So you want to keep bees and become a 'beekeeper' ?

Well good for you ...

Not only will you find this a very interesting but also a very rewarding hobby and hopefully by the end of the summer you should be rewarded with a few pounds of honey for your labours ... but more importantly your bees will have helped pollinate many of the fruits and flowers in your garden and the surrounding area. Not only will you benefit but also all the small mammals and birds who need the seeds for their winter fodder.

The first thing I must suggest is not to go out and buy a whole load of equipment that you think you might need or something that you might have seen on TV or in someone's garden.

Contact your local beekeeping association, we do have a good list (Scotland) on our Links page and then ...

Go grab a mentor ... that is a'wise and trusted person who can act as a teacher' ...
someone who has been keeping bees for some time and who should know what he/she is talking about.

First get your mentor to show you their 'apiary' and if you didn't know what an 'apiary' is, it is the place where your bee hives are placed and not somewhere where monkeys live !

Borrow a 'bee suit' from your mentor and have a look inside one of his bee hives.

I ran a bee-ginners course some years ago for youngsters 12 - 16 yrs olds, plus a few 'oldies'. When we opened up a hive for the first time and the bees bubbled up and over the top of the box ... all the youngsters stepped forward a couple of paces to get a better look ... and the 'oldies'... well, not being quite sure, moved just a little in the opposite direction.

Did you like what you saw ? The construction and workings of the hive explained ? Still want to keep bees ?

Setting up and the buying of equipment can be quite intimidating and expensive. There is vast quantity of 'stuff' on the market, that you just don't need and even basics can bee very confusing.

Second hand bits and pieces sometimes become available and can be to some degree quite acceptable, but take your mentor with you for him to have a quick glance. Bee careful not to buy a 'pig in the poke'

There is no way to "keep" bees in any hive. The only way the bees stay in the hive is if they decide to. If they like your beehive, they will stay. If they don't like it, or it is too small, they will leave very quickly.
Hives are but a tool for the beekeeper, the one you find best to use is the best ... the bees won't object as long as it is dry and fits their needs.

'Conventional' hives are all made up the same way ... I say conventional as those hives you might buy from a supplier of beekeeping equipment.

	Start off with a stand and alighting board. Lifts the hive off the damp ground and allows plenty ventilation.
	A floor sits on top of the stand. This one is a solid floor but most beekeepers use a 'varroa' floor during the summer and a solid one over the colder winter months.
	On top of the floor sits a brood box. This is where the Queen is normally confined and where the young bees are raised. Within the brood box we fit Frames ... evenly spaced and fitted with Foundation ... wax sheets that are impacted with hexagonal shapes onto which the bees build their cells.
	On top of the brood box we sometimes fit a Queen Excluder. A metal mesh that prevents the Queen from passing through but big enough for the worker bees to pass. However some beekeepers call this a honey excluder as even the worker bees see it as a barrier and won't pass through it.
	On top of the Excluder we fit a Honey Super. This is where the bees will store their honey ... which you will no doubt steal from them at some time ! The Excluder below, stops the Queen from entering the Super to lay her eggs ... egg free honey ! ... And of course we fit a roof on top of this lot.

Okay ... so which hive should I buy ?

The cottage garden traditional hive is the WBC. If you want a couple of hives in your garden and want them to look good, go for the WBC. Don’t be put off by some beekeepers who will say they’re impractical. Yes, they are awkward to move but if you want to stay with a small-scale hobby, you probably won’t want to move them anyway.

The National hive is the most widely used hive in the UK. It is a square hive (square means you can rotate the brood/supers through 90 degrees to the floor and have the frames either at right angles to the entrance or parallel, warm or cold ways). The hive boxes have rebates in their sides that serve as hand grips, easy to grab hold of. Many beekeepers now view the brood box of the National as too small for the laying activity of modern strains of queen bee, so operate the National with a brood box and one super. This is sometimes called "a brood and a half". While this provides enough room for the brood, it also increases the number of frames that have to be checked through regular inspection. Because of this the National hive brood boxes are also now available in a 14 x 12 inch size which gives a brood size similar to the Commercial or Langstroth.

If you are living in the north of Scotland, my advice would be to start with a National or WBC Hive

