STARTING OUT WITH ROSE HIVES
Most of my emails these days come from people who don't have bees yet and they are researching hive-types and getting ready to start. I hope to explain here what all beekeepers need to know and specifically how to get started with Rose hives..
The Hive
If you buy bees from another beekeeper they will probably come on whatever size frames they use. So if they keep their bees in National hives they will probably sell you a National brood-box with bees in it (or a National nuc-box with some brood frames in it). These frames will only fit inside a National brood-box. They won't fit inside a Rose hive or a Commercial hive or a Dadant or a Langstroth or whatever.
All hive-types are different from each other and they all have their own unique frames.
So, if you want to keep bees in Rose hives you'll need to do one of these things:
(There's more on this in the Rose Hive book)
All hive-types are different from each other and they all have their own unique frames.
So, if you want to keep bees in Rose hives you'll need to do one of these things:
- Find someone who has bees on Rose frames already, and persuade them to sell you some of theirs.
- Find someone who will put a Rose box in the middle of their National or Commercial hive and leave it there until the bees have moved in
- Catch a swarm and put it into an empty Rose hive
- Make up a 'shook swarm' from any different sort of hive. That just means shaking bees off the frames into a Rose hive. The queen will need to be with them and they'll need to be shut in for a few days with some sugar syrup.
- Buy a queen and a package of bees.
(There's more on this in the Rose Hive book)
The Bees
Ideally, you need to buy your bees, or collect your swarm, early in the year so you and they have plenty of time to get ready for the winter. If you buy bees in the winter you wont be able to look inside and see how they are, and if you get them too late in the year then you wont have a chance to help them much.
But bees are always in short supply so perhaps your best policy is to get them whenever you can and work with what you get and when you get them.
Unless you are very unlucky and get bees with American Foul Brood (a miserable contagious disease) then you can probably encourage and improve any bees you get. So the important thing is to get started.
Every colony should have plenty of workers and a young, mated queen. If you buy bees from someone who knows what they're doing and have a reputation to maintain then you can trust them to supply the best they can. Ask them to mark the queen so you can find her easily.
If you're buying from someone who's not sure what they're selling, you might want to get an experienced person to go with you.
A swarm is one of nature's greatest gifts and should never be passed over. Even a small one will do it's best to build up - all it needs is a good clean hive. And a big swarm is like winning the Lotto - they'll build up faster than any other colony and easily repay the effort involved in collecting it. (More on collecting swarms later.)
But bees are always in short supply so perhaps your best policy is to get them whenever you can and work with what you get and when you get them.
Unless you are very unlucky and get bees with American Foul Brood (a miserable contagious disease) then you can probably encourage and improve any bees you get. So the important thing is to get started.
Every colony should have plenty of workers and a young, mated queen. If you buy bees from someone who knows what they're doing and have a reputation to maintain then you can trust them to supply the best they can. Ask them to mark the queen so you can find her easily.
If you're buying from someone who's not sure what they're selling, you might want to get an experienced person to go with you.
A swarm is one of nature's greatest gifts and should never be passed over. Even a small one will do it's best to build up - all it needs is a good clean hive. And a big swarm is like winning the Lotto - they'll build up faster than any other colony and easily repay the effort involved in collecting it. (More on collecting swarms later.)