It's a keeper for sure.

Newest article is now ready to be read by future beekeepers and past beekeepers

Next one will come out on the 28th

I just read it. Wonderful article! Can't wait for the 28th.

yeay Mindy, you have your suit!!


Loved the video, Charleen. Awesome.

Yep and don't you know DH went and got the hives ready for the winter without even telling me he was going to do so. Dratted man what did he think I wanted the suit for? Halloween?

I'm still peeved over that one. Maybe I can get him to go to my brother's tomorrow and get his hive ready. But then I won't be allowed to help with that one either because my brother is dying to do it himself.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Maybe he thinks you need to break the suit in first.
Keep wearing it around the house --- when he asks you what your doing tell him you don't want to miss your next chance so you're going to stay suited up until you get to do it. Ah, that would be REALLY suited up if you catch my drift.

That might work. It will keep him wondering what he is going to have to do to take it off...

Ann have you forgotten how hot those suits are? Wearing that around this house would kill me as hot as he keeps it in here. I wear shorts and short sleeve tops all winter when I'm home.
He freezes when I think it's just a little on the cool side.

Hi Mindy and everyone else,
I've been interested in beekeeping for years but never tried it because I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to invest in alot of money into something that might/probably fail without the knowledge to be successful at it.So,what I was thinking ,was to try making my own top bar hive and trying to attract a swarm. Do you think that is a good idea or should I start with Langstroth hives and buy the bees.It would be a trial and error type deal unless I can find a mentor in the area.I read some of the posts and articles here and with the suggestions here I'm going to try the county extension and read 'beekeeping for dummies'.

thanks for your input
Gene

Hello & welcome Gene! My personal opinion for anyone new to beekeeping would be to buy a hive already established. There is less chance of failure that way. IMHO, it's like this --- you can possibly (& I mean POSSIBLY) spend less money with your first two stated options but there is more chance of losing your money as well as your confidence than there is from buying a well established hive. Plus with an established hive you will see results quicker which will give you the confidence & impetus to go for 1 or 2 more hives. Get the picture? BUT --- You're in N.Y. & I would certainly advise you to wait until spring to obtain a hive by any method. You don't want to get them just to have to overwinter them especially with you being a newbie. Get some reading material now & make use of your winter time that way. Talk to the extension agent. Talk to commercial beekeepers too! They won't be doing much this time of year unless they transport their hives down south for winter (& a lot do).

Just popping in. I marked this thread long ago out of interest in Mindy's adventures but only check if new messages show up....now that I'm here again though I see that Margaret has written lots of articles so I must go read. Just saying "Hi all!"

HI Gene and welcome.
It would be better to start with an established hive but if you can find someone to mentor you your idea of starting with a swarm would work. The county extension office can not only give you information on beekeeping, they will also know who may be selling their hives and who would be willing to menor you through it if they don't have someone there who does that kind of work. Check your library for books, if they don't have them they will get them in for you.

Hi Jamie hope you enjoyed reading the articles you missed.

Thanks Ann and Margaret for the advice .I acted on it by ordering books from the library and emailing the county ext. office At the county fair I talked to a commercial beekeeper and she never contacted me again,probably lost my info. ,so I'll see her again this coming year. I had a friend that bought Lang hives and the bees died on him after a short time.He just bought the stuff and gave it a whirl but something obviously went wrong.I'll keep you guys posted with updates.
Gene

Good Luck Gene. We'll be here to answer questions and there's plenty of beekeeping sites online you can check out.

We have beekeepers here at our farm market (closed seasonally now of course) and they are especially happy to discuss their process, successes, types of honey...all things like that. It's almost as if they are pleased to be asked. I suppose because so many don't realize the dedication required and are more likely to think of the product as something that simply comes from the grocery shelf.

Finding someone local to you to offer information and advice might beeee (Tee!) easier than one would expect.

Most beekeepers love talking about their bees and are happy to answer questions and share knowledge. Look how much I've written about them myself just this year alone.

Another place to find beekeepers is at the nearest Beekeeper's Association meeting.

Hello Everyone I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and your New Year has begun on a positive note.

We are having a pretty mild winter for our area this year so our bees are doing really well. We just had our coldest couple days of the season to date and it's already warming up to almost spring temperatures.

How many of you are making definite plans to become beekeepers this year? How prepared are you for this hobby? What plants are you planning to add to your garden for the bees?

I'm working on a list of plants that will ensure our bees have food sources nearby during our drought months of July, August and early September. I'll need both nectar and pollen sources for these months because that's also when they start storing up their winter supply of food.

I'm also working out a rough outline of what article topics I'll write about this year. Any suggestions for this project is welcome.

Happy Beekeeping
Margaret

Hi There Everyone,

My name is David and i live in Middleburg, Florida. I started beekeeping this past April and am loving every minute of it. I have had my ups and downs with the hives. Purchased 3 nucs when I started. Immediately placed in full sized hives. One hive swarmed 4 weeks later. Split the other two into two more hives so by the end of May I had 6 hives. In late July, two hives went queenless and try as I might, I couldnt get them to raise a queen or accept a new queen, so I re-joined them back with two other hives and now I sit with four hives (two doubles and two singles). I did manage to get about 120 lbs of honey from the spring and fall flow, so I did feel lucky with them.

Last night was our first real cold and it was down to 20 degrees so hopefully they will be fine. Also, I just ordered 3 more hives for an April delivery and if all goes well, I am planning on splitting the other 4 hives into 10 about the same time.

I would definately suggest either purchasing a nuc or a complete hive when you start. Also, dont just get one hive. Get two so that if one needs some help, you can take some frames from the other.