Are there any beekeepers about, would like to keep bees in the long term, but am a complete novice. Has anyone any clues on where to start.
My son-in-law is keen to have bees He has joined the British Beekeepers Association . I know that you are not in the UK but their website might be useful.
www.britishbee.org.uk
I still would like to have a go at beekeeping, I thought that I would energise the thread again.
How to learn:
The Imkervereine (beekeepers clubs) offer courses. Ask the Verein near you for info.
http://www.tg-bienenfreunde.ch/
http://www.otiv.ch/web.php/21pzvh/Startseite.html
http://www.imkervts.ch/
http://www.bienenfreunde.ch/Jungimkerkurs.htm
The PDF on this web page seems to contain this years' courses. New beekeepers are in dire need.
Ive kept bees in Hawaii and in California. One of my neighbors here in CH has 30+ hives, another has 6. The one with 6 tells me that there isn't enough food supply in our area to support his hives, and even where he keeps them some 15k from here, he often has to feed them throughout the winter. I'm not sure the web address, but there is a link out there somewhere to a map of all registered hives in CH and estimated nectar/pollen availability. It may be worth checking if it is worthwhile to start a hive in your area.
In commercial beekeeping operations it is more profitable to kill off the hive at the end of the season and harvest all of the honey, and then introduce a new, young, fertile queen and supply of workers in the Spring to maximize production - so nectar supply isn't as much of an issue as long as the practice turns a profit.
When a bee expert does come along, please inform me what makes Acacia honey so damn yummy compared to other types.
cheers
SC
Daft question time - I guess you need training and registration here before you can keep bees! Nothing like making a hive and getting on with it!
Swiss beekeepers are organised in three organisations depending on the language and are united in
apisuisse . Besides this, there are other organisations, which pursue special interests.
More on Beekeeping in Switzerland .
Doesn't sound as if you were genuinely interested or could be bothered to check the links provided. Let alone do some search yourself.
When I get the time I will check it out, I looked locally for a course, but it started in March and is full, next one in March 2017. I started the thread in 2009, I just want to get going on it now!
Its just the awesome flavor of acacia blossom nectar. You should try tupelo honey and mesquite honey if you ever get the chance
Seems a bit pricey - I'm glad to see they have been successful so far but don't get why either homeowners or farmers would pay CHF 120.- for a simple native bee hotel. These things are easy to make oneself - with a bunch of cut bamboo pieces (1 frank for a 2.5 meter bamboo cane at any garden store), blocks of wood with some holes drilled into them, dried grass or reeds in bundles, etc.
See here:
http://www.foxleas.com/make-a-bee-hotel.asp
If you have kids it could be a fun project to do together.
Ok but where can you get the bees from! Or do they come automatically in the winter!
The bees are wild, solitary bees - native to the local ecosystem. (not honeybees, apis mellifera, which originally come from Italy- these local bees don't live in hives/colonies) You make the box, and if it is in the right location (dry, sunny) and there are bees who need a home, they will move on in (in Spring/Summer)
These bees don't produce honey, but are kept to provide pollinators for garden and native ecosystem plants. In general, native bee populations have severely declined as mankind has spread the Italian honeybee around the world. Honeybees are somewhat domesticated and selected for honey productivity - and native bees find it hard to compete for food. Habitat destruction plays another role, as native bees have more specific needs to find homes/burrows, etc than honeybees.
I have one of these plants (purpurglöckchen, heuchera sp.) in a perennial window planter box, and the native bees (at least some species) love it - they are nice to look at coming and going outside the kitchen window all through the blooming season:
[](http://postimg.org/image/mteww5rwx/)
It also attracts hummingbird moths (taubenschwänzchen) in the morning which is pretty cool:
[](http://postimg.org/image/ecnb1oc5t/)
For those reading who want to know more and are in the Basel area, I have the contact of the local bee guru of Baselland. He's a great guy and does a lot for bee education, working closely with local schools and the canton.
Will start with some online courses (German)
http://www.vdrb.ch/online-kurs.html
So I went to see the local beekeeper this evening, funnily enough he had an english wife - was just a five minute walk away from where I live.
Point 1 - you have to register your bees with the kanton and you are given a number. Bees are classed as lifestock, not sure if they are inspected once a year. You are given a number like a car registration plate.
Point 2 - Choose your type of hive. There are many different types of hive available. The frames inside the hive which hold the brood can be lined up front to back of the hive or left to right with respect to the hive entrance. Since we have cold winters it is best the frames run left to right relative to the entrance, then a critical mass of heat can be gained in the middle of the hive in winter. The outer frames act as an insolation buffer.
Point 3 - where do you put the hives, the beekeeper I visited kept bees as a hobby not really for the honey, he liked watching beas be bees.People have different reasons for keeping bees.
Point 4 - Disease one of his colonies got wiped out by a disease, it wasn't the veroa mite but something else. He wasn't to use the hive again, just incase the disease was still present. My thoughts were disinfect the hive and use again, but disease is taken very seriously.
Point 5 - We are going to inspect the hives - are you allergic to bee stings. Advice is have some piriton tablets and a phone handy, just in case you have an serious allergic reaction to the sting. If you are allergic you can have a course of injections over three years to build up your immunity to the stings.
Next step is to get a beekeeping suit. I have a little Facebook group if people are interested https://www.facebook.com/groups/265835787100857/
You could register at the local police station as someone willing to take a swarm. This is your cheapest option if you have everything ready, and are willing to be called out. Unfortunately sometimes swarms are in almost inaccessible places, and these are usually destroyed. But you might get lucky.
You should learn about bee diseases, it seems that many people don't!