Any Island beekeepers on here?

Hi Jonesy
Start with 3 hives if you can as it will allow you to switch frames between week and strong hives to keep the hives as equal and strong for the nectar flow and to help them through the winter. Try and find a local bee keeper to mentor you as it’s quite complicated in the beginning. You should purchase nucleuses with frames already with: drawn wax, pollen, honey and brood do not try to start with just a packet of bees. You will probably start with foundation (bare frames with no drawn wax cells) it takes a huge amount of time and resources for the bees to make enough wax to draw the cells. To store the pollen and nectar to feed the brood this causes all kinds of problems when starting new hives from scratch. If you can purchase some frames with drawn wax that is less than 2 years old so the wax is not brittle and there is no disease it will help a great deal, but this will be very hard to do as most bee keepers do not like to part with good frames of drawn wax…. So if you start with 3 hives and 3 nucleuses you may only get one hive though the winter but you will have 3 hives that will have drawn frames to use in the second year and things will go much more smoothly. I know this sounds kind of hard but it’s how I started and I don’t know a better way unless you can purchase complete hives to start out with. I think the going rate for a complete 2 brood box hive with bees complete is about $350.00 so that may be a better way to start out. If you can get clean disease and mite free hives in good physical shape and a young queen.
Good luck and all the best,
Mercian

Thanks, Mercian!

Seems to jive with everything I've read so far. Trying to get in touch with the local beekeeper's club, but the website seems dated and unused. That's kind of my idea; plan on losing a hive or two due to my ignorance, but learn my way up with a mentor. I have a couple farm/garden locations set aside for me, as well as on my own doomstead, er, homestead.

Going through the pricing process, as well as deciding on a reputable supplier. Planning now for a spring start.

All the best,

Jonesy

Hey jonesy my man 🙂

Your local supplier is a The Flying Dutchman and you're not too far from Bees n Glass (chemainus). The "bee club" meets last Tuesday of each month here in Courtenay. Let me know if you want to come along. I usually take the wee un.

The BC AGM will be in Courtenay next October. You can come hang out with us anytime and learn what not to do. I have a couple of beginners books too that you can borrow.

Dolly

Thanks dolly.

Didn't want to bug the Dutchman until I had read a little more. But the meetings might work in Courtenay, as the nanaimo club seems to have fizzled..

I'll pm you for some details!

Sorry - forgot to say it's at 7:00