50 bee colonies in year one. Now comes the hard part

🎥 About this video Gordon planned to reach 14 colonies. He ended his first beekeeping season with around 30 hives and 20 nucs. I join Gordon Humphreys from Journey to 100 Hives for a chat in the forest about getting carried away with splits and planning for the honey that could follow. 🧠 What you will learn We talk about expanding an apiary, the time each colony needs and the equipment costs that creep up on you. We also cover honey extraction, producing good nucs, replacing old comb and choosing a hive system. Later, Gordon explains how he used my overwintering-nuc guide and what happened when he missed queen cells before introducing new queens. 🐝 When do you stop making splits? I've made my own expensive mistakes expanding colonies, so I recognise the temptation. Gordon's bees looked strong when I visited. The next job is deciding how much beekeeping he wants to take on and how he'll handle a bigger honey crop. Follow Gordon at Journey to 100 Hives:    / @journeyto100hives   ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 50 colonies and the question of honey 00:45 Meeting Gordon in the forest 01:58 Around 30 hives and 20 nucs 05:01 The plan was 14 colonies 05:52 My mistake with late-season splits 07:49 Gordon's first honey extraction 10:17 Selling nucs and keeping it manageable 11:55 What makes a good nuc? 14:20 Filming the work and building trust 16:34 Could beekeeping become a full-time job? 18:57 National, Langstroth and Flow Hive 21:00 Standardising hives and the Demaree system 22:20 Bee maths and buying extractors 26:00 Planning an extraction setup 27:00 Frame spacing and easier uncapping 29:42 Finding land for your bees 32:39 The overwintering-nuc PDF Gordon followed 34:34 Missed queen cells and failed introductions 38:00 Getting struggling colonies back on track 🎓 14 Day Beekeeper For step-by-step training on managing your bees, choosing equipment and planning the season, take a look at 14 Day Beekeeper: https://blackmountainhoney.co.uk/14-d... Browse our beekeeping courses: https://blackmountainhoney.co.uk/beek... 🐝 Queens, nucs and honey from Black Mountain Honey For queens, nucleus colonies and honey, visit our website: https://blackmountainhoney.co.uk/ 📄 Free overwintering-nuc guide Get the PDF guide Gordon followed, with the setup and queen-introduction steps we discuss. Plan around the right seasonal timing for your bees: https://black-mountain-honey.kit.com/... 🍯 Free honey harvest checklist Plan the practical jobs before your supers are ready, including clearing bees, uncapping, extraction and jarring: https://black-mountain-honey.kit.com/... 💬 HiveQ Our private beekeeping community is a place to ask questions and talk through your next steps with other beekeepers: https://blackmountainhoney.co.uk/hiveq/ 📂 Recommended playlists Beekeeping interviews -    • Beekeeping Interviews - Real Conversations...   How many colonies did you plan to keep, and how many have you actually got? Let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed the chat, please give it a like, subscribe and share it with a beekeeper who's always making another split. #Beekeeping #BeekeepingPodcast #NucleusColonies #HoneyExtraction #BlackMountainHoney