a shop would be Euro 2.25 for a 1 lb jar.

That 500 lbs of honey probably made about Euro 800 , I had to pay the landowners in honey for having access to their land to out my hives in. Over 50lbs of honey was kept for our own use at home,

Frames , foundation, etc all had to come out of that Euro 800 not to mention the time it takes to go through the hives every 7 days from April - July

Then you have the cost of feeding with sugar to take into account because the honey has been taken off and treatment for varroa

Mrs Farmer

Royal County Beekeepers do a really good beekeeping course starting around April each year for 6 weeks (usually Tues nights) and then you have apiary visits during the following months to get comfortable with handling bees etc.
The bees will forage up to 5 miles away from the hive, and I have my hives 15 metres from our house and the bees never bother anyone. A savvy beekeeper will tell you to place your hives facing away from your house and near a wall/fence/trees so that once they move out they have to go up to fly off and that takes them out of your trajectory.

Mrs Farmer

Would suggest if you are interested in starting to be a beekeeper that you get yourself a basic hive and have it ready so that if a friend/local has a bee swarm, they can give it to you if they already have enough hives. That's how I started last year, got a swarm from a friend and now I have just set up my 3rd hive, and am looking forward to first honey crop this autumn.