A questionnaire for beekeepers

[wesleyn]

A questionnaire for beekeepers

If you are a beekeeper, or thinking of becoming one, or you can answer some of these questions on behalf of a beekeeper, I would very much appreciate your replies.

I’m a little hesitant to say why I’ve created this questionnaire, but I’d consider it a bit rude not to. I’m a product design student and I’m working on a new hive design. I’m hesitant because many beekeepers have said to me ‘we don’t need a new design, what we have is fine.’ And have told me I’m wasting my time. I wish more people thought like that about such things as motor cars, mobile phones, and We sell total junk, we will rip you off, we are scammers, we’d be a lot better off. My thinking is that with the problems of CCD, if I could get a few more people interested in beekeeping with a ‘flashy’ hive design it probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Ok, sorry, rant over, please answer as many questions as you can. All other comments are welcomed. If you prefer, there is a link to FreeOnlineSurveys at the bottom of the page, where these questions can be answered much quicker and easier. Thankyou.


1. Are you a)male or b)female?

2. What is your age? a)<20 b)20-30 c)30-40 d)40-50 e)50-60 f)60-70 g)70>

3. Where do you live? a)Urban area b)Rural area c)Semi-rural area

4. Where do you keep your hives? a)Orchard b)Private Garden c)Roof garden d)Shared garden e)Farmland f)Elsewhere – please specify

5. How many hives do you keep?

6. Do you regard beekeeping as a a)Profession b)Hobby c)Somewhere in-between

7. Which best describes your view of the bees a)pet or b)farm animal

8. Do you keep other animals? If so, what?

9. Do you have other pets? If so, what?

10. Please order these aspects of beekeeping in importance for yourself. Feel free to add some others if I have missed them. I am not a beekeeper (though I am thinking of giving it a go when I finish Uni, they are fascinating creatures now I’ve taken time to learn about them), so please excuse my ignorance. a)Honey, Propolis, Royal Jelly etc b)Pollination c)Enjoyment d)Farming e)Relaxation f)Social – BKA meets g)Skill

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurv ... w20j389652

[Wombat]

Done!

[Meredith]

I filled it in using the link.

[ina]

Well - most beekeepers are well above the 60 mark, and no wonder they don't want to change what they've been working with all their lives... I always thought that there must be a way of improving on the hives - they are far too large and heavy for me to handle, and I'm not a feeble little girlie, I just have a bit of a back problem (like most people I know)! The problem is whether the bees would also like the new designs - there might be issues with keeping the right temperature within the hive if the colony gets too small etc. But I wish you loads of luck with this.

And now I'll do the questionnaire.

Ooops - just noticed: I think you should point out whether "1" or "9" is "most important" in your last question... For me it's "1" (first place in importance), but others might think it's "9", because it's the highest number.

[glenniedragon]

I filled in this questionaire through a link on BBKA, I think the best thing to design for hives would be an adjustable stand, so you can do all your lifing at a comfortable height, just an idea. I'd also use measurements from one of the more common hives (national/dadant whatever) so equipment can be interchangeable.

Kind thoughts
The ever young and youthful
Deb
<60!

[Ellendra]

When you talk about redesigning the beehive, I assume you're talking langstroth? (However that's spelled)

I use topbar beehives, the design is flexible enough to be customized, which is what I did with mine. Looks a bit like a birdfeeder on steroids, but the bees seem to like it :)

-Ellendra