Photos of my visit with Fat Bee Man

[Scott Derrick]

Hi everyone,

Some of you knew about my visit with fatbeeman on Thursday and wanted to see the photos that I took. They are just random photos for the most part. I wanted everyone to get a general idea as to how Don keeps bees. What a fine fellow he is. I left from the visit with my ears on fire and my head spinning. So much knowledge was transferred in 2.5 hours that I thought my two brain cells would rupture. Really enjoyed the visit.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rsderrick/FatBeeManVisit

[buzzbee]

Thanks for Sharing with us Scott!! Did ya put a plug in for Beemaster? :lol:

[Understudy]

I am going the first Saturday in April. I cannot wait.

Did I see Ferrell on a hive? Feral?

How long a drive is it from Atlanta?

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[bassman1977]

Thats cool.  With all those nucs, I assume they will eventually make it to an outyard somewhere?

[Understudy]

Thats cool.  With all those nucs, I assume they will eventually make it to an outyard somewhere?

No those nucs are for rearing all the queens I am buying from Don. :)

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[steveouk]

Are those those Cardboard NUC's from Mann Lake i see in the latter photos ?

[woodchopper]

Brings back memories from when Ann and I went there two years ago. I'll never forget the noise when the sun hit the front of all those hives. Sounded like a incoming jet. Pretty impressive.

[bassman1977]

No those nucs are for rearing all the queens I am buying from Don.

OIC

[Scott Derrick]

Yeah...he had tons of nucs and queen boxes. I can't wait to try and raise some queens this year from what he taught me. I still want to go to his class to actually learn more from him but I got the basics I think. Very interesting person...totally "swims against the current" of modern beekeeping. He has tons and tons of knowledge about "organic beekeeping" and even teaches a class on organic beekeeping. I'm thankful and honored to have been able to spend a few hours from him. I was also fortunate enough to get a package of small cell bees from him as well as some of his wonderful foundation. It is literally the thickest and most beautiful foundation I have ever seen. Very easy to work with. This stuff is like cardboard it's so thick. Putting it into frames was unbelievably easy. He also showed me how to mount the wax use the "X" configuration using 20lb fishing line. Beats the heck out of wire.

My observation of Don has lead to to believe that he is as successful as he is for many reasons chief among which are his "KISS Attitude". Keep It Simple Stupid . He is not afraid to admit that he doesn't know it all and is very humble about what he does know. The thing about this guy is that he is what I would consider a leader in the field just as I consider Micheal Bush a leader among us. He would never consider himself a leader or pioneer but I think he is and that we can learn "Gobbs" from him. I can't wait to visit with him again. I think I'm going to take a digital recorder so I can continue to "go back to school" as needed.

I encourage everyone to visit Fat Bee Man if you can.

[steveouk]

now that i wouldn't mind seeing. 20lb fishing line used to hold foundation in place ??? Anyone got any ideas on how to do that ?

[JP]

Wow! I want to meet him, at that place in the woods, in the middle of nowhere and talk about bees until we are blue in the face. Thanks for sharing and the pics Scott.


...JP

[annette]

I am going to visit someday for sure.

Annette

[Shawn]

Wow! Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[pembroke]

one ? where is this fat bee man located ? Thanks. Pem

[Understudy]

one ? where is this fat bee man located ? Thanks. Pem

http://www.geocities.com/fatbeeman/


Sincerely,
Brendhan