I did it....It's official!!

[rickomatic]

I can now call myself a "beekeeper"!! I installed my first two packages today. All the reading, youtubeing, and lurking here made it a lot more comfortable. Thanks so much for all the information you guys have here. It is a veritable University of Beekeeping!
I suited up full suit, gloves...the works. This being my first time I wanted to have as little stress as possible. After I was done, I noticed from a distance that one of my outer covers was crooked, so I walked right up behind, sans suit or gloves, and straightened it. See....I'm already getting brave.  ;)
I was taping the "blessed event" for posterity, and, so my wife could see when she got home from work, but alas....the hard drive on my camcorder filled up before I actually "dumped" the bees in the hives and all I got was up to putting the first queen cage in the first hive. Oh well....the camera was mostly filled up with the grandkids easter egg hunt from the past weekend. I guess in the grand scheme of things, that footage will be more important when I'm older. Besides....there'll be more "package dump" opportunities to film in the future.
Thanks again guys and gals for making this start in beekeeping great for me!!   :-D

[Natalie]

Congratulations!! Its a great feeling to finally make the big step.
I just got my first bees this weekend too. There seems to be alot of new beekeepers on this forum this week.
Best of luck to you with the girls, keep us posted! :)

[buzzbee]

Welcome to the world of beekeeping!

[1reb]

Congratulations!! Rickomatic

Johnny

[tlynn]

Yes, I was noticing how many new beekeepers there are.  Awesome and congratulations!  It's more addictive than great wine!

[johnnybigfish]

I was JUST telling janelle how many people in here are just getting their bees now!! Its GREAT!....Im just imagining all the excitement happening with you guys getting your first bees!...Sounds like everybody getting the bees boxed in pretty well! I'm excited here for when the swarming starts!( Probably all be my bees doing the swarming!)..I dont care where they come from as long as I catch them...maybe this year more will stay with me!

your friend,
john

[Two Bees]

Congrats, Rick!  We consider you a beek now! 

But your bees don't until they nail you a couple of times!

[slaphead]

Congratulations Rickomatic.

I'm guessing we passed each other at Beez Neez yesterday  :-D

It was quite a zoo with everyone keen to make the most of the good weather and one of the trucks arriving a bit late.  Great packages though. Mine only had a handful of dead bees.

Now if only the sun will stay with us for a while......

SH

[TimLa]

I was there around 2 and it wasn't too bad.  Quite a few new beeks from what I overheard, but lots of smiles and positive mood.  Perfect weather for a change!

-T

"the difference between a hobby and an obsession is hard to define"...  OK, it's an obsession.

[rickomatic]

Yep, I was there around 2 or so too. It didn't seem too crazy to me. They had things pretty well organized. I got two packages, one of which was "sold" to me as a good one even though it was all duct taped up and ugly looking, because the girls had already started building some comb. Well, I can say, of the two packages that I hived, that one seems to be the most active so far.
I did find it very interesting that of those two packages, each one seemed to have their own personality. The duct taped one seemed to want to get right to work and set up in their new home, and the other one seemed a little bit more interested in me, and was noticebly more aggressive. I don't mean that they were coming after me, just that there were more in the air when I put them into their hive.
What a very very interesting hobby so far!   :-D