Josh

@MissOlivia please read everything above... and apologies for the long, but necessary post, below. You are making the same mistakes I did. I spent all summer umming and arring then finally taking the plunge too late. First dead hive. Finding an in the flesh mentor is hard. And you ignore the lessons/advice on this site at your peril And you’re not alone. I was in ecrotek the other day buying syrup for winter feeding, and they were selling starter packs to newbeeks! If those hives had AFB/Varroa that a newbie could spot off a pamphlet cram session, having not understood the difference between visiting and resident populations, then they are already dead and should be burned. Do not buy a hive this season. It will die. Do join a club, they have hives to teach you in. And usually some nice member will/can sell you a cheap healthy nuc when they’re readily available. Do not buy hives off TradeMe. If you do, take a befriended experienced beek with you. Do the AFB course. In time you may even do a revision course and get your deca. Do get registered. A good beek won’t even sell a hive to an unregistered keeper. Do get more than one hive, ie two. Comparison between hives has been my biggest learning booster. Think about out where your second apiary will be, sometimes it’s necessary to move a hive. Do read the book book recommended above. @Trevor Gillbanks has the most relevant videos for New Zealand. And The Norfolk Honey Company, https://www.youtube.com/user/TheNorfolkHoneyCo , is an excellent series too. That should be ample to get you started. Then look at The Apiarist (blog) and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3mjpM6Av4bxbxps_Gh5YPw if your run out of stuff. If if you don’t make the same mistakes I did you will enjoy next season a lot more and waste less money. please don’t see not starting this year as a failure or missed opportunity. You are saving yourself a lot of hassle and will be ready for next season.

Something is wrong, and changing your base won’t be the solution sorry

my bees fly their corridors. But because of a fence they tend to go up first which means you’re not buzzed all the time.

@Trevor Gillbanks how embarrassing. I had a boy’s look and missed yours.

https://youtu.be/k95CrnTSTCY and all these videos are worth watching too.

As any boatie will tell you, ventilation is the key to dampness. Although having a better roof, for us noncemmercials, is always going to help. It’s a lack of ventilation that allows moisture to trapped in the hive. Polystyrene sheeting prevents condensation, but it’s not going to help with humidity. I have a modest hole in my top cover, mesh and a ventilated box above it. In winter I leave a sack up too to soak up the condensation and it dries during the day with cross ventilation. Works a treat on my hives down here in Canterbury (they’re kept in an area called Marshlands, need I say more😉) interestingly, my top feeders are causing a real condensation problem at the moment. They must be blocking the ventilation and bringing more water into the hive.

It could be a rooster?

Or maybe that’s a hive with a favourable trait, since it survives despite massive load.

Reputable beeks would never have sold it in the first place.

@jamesc if your were a press columnist, I might return to the printed word

@jamesc if your were a press columnist, I might return to the printed word

With the exception of undiagnosed dementia, stroke or tumour, I can’t think of any back story that makes these levels of neglect acceptable. Like our Canterbury issue, with >30% affected, how could any of it be considered safe. I would “give a little” to buy some new gear & to see every piece of their gear burnt.

Absolutely @CraBee. My advice would be for @Manfred to discuss desensitisation with a specialist before restarting. Have ample epipens stashed in a few places, and never open the hives alone. Anaphylaxis to the point of nearly dying is a fairly precarious place to be for a hobby. But then again people like to proximity fly in a wingsuit too.

Sorry, but an antihistamine or two will do nothing for a person who has an anaphylactic sensitivity. But an epipen in your pocket, your bee box and your car would be a good investment... regardless of price. there are some great success stories with desensitisation too.

Transition is pretty quick, when you have enough gear. Don’t throw out your old FD boxes either. Mine are endlessly useful for storage of frames, ventilation top boxes above an inner cover with meshed hole etc. I fact I ran out of FD boxes, and had to buy one even though I’m a ¾ beek