[JDavis]

So I am about 2 months in, and it's smooth sailing with a growing hive! I feel like I can take a breathe now and just watch them do their summer work. Now I want to know more about what expect later this year!

So I survived installation, having a strong laying queen, honey in progress. I will continue to monitor for diseases, robbing, queen loss, swarming, etc.

What was the most difficult part of your first year beekeeping? What lesson did you learn and want to pass on to rest of us?

Thanks!
JD

 

[Pete O]

My biggest problem was finding syrup/honey feeders that didn't create mass drowning! Eventually I settled on a FatBeeMan top feeder with mods.

 

[Mike Gillmore]

What was the most difficult part of your first year beekeeping?

Watching everything wind down in the fall, buttoning up the hives, and knowing that I wouldn't see the girls for another 3-4 months.

 

[WBVC]

For me the hardest part was lifting,or actually failing to lift, heavy boxes. I also hated waiting to see if my hives would die over winter.

 

[brooksbeefarm]

Impatient, wanting to open the hive every day to see what they have done since yesterday. Let the bees be bees, every time you open the hive and pull frames it sets them back,but that's how we learn.:scratch: Sorry i guese i'm no help.

 

[greathorned]

guess I was lucky. I just wanted HoneyBees on property to pollinate my Apple orchard for hunting Season, so my first year was highlighted by a local expert looking at my hive and stating I was doing something right. The next year I got into more. I wanted to have a couple hives and be realativley a low-maintenance Beek. But passions grew, and I am now looking at with splits and cut-outs this year moving out to 16 hives. I now love selling the honey more than hunting.....LOL.

 

[Huntingstoneboy]

I am addicted to this forum and log on a couple times a day. That being said, when I started all of the information was overwhelming at times. The old saying "Ask 6 beekeepers a question and get 6 different answers"! Lucky for me I have a mentor, and although we do some things very different he set a coarse for me. I was also lucky to aquire 16 hives my first year, so I ended up trying different tactics with different hives. Over time you will decide for yourself what works, what is practical, and what is not. There is no substitute for experience, so jump in with both feet and give it hell! Good luck to you and enjoy the bees!

 

[CajunBee]

Impatient, wanting to open the hive every day to see what they have done since yesterday. Let the bees be bees, every time you open the hive and pull frames it sets them back,but that's how we learn.:scratch: Sorry i guese i'm no help.

This.
I read all the stuff about splits and raising queens, etc and can't help but dig and poke around.

 

[Brad Bee]

What was the most difficult part of your first year beekeeping?

The 12th month.

 

[KPeacock]

My "two hives are plenty" mentality ended my first season with 6 hives after a random swarm catch and some unintentional splits that i created by overfeeding i nthe spring. This year I plan to end with 20 colonies...5 or so of which will be smaller nucs. So I guess for me, the hardest part has been limiting my involvement. it's a fun thing to do and can be done affordably if one makes all the required gear.

 

[bid]

Coming to the realization that I had to be proactive in dealing with varroa mites.

 

[larrybeach]

Starting with nothing and having to buy all the eguipment I needed. My 2 sons like to help, which I enjoy very much, but I had to buy 3 jackets, gloves etc. Plus all the frames and hive bodies and bees. Thank goodness the cost went way down after the first year.

 

[AugustC]

Most important lesson:
Learn to leave well enough alone

 

[ceebee]

i'm only a week in having my bees and I'm finding the patience part to be the hardest so far!

 

[juzzerbee]

Don't worry or stress out too much about every little thing that happens if it isn't correct to human thinking. Read, learn, educate yourself and do your best. I'm starting year three and I still need to listen to my own advice at times. juzzer

 

[Michael Bush]

>"Ask 6 beekeepers a question and get 6 different answers"!

I thin it's "Ask 6 beekeepers a question and get 8 different answers"! I don't see how most people wouldn't have at least two answers to each question... which should bring us to 12 answers...

 

[barberberryfarm]

The best part of this forum IS the variety of approaches folks use to deal with different situations that come up throughout the year. For me, I like multiple opinions. That way I can evaluate them all and then adjust my course of action based on my particular situation. My one recommendation would be to continue to participate in this forum. I always click on New Posts first thing in the morning to see what folks are talking about. You will be surprised how valuable some of those opinions will become when you have to make a decision about your beekeeping adventures. But above all else, have fun with your bees!!

 

[flyingbrass]

hardest thing in the beginning is that you don't have the resources to solve first year problems.
1. you need a drawn out frame to to that, don't have it I'm new
2. you need to add a frame of eggs, don't have it I'm new
3. getting the bees to move upward/vertical and draw out new supers instead of swarming.

 

[Santa Caras]

hardest thing in the beginning is that you don't have the resources to solve first year problems.
1. you need a drawn out frame to to that, don't have it I'm new
2. you need to add a frame of eggs, don't have it I'm new
3. getting the bees to move upward/vertical and draw out new supers instead of swarming.

Not having the backup resources concerns me and am hopefully giving bees a chance this summer to provide. That and having to rebuild some of the equipment I spent part of the winter building. I'm learning (the hard way) what designs work for me and what doesnt. Example. while I made screened bottom landing boards and thats all good for Florida and our heat/mites...I watdched as the SHB gets thrown out of the bottom and they fly right back in. So I had to rebuild those with an oil pan to capture these bugs and varroa mites. (couple days away from completeing these--qty-3) Also a feeder. Like Pete-O said...finding a design that wont drown the bees and like him, I discovred FatBeeMans hive feeder. I built 2 and then built two more that were bigger.(threw my other two Miller feeders I had built on the burn pile. they leaked big time!!) Equipment---takes so much to get started and I build everything, even frames, but one has to build 2-3 of everything. Not too mention that one better have extra equipment in case of honey flows with supers and frames, nucs for splits needed to prevent swarms. I feel for beeks that have to buy a lot of the woodware.....has to get really expensive.

 

[Margot1d]

I still struggle with leaving them alone. I still struggle with not intervening and letting nature take it's course. I tend to over mother them and freak out. I am trying to learn to walk away, sit down, and think before I make a decision. About an hour later I alway wonder why I didn't see the whole picture in the moment. The more experience I get the more I realize I didn't know. This is a life long process.