I started my first two hives this April and while I've read all the books I could find, I discovered that bees don't read! I followed all the feeding sugestions, tried to time things out , did my inspections, adopted some organic practices and saw some really good progress. Then about three or four weeks ago, one of my hives swarmed! I still have a strong hive which is showing swarms cells now too but I was able to get ahead of them with honey supers and have culled the early cells. I already have one full super of honey and they are working on building comb in the second super. The hive that swarmed has had a transfer of one frame of brood and the queen cells are all open. I'm hoping I'll find some new eggs this weekend from a virgin queen.
I enjoy it very much but am learning to trust my instincts as much or more than what I read.
GJP
Westfield, Wisconsin
Hi GJP!
Yep...an Obsession is an accurate term for what we do here!
I do things with my bees that most people here wouldnt imagine, and I'm still having bees! Do most your family and friends think youre wierd yet? If they do, that means your doing something right!
Like I've said in earlier posts, it takes special people to deal with having bees. I also think that a person knows pretty quick if bees are for them. I think, if you get stung the first few times and DONT want to kill the little booger who did it, you ARE one of the special kinds of people for bees. Another good example for a new beek to keep in mind..If the STICKY all over your hands and arms doesnt freak you out, Then youre a prime candidate for doing bees! ;)One other thing,,,If after coming into your house after work and you shoot over to the computer to get here(forums), you are definitely HOOKED!..We're ALL hooked on bees as far as I can tell!
And, if you want a real shock.......Go to a bee club...Take a look at all the people there..Youre gonna see some people who actually LOOK LIKE BEES!!!..I'm not KIDDING!!..Take your wife, or a friend, to share the proof with!...Maybe take a camcorder to film some of the meeting and get the "BeePeople" on film...Theres always one or two to film!...I think Im starting to look beeish now! :)
your friend,
john
Hello and Welcome!
This is a great forum to learn more about bees and beekeeping; nice, friendly bee-folk here.
A few suggestions:
1) Update your profile to include your location. Since much of beekeeping is "location specific", having your location visible will help us provide better answers to your questions.
2) I find the 'search' function to be a very helpful tool. Many times I can get an immediate answer to my question because it has been discussed before.
3) As John suggested, get involved with a bee club. Clubs are great places to find mentors and get connected with local beeks. Looks like there may be some clubs near you:
http://www.wihoney.com/LocalBeeClubs.html
Thanks! This is my first blog of any sort so I'm not very familiar with all of the features of the system. I do have a mentor or two and they have been very helpful.
Thanks for the welcome. Just basically trying to find my way in the blog and with the bees. I'm having some success and some failures and am learning a lot.
GJP
Hey GJP,
your doing fine!
I see youve made 4 posts already and we can see them!
You'll be flying through here in no time!
And, just look at all the small boxes on top of where you write a post or reply!
I dont even know what most of them do but occasionally i'll clik on one and see what happens!
And dont get too upset when you write a post for 30 minutes, then, when you go to post it, You somehow hit the wrong button and it gets LOST! :-x
Thinking of long stories,...
About 12 years ago(before i met my wife) I got a WEBTV!..Oh boy, it was GREAT!
Well, one of the first things I wanted to do was to make contact with Katarina Witt (the ice skater) and invite he to go FISHING!!!
I thought she was HOT!!
So, (I'm such an idiot sometimes...oh yeh,......At that time, 12 to 18 beers a nite usually got me going)
I "searched" Katarina Witt.....Then I proceeded to compose my letter....I told her how I thought she was the best skater around.....I told her she was beautiful...I told her I wasnt some sort of nut :)...Well, I went on for about an hour praising her, worshipping her, and finally telling her that if she ever came through my part of the world I would love to take her fishing! :-D (I've left tons of stuff out because its way to personal) ;)
Well,...I was so proud of myself...I knew that any day now I would be getting a reply taking me up on my offer...
Well, next day,...nothing...a few days later, nothing....2 weeks later, still nothing... :(
Eventually, I figured out she didnt like me :'(
Some time went by,........then a friend came over and i explained what i had done...he wanted to see the letter, as he didnt believe I had done such a thing, so i went to show him :)
For some reason, He was laughing so hard while he was trying to find what I had written, I kept saying, "What? What?"
He explained to me, after i showed him how I had been writing letters, and for some reason nobody was replying(including Katarina, of course), that I had been composing all my emails in THE SUBJECT LINE!!!
He also explained to me that just because I did a search and got a result on a person didnt make that a "direct connection" to that person!
Well, Anyways, ....Just a story...I havent tried to contact Katarina Witt since then! :)
But I did right a letter to Kenneth Copeland!...( Later......)
your friend,
john
GJP, welcome to our forum. This is going to be the place where you will love to spend time, you can tell us your stories and tales and experiences. We are all listening, ask your questions, any that you have, you will many great responses. So nice that you have decided to keep bees, and you will be held deeply under their spell, we all are. Enjoy your days with these girls, they will never follow the book, always remember that, they have the minds of their own, and they are very smart about what they do, have the most wonderful and awesome day, Cindi
GJP welcome and good luck with your bees, you will find a lot of information and very helpful folks here.
johnnybigfish, funny stuff, thanks.