New Bee Keeper in VA

[Craig Shevlin]

Hi,
My name is Craig.  I have an Indoor Arboretum in my house that is attached to an Aquaponics system.  Plants upstairs and the fish in - 275 gallon tanks in basement.  I want to start raising bees.  Have built 2 Hive kits.  Now just need bees.  Always looking for suggestions about what bees to get that work better here in VA, zone 7.  Winters average 40 +/- *F.  with a couple of weeks at freezing.  Live on a very large lake, and am about to plant 1 acre of Red Crimson Clover so next spring my bees have some nectar to chase down.
Any suggestions?
Anyone here from the Smith Mountain Lake area of Franklin County?

Craig Shevlin

[BeeMaster2]

Welcome to Beemaster.
If you are looking for bees for in door, buy Bumblebees.
For outside, I recommend Italian bees, especially for starting out. An acre of clover will help one hive survive but probably not enough to make a lot of honey.
We always recommend to start with 2 hives. That way you can see how they often times develop very differently and if one hive is struggling, you can use resources from one hive to help the other one.
Good luck and don?t bee afraid to ask questions here on BeeMaster. We love to ask questions.
Jim Altmiller

[cao]

welcome 

[Bob Wilson]

Welcome, Craig. Consider putting out a few swarm traps, and catch some local bees. They are perfectly adapted to your locale. If your trap holds Langstroth frames, then you can move the frames of bees into your regular hives.

[JurassicApiary]

Aloha Craig and welcome. Lots of info available here. Don?t hesitate to ask questions and join discussions.


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