I have become a beekeeper. And wouldn't it be fun to document the adventure right from the start? First I promise to refrain from bee puns. Second, my posts will be brief because no one likes reading a long blog.
My bee adventure actually started along time ago with the love of peanut butter sandwiches. But there were some larger contributors to my interest in apiculture.
Terry from Eagle Pass Texas who showed me how gentile honey bees are and that just having them around can be calming. He went from a loud rough backwoods Louisiana bastard (his words) to a gentile giant as he let honey bees crawl on and eat sugar from his hands.
A TV program about how mankind could be destroyed.. asteroids, the sun changing, zombies etc. One of the ways that a large part of humans would die is without our friends, the honey bees. It also mentioned the decrease of colonies around the world.
Becoming a homeowner a few years ago and seeing my cherry tree produce 12 cherries. Granted the tree is a little unhealthy, hadn't been watered for years, and it wasn't a good year for cherries but I also noticed a lack of bees around the yard and knew that contributed as well.
Susan Oveson introduced me to her "girls" and pushed me over the top. I wanted to keep bees. I was going to start next year, collect my gear as I could afford it, and start my first colony in the spring but Susan threw me into it much sooner when she told me she had a hive she could give me but needed to know if I wanted it.. that day.
I now have a colony in the backyard.
My next adventure will be transplanting the frames of brood honey and bees from Susan's bee box into my box which came yesterday.
Here are the hive bodies. These 2 bodies will be where the queen resides. The brood (egg, larva, pupa) will be raised in these boxes along with the honey the bees will need to make it through the winter.
The supers will be placed on top of the hive bodies when the bees are ready to create excess honey. A queen excluder keeps the queen down in the hive bodies so that she cannot fill the comb in the supers with brood. The workers are the only ones that can get into these boxes meaning they only leave honey!
The frames hang down into the boxes and provide the foundation for building comb.
My bee adventure actually started along time ago with the love of peanut butter sandwiches. But there were some larger contributors to my interest in apiculture.
Terry from Eagle Pass Texas who showed me how gentile honey bees are and that just having them around can be calming. He went from a loud rough backwoods Louisiana bastard (his words) to a gentile giant as he let honey bees crawl on and eat sugar from his hands.
A TV program about how mankind could be destroyed.. asteroids, the sun changing, zombies etc. One of the ways that a large part of humans would die is without our friends, the honey bees. It also mentioned the decrease of colonies around the world.
Becoming a homeowner a few years ago and seeing my cherry tree produce 12 cherries. Granted the tree is a little unhealthy, hadn't been watered for years, and it wasn't a good year for cherries but I also noticed a lack of bees around the yard and knew that contributed as well.
Susan Oveson introduced me to her "girls" and pushed me over the top. I wanted to keep bees. I was going to start next year, collect my gear as I could afford it, and start my first colony in the spring but Susan threw me into it much sooner when she told me she had a hive she could give me but needed to know if I wanted it.. that day.
I now have a colony in the backyard.
My next adventure will be transplanting the frames of brood honey and bees from Susan's bee box into my box which came yesterday.
Here are the hive bodies. These 2 bodies will be where the queen resides. The brood (egg, larva, pupa) will be raised in these boxes along with the honey the bees will need to make it through the winter. 
The frames hang down into the boxes and provide the foundation for building comb.
Interesting! My grandpa (and his fathers previous) were bee keepers. He owned "linds" honey out of vernal, best of luck- its a very neat process!
ReplyDeleteI love my bees! Except when they sting me on the face and make me look like a horrible alien sideshow freak--ON MY ANNIVERSARY!!!
ReplyDeleteBut otherwise, I love them all. Bee and Bea and Be and Beee and Bi and Bii and B and Beeee and....