questions on starting beekeeping

[chickenwing654]

Hi,

I've looked into attending a bee school in about 6 weeks.  I've watched hundreds of youtube videos on beekeeping.  My only reservation on starting a colony is I don't live full time at the location I want to set up the bees.

I live in MA, and own a house in Maine.  I do gardening there and have twenty fruit trees planted but non bearing yet in Maine.  I probably go up there every three weeks for 3 or 4 days at a time.  Then leave for MA.  I do this in spring, summer, and fall.  I usually don't go up again from Mid Dec until mid March.

My question is the time usually involved in maintaining the hive.  I am not that interested in the honey part right now (some would be great).  Mostly I would like them for the pollination aspect.  To do this right, do I need to be checking on the hive more frequently than I have time for?

Wondering what the opinions are?

thanks for any replies/ suggestions.

David

[BlueBee]

The bees will do just fine without you around.  The only real problem is you'll no doubt lose some swarms, but the parent hives normally re-queens itself and life goes on.  The brood break will cut down varrora too.  If you want to start bee keeping, I would not let Massachusetts hold you back. :-D  When I worked out there, there were a couple of guys in the dept that lived in Maine on the weekends and Mass during the work week.  I guess there is something nice about Maine  :)

[buzzbee]

First, you will want to contact someone very soon about bees, most likely a package.
You are blessed with the fact of a lot of active bee clubs in Massachusetts. Not sure how many are active in Maine, but members on this forum,Reinbeau and Woodchopper do exactly what you are referring to, maintaining beehives in MA and Maine. You may also wish to contact Jim134 on this forum too.
He is a transplant from Massachusetts to Connecticut.
Check in with Franklin County Beekeepers too. They sponsor the annual Mass Beekeepers Association field day in South Deerfield every year in June. I have traveled to attend this event a few times and not been disappointed. I made contact with some of the members of this forum that attend every year plus met with a lot of years combined experience. Not to forget this is a free event,unless you opt to buy lunch.

[DMLinton]

Honey production is the primary driver for frequent hive inspections in order to prevent uncontrolled swarming and the resultant reduction in honey production.  If you are primarily after the pollination aspect, the frequency of hive inspections becomes a non-issue.  Tri-weekly visits are more than adequate to manage colony health. 

As BlueBee pointed out, you will lose swarms.  However, if you are after pollination, does it really matter whether the bees are living in your hives or living in something else of their choosing?

[chickenwing654]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. 
Sounds like this would be worth me continuing on.  Since I do not have any equipment as of yet, should I order the bees now as suggested?  Before my bee school that would be starting Feb 8. 

Does it matter where the package of bees come from (ma, me, or somewhere else)?  I would think that I should be fully set up before ordering bees.  Unless they are hard to come by in the spring.

I wasn't sure of the maintenance aspect. 

Thanks
David

[DMLinton]

You should order your bees right away.  Many suppliers are sold out by December.  The ideal source of bees would be the area of Maine where your property is as they would be acclimatized to the area.  At this late date, you may have to do a bit of searching.  I ordered ten nucs for 2014 in October 2013 ... they never materialized.  I ended up buying four singles on each of July 1 and August 3, 2014.  Bee schedules were very late in 2014 here in Ontario.  

It turned out that, for the money and the time of year, the singles were much superior to anything that nucs could have been for me.  

As far as being set up, yes, you should have your apiary (lot and hives) prepared and have a smoker, hive tools and protective clothing ready to go.  Practice lighting your smoker and keeping it going.  It is unpleasant finding out that it is often not as easy as it looks when you are up to your elbows in hive that has ran out of patience or you want to put the hive back together but the bees insist on sitting on the edge of the box.  Do not forget that you will need to feed a package or nuc for at least a short time until they get started.  This especially true for a package as they have to build comb before the queen can even start laying.  1:1 sugar water is used by most.  Adding some Honey Bee Healthy will help a lot.  Some, including me, will also ad a small piece of pollen or pollen substitute patty unless the bees can be observed hauling large amounts of pollen within a day or two of being installed.

Don't panic, you will be able to find bees somewhere and there is no reason to wait until after your bee course to order them.  If you have done a lot of study already, you may find the bee course will not add a lot to your newb status.  Your real beekeeping education starts when you have your own bees to tend.  

One thing that bears mentioning is that, just in case you are considering Russian honeybees, do not.  They will not fit your schedule.  Many consider Russians lackadaisical but, fact is, Russians are very good at conserving resources .... and exploding when sufficient new resources appear.  They will seem slow to expand until they have you convinced that they are not going to perform then, seemly within days, every box is jammed with honey and/or brood and they swarming.

[mikecva]

Contact your bee school, they are probably taking orders now. The equipment will take 5 - 10 days to arrive. Then if you want to paint them add that time in also.

As for the start, you will need to install the bees when you get them, then release the queen (if you get packages) in about 2-3 days. You should feed the new bees 1:1 for about 1-3 weeks (by then the should be on their way to finding their own food).   I think I am forgetting something but if so others will fill in.  - Mike

[Jim134]

chickenwing654
there are many good Bee schools in the state of Massachusettsa. A good place to find out a lot of state information about honeybees in Ma.is Massbee.org I'm on my phone so it is difficult for me to make links for you.
Most all package bees coming to New England from the south.
   On massbee.org you will find all the links all the County clubs in the state of Massachusetts.In my opinion a real good place to get a lot of local information that will help you is your local county club.
   Most all packages from local vendor are sold out before the end of January as well as nucs.


    There are many local vendors who do go south to get packages from all over New England if you need any help you can PM me on finding a vendor for package bees.
              


       BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[rookie2531]

If you have to pick up your bees in MA and then travel to ME to set them up and even more so, if you have to pick them up and won't be able to install them until a few days later, I would recommend getting a nuc. You can always screen them in when it is time to travel and they will have food and also will already accepted the queen. Just less to worry about.

There is most likely someone from a local club you can get a nuc from.
Good luck.

[10framer]

check out michael palmer's videos on youtube, i think a lot of his practices would be relevant for you (even though i'm not a huge fan of some of his opinions).  i agree that the closer to home the better when buying bees, especially for beginners.
my bees are 100 yards from my house and i checked them just about every day during swarm season, did splits, added room etc. and still lost swarms.  so, as people have said, you will lose some swarms but chances are you'll lose a couple now and then no matter what.
your focus for now should be getting them through NEXT winter.  sounds crazy but that is most likely going to be your biggest obstacle the first year or two, especially up there. 
down here we have to struggle to get them through a long summer dearth then usually a long, mild fall and winter dearth.  beekeeping varies a lot from one region to the next. find an experienced beekeeper close by and offer to help him in your spare time in exchange for a little knowledge.
good luck! 

[jalentour]

Chicken,
I live 70 minutes from my hives. 
I bring my nucs home in suburban Centerville Ohio.
I visit my hives and orchard weekly, sometimes less.  You will be fine.
Join a bee club close to home, buy some bees and enjoy.
Learn from the forum.
Find a mentor if you can.