I am new to beekeeping. So new I don't have any bees or a hive or anything. Any advice on how to get started will help out a great deal.
Thanks Everyone for your input.
Welcome to the Forum 40gunner! You've found a great bunch of people from all walks of the beekeeping world here. Stretching anywhere you may think and taking in everyone from the beginner to the comercial beekeepers.
There's tons of information on here to read and absorb, but nothing helps as much as getting into your local beekeepers association. Normally they are in most every or every other county. That's always a great place to start as you can get hands on training in alot of cases from seasoned beekeepers with lots of knowledge.
From there, find some books, or even webpages like www.brushymountain.com (http://www.brushymountain.com) to find lots of interesting facts about how to do everything.
One thing is for sure, once you've been stung by the honey bee bug, it always keeps you wanting for more.
I hope you do well with your hives!
PS: Plan to be stung by the bees, it happens, and you may as well face it.
Check Craigslist if you're on a budget and need free bees (swarm capture)
Visit a local beek if you want to pay money for bees; they are usually willing to part with a small box of bees (nucleus) for about $100.
Get a bee keeping book; either buy a modern one or download a free old one from google books. Bee keeping hasn't changed much in 100 years, so the old books are about as good as the new books IMO and they're free.
Welcome to the forum.
Find a local beekeeper and ask if you can help him a day or two now and then.
Join a local bee club.
Find a local beekeeper/mentor. Help he or she if they are willing. Nothing replaces the hands on if possible. I got lucky, I stopped at a local fruit stand got a number off a jar of honey and made a call. It lead me to a beekeeper in his 70's with 350 colonies. That was a decade ago and we are still friends today :-D
Read a book or two.
Practical advice from a newbie.
Get two hives at first instead of one. It is so much easier to handle most problems with two hives. As one of the most often given solutions is get a frame of egg, larva, capped brood from another hive. If you only have one it can be hard to do that. Two also can give you an idea if something is wrong with one because you have a comparison.
Join the local beek club. Though I found mine full of commercial guys that I didn't use most of their information because it involved treatment with chemicals which I do use. But it did help with when are the flows, Epi-pen training and such.
Don't be afraid if you read it isn't that hard. They are insects and as such not that hard to keep alive.
This forum is DyNoMite! Nice PPL and lots of help and ideas.
I am like you in that I have not actually got bees yet.
I bought the "Making Beehives for Dummies" and built mine. Then I bought "Beekeeping for Dummies" and have it as a reference. Lots of other great ideas here BTW
I joined a local bee club.
Flyboy, do you have first or second edition of Beekeeping for Dummies?
If it is first edition the cover photograph was taken by none other than John(Beemaster) the founder of the Beemaster forum.
I haven't had bees quite a year yet - 10 months. Looking back I'd say I should have got two hives instead of one. Like it's done been said already; comparison and a frame of eggs are hard to beat. The queen went missing in my hive and I could have very well lost it had not I already split it. As of today I have 6 queen right hives and one that I hope is making a queen. It's the most populated hive and I hope it still makes s little honey.
Quote from: buzzbee on April 09, 2014, 07:33:34 PM
Flyboy, do you have first or second edition of Beekeeping for Dummies?
If it is first edition the cover photograph was taken by none other than John(Beemaster) the founder of the Beemaster forum.
BB,
Not sure. Only thing it says is Copyright 2013. Cover has a pic of a one section hive sitting on the ground with a hammer and nails on top of the metal roof and an L square propped against the side. I cannot find a reference or credit for photo.
Flyboy,
that is the second edition. Which is fine as I think it mentions dealing with varroa mites.
My vote is the same as above, mentor, and a good book. I would also add that there are alot of good internet resources, this forum, MB's website, even some good videos floating around.