Happy New Year!
Honey buzzard below, seems to not care at all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0al5iubSI
They also have double-jointed legs making them better able to get into
nests/hives.
Not seen one sadly, but live in hope, it is a new year after all.
Gino
On Tue, 1 Jan 2019 at 17:03, Paul Honigmann <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi Richard,
I think you'd fit the "intermediate" course better. The Beginner one is,
you could say, for people who don't yet know what they don't know!
I myself started mainly with book / internet learning because I simply
couldn't find any natural beekeeping courses back around 2010. That got me
a long way, which is why I think you're in the Intermediate bracket. What
Intermediates need is an overview to glue all the different nuggets of
knowledge into a coherent whole... and understand why sometimes the advice
you read is true, and sometimes it's not. (Basically, most teachers
oversimplify, or are only familiar with bees kept in artificial conditions
and bred to suppress natural behaviours, or don't question their own
training.)
I'm still learning myself. Today I discovered there is a bird called a
Honey Buzzard (see attached photo) which is a specialist predator on wasp
and hornet nests, occasionally bees; and is the only known predator of
Asian Giant Hornets. It's thought its wings smell of something that keeps
wasps at bay. There are a handful in the UK, but not Oxfordshire.
Paul
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Tuesday, 1 January 2019 16:11, Richard Sheehan <
rickysheehan@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul,
A very Happy New Year to you too. Quick question about your beginners'
course; I have not yet kept bees, having failed to find a swarm last year,
but have done much reading, been on several courses, on both natural and
standard beekeeping, and am pretty happy with being able to be in a good
place to start this season - would you still recommend coming on the course
or maybe wait for the course later in the year.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Regards,
Rich
------------------------------
*From:* oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
on behalf of Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* 31 December 2018 4:58 PM
*To:* oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [oxnatbees] OxNatBees Beginner beekeeper course - Feb 2019
Hi everyone,
I am offering a short course for complete newbees - those people on the
OxNatBees list who do NOT YET HAVE BEES and have no previous experience but
plan to start in 2019.
The aim is to get complete novices to a point where they can make an
informed choice about why/what/where/how - first steps covering the very
basics including: why natural beekeeping, obtaining bees, hive types that
might suit them, where to place, what equipment they will need,
non-invasive monitoring, and a Q&A session, etc.
*Date/Time:* 2 to 5PM on a Saturday in February - exact date tbd
*Location:* Steeple Aston, OX25 4SR
*Cost:* £25
(As it will be cold no hives will be opened.)
*Note that I plan to offer another course or two later in the year for
others who are more beginners to intermediate; but complete newbees need to
start planning and preparing in winter, so they are ready to populate hives
before swarms appear, which can be as early as the end of March.*
If you are a complete newbee and interested in the above course please
email me direct on: paul.honigmann@xxxxxxxxx
And - Happy New Year!
Paul