Dadant Hive is biggest of them all, the brood box is a whopping 508mm x 470mm x 298mm. This can be a very heavy box when even nearly full ... watch your back.
Langstroth Hive is probably the most used hive in the world ... except in the UK! The brood box comes in at 508mm x 413mm x 243mm. Uses the dadant size of frame and fits 10 or 11 frames. Download Plans.
Smith Hive was designed by W. Smith in Scotland and the construction is similar to the National hive. Outer dimensions of the brood box are 464mm x 416mm x 225mm. Takes 11 British Standard (BS) frames and wax but the end lugs on the frames are shortened to 19mm viz normal at 25mm. Uses finger tip lifting recesses and is not easy lifting a well filled brood or super. Download Plans.
National Hive, probably the most widely used in the UK. Outside dimensions of the brood box are 460mm x 460mm x 225mm. Supers are 148mm high. Takes 12 BS frames and wax sizes. Download Plans.
Commercial Hive brood box is just slightly bigger than the National at 465mm x 465 mm x 267mm and with slight differences in mounting of the frames, allows slightly larger frames to be used but they have shortened lugs. Uses finger tip lifting recesses and is not easy lifting a well filled brood or super.
WBC Hive ... William Broughton Carr designed his hive in 1860 and was the first double walled hive in Britain. The inside dimensions of the brood box are 381mm x 422mm x 225mm. Takes ten BS frames and wax sizes. The outer dimensions tend to vary quite considerably depending on the manufacturer and/or if home made. This hive has fallen somewhat out of favour due to its complexity and cost. Download plans.
Top bar hives are used extensively in Africa and the Caribbean. The principle is simple: a box with sticks across the top, to which bees attach their comb. Centrally placed in the floor is a mesh panel for removing debris which also includes a simple varroa drawer. Building a top bar hive is no more difficult than putting up shelves and can be done using hand tools and recycled wood. Top bar beekeeping really is 'beekeeping for everyone' – including people with disabilities, bad backs, or a reluctance to lift boxes: there is no heavy lifting once your hives are in place, as honey is harvested one comb at a time. Support and further information about sustainable beekeeping on the author's web site www.biobees.com
Warré Hive Abbé Warré (1867 - 1951) lived in France and developed The People's Hive based on his studies of 350 hives of different systems that existed at his time as well as of the natural habits of the bee, with the aim of finding the best hive for both bees and beekeeper. hive-body box internal dimensions 300 x 300 x 210 mm, with projecting handles, eight 36mm centred 24mm wide top-bars resting in rebates in each box (NO FRAMES), wax starter strips under each top bar (NO FOUNDATION) Download Plans

Other equipment you will need:

Bee suit and gloves I would suggest buying a better quality beesuit where the seams are double stitched and less liable to come apart. A one piece suit is better than 'jacket and trousers' ... the jacket tends to ride up one's back when bending over and opens up a gap for the bees to get in ... !

Hive Tool
Make sure you purchase a good one with a thin end which will be much easier to use, and kinder on your boxes than some of the thick ended ones that are available.

Smoker
If you are buying new then look at all those available, as there are very few really good ones. Many are poorly made and the bellows are very stiff to operate. Make sure you are comfortable with it and it doesn't tire you out.

Where do you get them ... look on our links page and you'll find a dozen suppliers

Once you have your basic hardware ... where do you set the hives up ?

   Yes ... you can put them in your garden and you don't neccessarily have to have a large one ... but there is always a caveat ... 'Beware of thy Neighbour'. The only regulation within the UK that would affect you is that of 'Public Nuisance'
  A lot of people freak out if you mention bees, they have seen too many horror films and of course bees sting. You can chat to your neighbours about how interesting hobby is and how important bees are to the environment, possibly encourage them to put on your spare veil and look into your hive and make sure they are well supplied with honey.
  Bees do have cleansing flights and are prone to “poop” over the neighbours washing line.

Or, you can say nothing ... I have known folk to have bees in their garden for years and their neighbours are blissfully unaware.

Should you be unfortunate not to have a garden or have unsympathetic neighbours, you will have to set up an 'out-apiary' ... that is locate your bees some other place than your garden. But where ?

You will have to tour the surrounding countryside looking for a small piece of ground that appears to be unused/derelict.

Ideally you should look for but is not always possible.

• The site should not be in a frost pocket but have protection from the cold North and East winds.  On the edge of a coppice can make for a nice site. Avoid sites directly under trees (falling branches). The old beekeeper's saying that 'bees in a wood ne'er do good' is very true. Farmers and landowners like to put beekeepers out of sight in a wood or copse.
• The site should be accessible by road throughout the year ... you don't want to have to carry heavy boxes/supers full of honey any further than you have to.
• If the site is next to open pastures ... it needs a good stock proof fence.
• Is there sufficient forage within the area ... bees will fly out to 3 miles from the hive and you don't want to have your hives in the center of a monoculture which flowers for just two weeks a year then nothing.
• The site should be well away from any public access such as foot paths and bridle ways. Bad tempered bees while being manipulated will attack any moving human and/or animal targets up to quite large distances from the hive.
• The site should bee well away from any form of flooding
• As a matter of ethics ... if another beekeeper has bees close by, then look elsewhere for another site no matter what the farmer says.
• The site should bee close to and if possible water, a stream/pond. A good hive of bees can consume a litre of water a day during the height of summer ... or you can set up a small drink trough/tray for them.
• Beekeepers in large cities such as London and Paris locate their hives on the flat roof tops of buildings and balconies.

Top

As a new beekeeper you may want to keep your hobby as small as possible, and that to you means just one hive.  I would always recommend you should try to have at least two hives on the go. There are several reasons why I say this:

1.  Should your one hive die in the winter you are immediately no longer a beekeeper.
2.  Two hives allow you to contrast and compare so you can spot their mutual strengths and weaknesses.  You will learn more.
3. Should you have a problem with one hive such as it being queenless you can back it up from the other, take eggs from one hive to the other to test or treat it.

How much time do I have to spend with the bees?
Two hive takes just a few hours work per week from April to September. The regular checks are such as,  are the bees healthy?  Is there enough room for egg laying and honey storage? If not, we add another box of combs.  Are they preparing to swarm? Have they got enough food? What flowers are they working?