Beekeeping it’s the bee’s knees

Here the pod cast http://www.bkcorner.org/
I listen to them when I walk At work or mow

 

Went to my first Beekeeping class last Saturday and reserved two packages with marked queens. I'm a complete beginner but have wanted to do this for awhile. I have another class I'm going to this coming Saturday and I'm currently nose deep in "The Beekeeper's Handbook". Anything else you all recommend?

$51 The Beekeeper's Handbook

https://www.amazon.com/Beekeepers-H...3661732&sprefix=the+beekeepers,aps,477&sr=8-1

Thank you in advance!

 

Read every thing and get some more equipment 2 can turn in to 4 quick, and lead to 25 I love them. Such a great hobby

 

LOL that's what I'm finding out. I'm going with the two starter hive kits from my local shop.


Seems like everything i'll need for the hives. Anything you would change or add?

 

Maybe a couple solid bottom boards then cut a couple vent slots in them for winter depending on what people in your area use, some kind of in hive feeder or top cover you can put a jar of sugar water upside down in is nice to have. Something to put the hive on to get em up off the ground a bit like cinder blocks, a couple old pallets, make a stand out of 2x4s. Look into fencing if you got bears and raccoons. You got tools too? I'm assuming yes but if not a bee brush, a few hive tool/scrapers - i like to have a few, at least one for dirty and one for neat stuff so i'm not using the same one to scrape mold n bee shits out of the bottom board and on the clean brood and honey frames, j-hook ones r cool. A frame holder or something to set frames down on or leaning against while inspecting the hive, it's a pain having thousands of bees stuck in the grass. Nice to have a few of the cheapo hats with the veil and a bottle of windex / sting relief stuff in case friends and family want to get a closer look or someone you have over is severely allergic to avoid stings around their face/neck. Even most of that stuff is easy enough to acquire as you go. Other than that i agree with jtc read up and get as much info as you can, google every term you see, but at the same time learn to take it easy it's a bit of a learning curve at first. Welcome to the club hope you enjoy it!

 

Thanks! I will definitely will be frequenting this thread with lots of questions haha. I appreciate the info, and will definitely look into the stuff you mention!

 

Miller bee supply
https://millerbeesupply.com/
great wooden ware

 

And pic one box deep or medium and stick with it. I am doing all deeps this year

 

The beekeeping reddit is decent to look at here and there too. Gives a bit of good realtime insight of what others in your area or other places in similar zones are dealing with and input on fixes to problems and things like that, moves a lot faster than here too but we'll be here

 

The way I keep bees is way different one zip code away, try and find a local that keeps bees or a group local. None here so sad

 

I'm starting this year as well and just ordered 2 nucs. All courses here have been canceled so relying on a friend, and YouTube...check out Kamon Reynolds and Canadian Beekeeper Blog.
This has been a good read too

$21 The Backyard Beekeeper, 4th Edition: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden

https://www.amazon.ca/Backyard-Beekeeper-4th-Absolute-Beginners/dp/1631593323

And of course this thread

 

If you make a mistake with bees, let the bees bee they can fix them selves

 

Good tip, I'll check it out!

The guy at the shop said the exact same thing. I'm barley into the book I referenced earlier and its amazing what these bee's could do.

 

At splits from the 9th with my overwinterrd queens

 

3 new frames already drawn out may keep splitting to grow

 

Awe damn. Looks like I have a new hobby!
Worked an apiary two years in high school. A few years prior to that I would help the rebuild and new box build every spring. Lots of scraping mold and crap.
Seeing this thread, I have to put what I learned into action. There's a lot of keepers near me so should be easy to get Rollin.

 

I was getting worried that mine had been winter killed; last couple of sunny days I hadn't seen any fliers. But we hit 34 and sunny yesterday and I had a regular swarm.

And then I saw all of the 'used pollen' dots all over my truck

 

How much snow do you have?

 

Very not much. Maybe a foot. Almost every storm this winter has followed the same pattern; all the way up the East Coast and then out to see before it hits the ME/NH border. We've had a couple that have dropped 6-8 inches, but they've usually been followed by rain or sleet that packs everything down.

Between storms it's been cold as a Minnesota dairy cow's teet, but it's warmed up almost every time it's snowed this year and we end up with a mix.

 

Strange! I'm in jerz and the snow is as tall as the double box hive + cinder blocks and it's been too cold for them to fly so i was like how the hell are you seeing bees right now