It mite be worth looking on google and utube . I'm realy interested in keeping a hive to as it goes .

Hello, Gattina. I have a friend who kept bees for many years, but refuses to join GOY to help us out!! Suffice to say he said the following: 1) you need to make sure you get the right hive, in the right position - morning sun, afternoon shade, 2) plant loads of legumes and wild flowers, 3) contact a local/national bee keeper association for equipment, info etc 4) don't smoke the bees to calm them, use a gentle water spray instead 5) only buy swarms in may/june ... a swarm in may is worth a bale of hay, a swarm in june is worth a silver spoon, a swarm in july is not worth a fly! If you come across a swarm at the right time, collect them by popping a large cardboard box gently over them (they often land on the ground or on shrubs) whereupon they will crawl up inside the box, with the queen, and you can gently do the same at the other end with your hive. Finally 6) leave the bees a rack of their own honey when they go into winter. This keeps them stronger and fitter than removing all their honey and replacing it with a lump of industrial sugar bar. Hope this helps.

Ah, my friend Avkq, thank you! If there were a national beekeepers' association in the area, we would be right there. Not even sure Italians have one in the country at all, and we wouldn't be able to understand it if there were. We have an orchard and the whole countryside full of wildflowers, and all our neighbours grow fields full of lucerne as animal feed, so that takes care of the legumes, too. Shade in the afternoon could be a bit dodgy, but I'm sure we could find somewhere. We do see a few swarms on occasion, we just weren't sure what one is supposed to do with them. Maybe online and books before we start would be good. I hate the idea of starting something we don't have much idea about. Failing where there are living creatures involved is not an option.

looks like im out of the equasion but thanx anyway avkq47 but at least i know now to leave it BEE lol . your so right gattina x .

Nosey, I've followed your advice - thank you, there's some useful stuff out there.

your welcome gattina anytime xx .

There is also a book, called The Barefoot Beekeeper, by P J Chandler, which looks at natural ways of collecting, looking after, and general care of bees. Highly recommended and available on amazon.

Oh, thank you, Avkq - Amazon is my best friend! (Except when they send things with couriers who on EVERY SINGLE OCCASION lose our stuff and then lie about it.)
Do you keep bees yourself? We have just been talking to some friends who are going on a 3 day beekeeping course shortly, and they have said that they will take notes for us.

Cool i wish i could keep them and i don't even like honey .at least i know i can't now . id be interested to know how you get on gattina x x .

I'm not terribly keen on honey, either, Leigh, it's too sickly sweet for me. I just like the idea of keeping those busy little pollinators going, and producing something edible and useful at the end. I am more interested in the beeswax, I think. I have an old recipe, and I love the smell of beeswax furniture polish, and the stuff you can buy here smells nothing like the real thing and is full of mucky chemicals and propellants that don't really bring up a good patina on wooden furniture.

No, Gattina, I do not keep bees myself, but have a friend who used to do it and sold the honey to local farm shops for some extra income, until the bureaucracy and health and safety stopped him. He was so cross, and the honey was going to waste, so he sold his hives.

Oh B****y bureaucracy! Doesn't that make you so cross?

red tape b*lls%$t good old eec that we arnt even in properly .thats what i wanted just to help the bees realy gattina x .

I think we're soulmates, NP.

Well if you did keep bees you could turn it into a liqueur. German Barenjager, Polish Krupnik... Honey liqueur with spices, or Spanish Ron Miel... Honey Rum. You know me and my alcoholic beverages Gattina, LOL. I made some orange honey rum last week and it's lovely on a cold night. Must have been cold every night as there's not much left. Also, the flavour of the honey is influenced from the type of flowers they land on.

Hello, Myron! How nice to hear from you! That's a good idea! Hadn't thought of that one. Sounds marketable as a cold and flu' remedy. Orange, rum and honey. Even if it didn't cure a cold, wouldn't you feel better for having drunk it - maybe nice and hot? We have loads of different wildflowers here: the main one bees would go to, though, is a type of clover grown to feed the cattle through winter. We hope lots of appleblossom nectar might find its way into the honey, too.
By the way, I didn't say that OH didn't care for honey, did I? He'd eat it all day long given half a chance.

Orange, whiskey and apple flavoured honey sounds even better :-))

Just thought it might make a bit of a change from Nocino Gattina ;o) You could always use honey instead of sugar when you make your Nocino. Or, what about mead?

I don't thing that Orange honey rum cures anything, but it sure makes you forget about your ailments.

ive always thaught so gattina . your booz sounds nice myron but i dont drink sorry lol x .