The first thing to do is to find out where your local beekeeping association meets. There are nine Associations located in Northern Ireland. The details are posted on the Ulster Beekeepers website .

Once you have made contact you will be able to find a friendly beekeeper who lives close to you who could show you a hive and later act as a mentor providing practical support in person or over the telephone.

You should also enquire about beginners courses. Each year in Northern Ireland beekeeping courses at elementry and intermediate levels are run by the Department of Agriculture at various locations, the beekeeping associations will have full details.

Also check you local library for beginners books, some clubs have their own library or members may be prepared to lend you a book.

If you are still interested in keeping bees then you will need a hive. Many beekeepers are handy and build hives out of scrap / new timber but you must be able to cut timber to measure and square. The alternative is to buy secondhand but take advice from older club members as there are pitfalls such as diseased equipment going cheap! You can also buy from an equipment manufacturer such as Thorne's although it can be an expensive outlay.

Once you get your hive prepared for the bees you will need somewhere to site it. Many of the Beekeeping clubs have their own apairy sites, it would be advisable to locate your hive at one of these then you will be sure that you will not be annoying your neighbours should your inexperience lead to loss of control of the bees. Some experienced beekeepers can keep their bees very close to neighbours without any problems.

The next thing is getting the bees. You can start with a full colony, a swarm or a nuc. We would recommend that all beginners start with a nuc of docile bees. This will typically be a small 5 frame colony obtained from an established beekeeper which will build up in the spring and should become strong enough by July to provide a small crop in a good year. This size of colony will allow you to gain confidence and make beekeeping an enjoyable and long lasting hobby.