When I was a kid, my father and my uncle kept bees - I mainly kept my distance!
Later in life I met a guy who had nearly 200 bee hives. That caused an interest in them, and I got a bit closer.
In the summer of 2001 I started up with just one hive of my own. The bees clearly lead a good life, and the colony got stronger and stronger. I quickly had to learn how to deal with the bees, how to split a strong colony or catch swarms in order to keep the bees at bay. During the next couple of years I think I climbed most trees in my area and crept into all the shrubberies to get hold of swarms, but still I saw some voting with their wings and disappear.
During the winter months a colony may die out, so I needed replacement swarms. In 2004 I caught two swarms and made up a third colony for a new born queen that had hatched in my bathroom, so all of a sudden I was up at the total of seven hives. I hadn't really thought of getting THAT much involved!
I was supposed to move house in 2006, therefore I reduced the number of hives by combining weak colonies and giving away some, and the year after I started up again with just one, which soon again started multiplying.
My first apiary in 2005, with the 7 hives.
The area I moved to in 2006, abundant in heather.
These pages have been made mainly for all my English speaking friends who keep asking about my beekeeping. Here I'm trying to show what I'm doing with some of my time. The contents of these pages may change along with what pictures I'm able to take and the development of my apiary. I have tried to describe the work with the bees throughout the year. Enjoy, folks!