Greetings from Washington State (Puget Sound area).
I just found this forum yesterday while poking around on the internet in a quest for learning about beekeeping.
This will be my first year as a beek. I originally planned to start with one hive. I ordered a starter kit (3 medium 8-frame boxes and the other required gear) and ordered bees from a local business to be delivered in mid-April (Italians). From continued reading I discovered that is may be best to start with two hives (compare and contrast). So, I ordered another package of bees from the same local business (delivery in late April - Carniolan) and plan to visit this week to buy additional hive boxes and frames.
I've painted the first set of hive boxes and am eagerly watching the calendar to get my first package. Of course, I'm nervous too. I do have a neighbor down the road to help mentor me. She has been working with bees for the past four years. I was too late to get into any of the local bee classes, so am reading a bunch of books, scouring the internet and watching lots of videos. I've also joined a nearby club. I think I'm hooked!
My husband picked up lumber today to make my hive stands, so I'm hoping he will be involved as well.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning from this forum and hopefully to someday contribute.
Thrilled to have found this forum!
Rise,
Welcome to Beemaster.
Bee sure to ask any questions you have, we love to answer them even if some one else has asked the same question previously.
Jim Altmiller
Welcome to Beemaster, Rise and Shine! :happy: I agree that two hives will be better to start out with than one. As Jim said, feel free to ask any and all questions you may have. We love talking about bees! If you haven't found it already, I'd highly recommend Rusty Burlew's website HoneyBeeSuite.com. I love her blog, and she is located in your area of the country, so her information would probably be especially helpful to you.
Hello Rise and Shine from Washington State! Welcome to Beemaster!
Phillip
Hello and Welcome to the forums!
Dave
welcome :happy:
Thank you for the warm welcome.
I?m in countdown mode for delivery of my first package. I?m now working on preparing the second hive. My husband has agreed to cut in a couple of observation windows. My neighbor has a couple on her hives and it is fun to watch her bees. We observed several waggle dances last week.. Has anyone else done this?
Still excited!
Rise and Shine.
No, I have never had a window into a hive, but Beemaster2 has an observation hive inside his porch with an entrance for the bees that leads to the outside. We all feel the same anticipation as you do, and we all walk near our hives just to watch how they are doing.
Aloha R&S, and welcome. You've found a wonderful, knowledgeable resource here at Beemaster. Two hive is definitely better than one to start IMO as others have also affirmed. Don't fret too much over things, especially accidents; They will happen, period. The bees can fix and accommodate for most beekeeper errors and you will learn A LOT very quickly and gain confidence and bee a great caretaker. Best wishes to you!
Welcome to Beemaster. Here's something that may help you.
out
COWLITZ COUNTY BEE ASSOC
Longview, WA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cowlitz-Bee-Association/341293865908915
EAST JEFFERSON BKPRS ASSOC
Port Hadlock, WA
http://ejbees.org
INLAND EMPIRE BKPRS ASSOC
Spokane, WA
http://www.inlandempirebeekeepersassociation.com/
LEWIS COUNTY BKPRS ASSOC
Centralia, WA
http://www.lewiscountybeekeepers.org
MID-COLUMBIA BKPRS ASSOC
Richland, WA
http://www.tricitybees.com/
MOUNT BAKER BKPRS
Bellingham, WA
http://www.mtbakerbeekeepersassn.org
NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON BKPRS ASSOC
Wenatchee, WA
http://www.ncwbees.com/
NORTH OLYMPIC PENINSULA BKPRS
Port Angeles, WA
http://www.nopba.org/
NORTHWEST DISTRICT BKPRS
Snohomish, WA
http://www.nwdba.org
OLYMPIA BKPRS ASSOC
Lacey, WA
http://www.olympiabeekeepers.org
PACIFIC NORTHWEST QUEEN REARING CLUB
Vancouver, WA
http://www.pacificnorthwestqueenrearingclub.org
PIERCE COUNTY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
Puyallup, WA
www.pcbeekeepers.org
PUGET SOUND BKPRS ASSOC
Seattle, WA
http://www.pugetsoundbees.org
SKAGIT VALLEY BKPRS ASSOC
Burlington, WA
http://skagitvalleybeekeepers.org
SNOQUALMIE VALLEY BKPRS
Snowualmie, WA
http://www.snoqualmievalleybeekeepers.org
STANWOOD CAMANO BKPRS ASSOC
Stanwood, WA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stanwood-Camano-Beekeepers/191707364192219?ref=hl
WASHINGTON STATE BKPRS ASSOC
Puyallup, WA
Website:http://www.wasba.org
*List of State Organizations
http://wasba.org/local-beekeeping-organizations
WEST PLAINS BKPRS ASSOC
Medical Lake, WA
http://www.wpbeekeepers.org
WEST SOUND BKPRS
Silverdale, WA
http://www.westsoundbees.org
WHIDBEY BKPRS ASSOC
Freeland, WA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whidbey-Beekeepers-Association-AKA-Whidbees/143549379038067
BEE HAPPY Jim134. :smile:
Thank you Jim. I have now joined a local club and am taking their Intro to Beekeeping course :)
Wish you the best. Hope to see your future post on BeeMasters,,, pictures are great. There are a lot of beekeepers with a lot of knowledge on here. Have a great rest of the year.