Beekeeping the Natural Way using Oils and Herbs/TITLE>

Due to repeated requests for suitable advice, when starting beekeeping for the very first time, I decided to make the following information available to all.

Because I required this vital information to be readily available, it is all contained on one very long page.

I have therefore provided suitable links in order to simplify navigation, as after all, I would not like you to get lost!

Here then is a 'brief' record of my experiences, when I first started this facinating hobby, well over 3o years ago in the Spring of 1988. I sincerely hope you find the advice to be of use and I wish you 'Happy Beekeeping'.

Stings
Also, find out as soon as you can, whether or not you
are allergic to bee stings!

I cannot emphasise enough how important this is. Sadly, it goes without saying that if you are allergic, then it would not be advisable to keep bees, because no matter how well you are protected, believe me you will get stung some of the time.

This then is what happened to me:
I contacted a local beekeeper and went along to meet the members at one of their weekly meetings. It was springtime and the bees in this particular colony were quite happily consuming a slab of candy. After first putting on suitable protective clothing, a handful of bees were lifted from the top of the crown board (located above the brood chamber) by our Tutor and placed onto my hand. Naturally, I got stung (a few times) and it hurt! However, I was pleased to find that the only reaction I had (about 10 minutes later) was a slight swelling on the affected part of my hand, which remained for a day or two.

I had passed the test and was told that I could safely take up beekeeping!
NB. Under no circumstances should you attempt to get stung when a beekeeper or another adult is not present. You may find you are allergic to bee stings and you may have to seek medical attention as soon as possible. I do not wish to alarm anyone, but I felt it was important to bring this to your attention, just in case any problems do arise.

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Clothing
My next task was to aquire my own protective clothing (white boiler suit, veil and gloves) in order to protect myself as much as possible, during the first crucial few months. I was advised that at the beginning, it is important to do so, in order to build up confidence. If at all possible then, either borrow or buy a reputable bee suit. (My boiler suit did not offer 100% protection and on one occasion I almost gave up the hobby due to being stung very badly). Contrary to belief, bees do go down as well as up, and the little darlings found a convenient gap between my veil and the suit.
(They must have read a different book!)

Location of your Hive(s)
Before purchasing your very first hive, do make sure you have a suitable place to keep it:

Find a sheltered spot, safe from high winds, preferably in an open situation in full sun. Do not place the hive underneath any trees as it will be screened from sunlight and when it rains, the hive body will take a long time to dry out. Bees absolutely hate wet and damp situations, a bit like us humans I suppose.

Please do consider your neighbours when siting your hive, especially if you live in close proximity to other houses. You will need to tend to your bees quite frequently, for various reasons,especially in the Summer time. This means lifting the cover board and exposing the hive contents to the open air, thus releasing hundreds, perhaps thousands of bees.
They may carry on as if nothing had happened, or to the extremes, they might very well take to the air and investigate other humans nearby.