Hello from Sunny California!
I'm a first year beekeeper, with two colonies. These are made from two wild-caught swarms, and a split from a friend. We're practicing organic beekeeping, and are (mostly) foundationless. We give the bees a slim vertical strip of small-cell wax foundation, and let them do the rest. We get a bit of eccentric comb, but overall it's not too bad.
The bees are doing amazingly well in our tiny urban yard. I've got loads of photos, over at my blog, but I think that as a new member, I can't post photos or links right away.
This part of the country seems perfect for organic beekeeping. The climate is mild, there's almost always something flowering, and the idea of organic beekeeping is very well accepted.
Hello Oakland, I was stationed in San Diego for a while and also alameda. Nice of you to join the forum. You will find all types of good information here if you search or just ask, these folks are always willing to help. Again Hello From Michigan. And if you are wondering yeah the snow is gone for a few months!
My split is from Alameda! So we're practically kin-folk.
ah yeah but you can keep that underwater train the call Bart! I asked a guy why the train didn't have any window and he said cause we were under water! Didn't like that. We took the train out to Frisco and played around on Fishermans warf for a night. Was a riot.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3570618727_96441f528c.jpg)
I lived in Oakland for 3 years before I got married. I lived on Dana Street near Ashby Ave. Spent most of my time in Berkeley. Just loved that area so much.
I know of a beekeeper not two blocks from where you used to live, on Prince St.
I'm in East Oakland, in a neighborhood of 1920s houses. Lots of fruit trees and forage for the bees.
Plus, we have all sorts of native bees and butterflies in our garden. I've planted with them in mind, but it's funny what they ignore. Scrophularia (bee plant) is of no interest to them, and it's such a weedy beast!
i had to go into the wayback machine and look up my Oakland history. my great grandmother use to live on Nicol ave in a house that had been built with no indoor plumbing. she had an old gas stove that had replace her wood cooking stove. you had to light the thing every time you used it. when the plumbing had been run, they only ran it to the back of the house so the bathroom had been added on the back next to the kitchen :-). on google earth, it looks like that house has probably been replaced. i sure do remember it. old lead glass windows with bubbles in the glass and wider at the bottom than the top.
my grandmother first lived on Fairfax then moved to Belvedere off Foothill blvd. on Foothill there was a theater that was old even then, and a real 5 & dime that i used to love to shop in. both those houses are still there. fond memories of visiting all those places, but not so fond memories of the time we lived there. that was late 60's and my father was stationed at Alameda. not the greatest time to live in Oakland and be in the military.
Small world! I live two blocks off of Fairfax!
We bought a 1925 craftsman cottage, and we think we're only the third owners. No changes since the 1950s, so everyone who grew up in the Bay Area has a total this-is-just-like-my-grandma's-house freakout when they come over.
We repainted to the colors we found under the mouldings, and are trying to keep it as much of a Granny House as possible. Pushbutton light switches, original lighting fixtures, a Wedgewood stove, a pink clawfoot tub! Oh yeah! We're in old-house heaven!
Pictures at my blog. (http://howsrobb.blogspot.com/2009/06/jumping-up-and-down-with-glee.html)
her Fairfax address was 5120
Quote from: lisascenic on July 17, 2010, 11:38:52 PM
Small world! I live two blocks off of Fairfax!
We bought a 1925 craftsman cottage, and we think we're only the third owners. No changes since the 1950s, so everyone who grew up in the Bay Area has a total this-is-just-like-my-grandma's-house freakout when they come over.
We repainted to the colors we found under the mouldings, and are trying to keep it as much of a Granny House as possible. Pushbutton light switches, original lighting fixtures, a Wedgewood stove, a pink clawfoot tub! Oh yeah! We're in old-house heaven!
Pictures at my blog. (http://howsrobb.blogspot.com/2009/06/jumping-up-and-down-with-glee.html)
I checked out your blog and I just love that house of yours. I want you to know that the yoga center, where I keep my bees, has the exact same stove as yours. It is a wonderful stove and you can really get a good flame going from that. It makes it fun to cook on. Now they have so many rules and regulations on flame size.
Our stove is fantastic! It's so great for baking French bread.
Now I'm jealous! I love to bake bread, but our oven sux. :(
Scott
you are so lucky that someone didn't "update" that house. i love it.
The funny thing is that the contractors we interviewed would drool over all the original features, and them be unable to stop themselves from suggesting that the tear out our plaster walls and replace them with sheetrock, or install a drop ceiling over our original coffered ceiling. It made eliminating "bad fits" really easy!