Hi,
I'm new to beekeeping, haven't got bees yet. Trying to learn as much as I can before Spring. Lots of questions. I'd like to be a backyard beek but I have a tiny backyard. I hope I can find a way to keep bees, I've always wanted to learn about them.
Thanks!
MORE about me: My dad was a great outdoorsman and I spent a lot of time with him in the outdoors learning by observation. I started out working in a nursery, horticulture, for several years and I wanted to learn all about plants and where they were from and how they were related to each other and how all things were interdependent. I now have a pretty good basic knowledge of plants and trees of the Southeastern US. Although I don't work in that field anymore, I have a deep love for learning about the natural world. I studied biology, botany, biogeography and I do a fair amount of gardening although I have a very small yard. I've had a love for bees since seeing a swarm in our backyard in the 1970s. That swarm was about 20-24 inches in diameter and hung about three feet down from a pine branch for a couple of days. I didn't follow up too closely on bees at that time but that image and those days with the swarm in the tree have stayed with me over the years. In the reading I've done in the last few months I've learned some basics about vocabulary, equipment and techniques but mostly that there is so much more to learn. My outlook on how I intend to work with bees will change over time no doubt but at this point I want to begin with 8 frame Langstroth boxes, foundationless frame and feral bees, screened bottom boards and as few chemicals as possible because the pests quickly become immune due to their rapid life cycles and the only way to build healthier bees is to let nature take her course as much as possible, let the bees be bees, let them adapt in response to the pests instead of building super pests with super chemical resistance. I bee-lieve the only way to build a better bee is to let the bees continue to adapt as they have done for millions of years without out help. I bee-lieve much of the trouble with bees lately is due to humans trying too hard to push them to conform to our goofy human ideas. Let us appreciate the miracle of the bee and the world we live in and stop trying to take too much, let us learn from the bees and listen to what they are telling us. I'm in it for the bees, not the honey, not the money, just for the love of nature and the wonder and awe of our very existence, all of us together as an infinitely complex system.
read as much as you can but fall is a good time to start too, find a local beekeeper association in your area and get started
Welcome to the forum. LA, is that Lower Alabama, or Louisiana?
Welcome to the forum. :cheer:
There are articals on the web regarding small yards and rooftop hives. You can easily train your bees to head in a certain direction when leaving and returning to the hive. You might want to talk with your neighbors if by small yard you mean townhouse size. _mike
LA could be Los Angeles in California. You have us all scratching our heads. :-D And we love to have fun here also. Welcome to the forum.
Many thanks to you all for the warm welcome. Well I sorta wasn't sure what to put in the "from" line 'cause I'm in one LA and my bf is in the other LA and sooner or later we'll both be in the same LA if not MS. So how's that for where I'm at? I've joined my state beeks assoc and my local one recently and I'm so excited to get started but I've got some issues that will hopefully work themselves out before spring gets here. I've just GOT TO have bees next spring! GOT TO!!! :)
Welcome Bees Ankles. I wonder if there is a Bees Knees out there?
could be lower arkansas