Norfolk Honey - getting started
Getting started in beekeeping
Training and Courses
Training courses in practical beekeeping give you a hands on experience. At the
end of a practical beekeeping course you will know how to open a beehive and
what to look for in order to assess the condition of the hive. In Norfolk, Eastern
College offer a practical bee-keeping course in the spring -- see
their web site for the Practical
Bee-Keeping course
If you can't wait for the spring to find out about how to start bee-keeping you
can
sign up for their winter course Introduction to bee-keeping -- see their web
site
for the Introduction
to bee-keeping course
Before you start your bee-keeping make contact with your local bee-keeper who
can
give
you
tips
and
tricks
and
local
contacts. If you are in or near Norwich you can contact me
Most counties in the UK have beekeepers association that are affiliated to
the British Beekeepers' Association
Beekeeping equipment
Specialist beekeeping equipment is available from a range of bee keeping
equipment suppliers many of those bee keeping equipment suppliers have local
agents who hold
a selection of their stock items. Hopefully as time goes by you will be able
to find those suppliers and stockist's (those who have web sites) in our
directory You can also find bee-keeping equipment suppliers in the Yellow
Pages
Setting up your apiary
The position of your beehives is important if you have close neighbours for
obvious reasons. other than that an open patch of ground a few yards square
that is protected from
the attention of large animals and is not exposed to excessive winds is all
you need.
Buying your bees
Now for the exciting part -- buying your first hive
of bees . Needless to say not all honey bees are the same when it comes
to how much honey they make, if they like swarming or if they aggressively
protect their hives. When you are new to bee-keeping it will be hard for you
to
assess one hive of bees from another. Until you have had some practical experience
of opening up more than one beehive you won't know the difference between one
hive of bees and the next.
For the past few years I have been actively selecting bees that are easy to
handle for beginners -- please read my page on bees