Beekeeping...for those interested!

[the simple life]

Well, I am deep in it now!!

I just ordered my nucs and a package through the beekeeping school.

I signed up for two schools, in two different counties and joined the associations.
I read 15 books in the past year to get ready and joined a few beekeeping forums.

I have been educating myself and doing alot of research and it has given me alot of confidence in this.
Beekeeping is a whole new ballgame since the introduction of mites and small hive beetles and then those nasty wax moths...
Read, read, read.

I also bought several hives and all the equipment that I need.
I have been collecting all I need for months.

Even minimalist beekeeping requires a decent amount of equipment, unless you are only getting a couple of hives, but even then...
I am ready to go.

 

[the simple life]

me&the gals, make sure you use a blow torch on all the woodenware before you use it.
Old equipment can harbor alot of disease and organisms that will destroy your colonies.

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks for the tip, simple life! I know I need to do some serious reading and blogging, networking

 

[FarmerChick]

WOW Natalie ---that is so cool you are starting your beehives!
Into the honey business you go! So cool!

I want updates on what happens. I don't do bees, don't know much but want to learn on the board at how your new endeavor is working for you!!!!

Great new project.

Sounds like with all the classes you joined and all the info you have acquired---you sure are ready for your hives!!!! Smart to learn before leaping!

You and Ann can be our Bee Experts now on the board! We need people with great knowledge to help us who don't know.

Are you planning on selling honey?
Did you buy one of the turning wheel extractor thingys for honey?

just curious!!!

 

[the simple life]

Thanks Karen, I am excited about it.
I am glad that I spent so much time doing research because there is so much information and misinformation out there.
There is a saying that if you ask 10 beekeepers a question you will get 10 different answers.
There are so many different methods out there and different ones suit different people.
I do plan on selling honey, along with my eggs at the farmers markets.
I haven't bought an extractor, one of the bee associations I belong to has a couple that you can borrow but the more I am learning the more I am interested in doing the crush and strain method where you crush up the combs with the honey in them and let them drain and then strain the honey out and not reuse the combs.
The wax can be used for other hive products or you can melt it into blocks and sell it back to the beekeeping supply companies for merchandise.
So for right now I don't need one anyway, which is a good thing because they are quite expensive if you were to purchase one, but its not something I am thinking about right now.
I had to spend alot of time to find someone that produces nucs without using any chemicals.
There are alot of people out there who will sell you a nuc and tell you whatever you want to hear so I spent months looking people up and harrassing them on the phone.
I found 2 guys that I trust and one of them is the head of the state beekeepers association and I feel they are both on the up and up.
I am not using chemicals so I wanted to start out with chemical free bees.
This was part of my research, finding good producers.
Its been worth it though, its all really interesting.
Its started out with getting 2 hives and then it was 4 and then it was 6.......
Beekeeping is alot like chicken raising and there are just as many enablers.

 

[homestead jenna]

I'm finishing up beekeeping class tomorrow (well, except for our Field Day in April). I'm going to be doing top-bar hives, though. This is a different style of beekeeping that requires a LOT less "stuff" than traditional Langstroth hives and is supposedly a more "sustainable" method of keeping. Google "top bar hives" and you'll see some good sites on it. This site - http://www.biobees.com - is a really good one on it.

Now I can be a Jeeper-peeper-beeper.

 

[the simple life]

Yup, I bought 3 of those already in addition to the langstroths.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

The Simple Life -- I am impressed that you have done all that research! I am also very interested in what you have learned about chemical-free beekeeping. Obviously there are ways to control pests without pesticides, etc. I'd love to hear where you learned about chem-free beekeeping. Any references would be appreciated.

FarmerChick -- I have only done a little reading on one of the pages that Reinbeau listed in this thread, but it seems you want to keep your bees foraging w/in a 2 mile radius. Any more and the hive could be weakened. The problem in my area is that most of the land around me is well forested, so I would expect there would be dry spells when the forest plants stop producing nectar. That is a guess though.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Awesome site you linked to jenna! Thanks.

 

[Beekissed]

I hope to be starting with bees this spring also and plan to do it as chemical free as possible as well. Beemaster.com has some great threads on keeping bees in this manner and also about top bar hives, which intrigue me.

I'm hoping that keeping my own bees will start a whole new phase in my life of SS. To never be dependent on a manufactured sweetener again, to be able to make my own candles, salves, balms, and to sell the honey as a pure, nutritious food source for others....its exciting!