starting with bees

If you are looking into getting bees you need to be prepared for them. There are alot of web sites out there to look at.
http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/learning.htm this one is a good one with lots of information.

My hubby found out that he did better hands on. We looked on localharvest.org for a local bee keeper. Most will help you out in any way you want. We bought our hive kits from rossman because they were cheaper than others. But you may have one close to you that is cheaper. You can have your hives shipped to you put together or in pieces. We had them in pieces.

We put them together and painted the outsides white. There are several parts to the hives. There is the hive stand, the super boxed and the frames. They have shallow supers and deep supers. The inner cover and the outer cover. The hive entrance reducer.

You need a bee veil for your head. You do not neccesarily need the whole suit. Just wear light colored long sleeve shirts and blue jeans. The gloves are another must investment due to the elastic on them. Oh an a smoker is a must too.

The bees them selves are around $70 a swarm but you can be put on the local list at the ag office for swarms and they are free. Just go get them. You have to make sure you get the queen when you do. They are $30 plus rush shipping if you have to have one.

Once you put your hive up you have to feed them in feeders that come in the hive kits. You mix 3 parts sugar and 1 part water (most books say 2 to 1) but the local bee keeper uses 3 to 1 and has been in business for ever and has 140 hives. You need to feed about one gallon per hive until they get started good. Also put corn syrup on the frames. Not to much just a little do they can eat when it gets cold. They cluster up and do not move at all.

Since there is a lot of CDC colony collapse disorder going on the local bee keeper said he lost close to 30 hives last year. They just leave the colony and leave the queen behind most of the time. They still do not know what is causing this. We lost a hive and they think that is why.

They can be totally organic in treating them for mites and noxema. They are a little work but are well worth it.

Hi, Amy. How long have you been keeping bees? I'm starting my 3rd year and just put in 2 new nucs so I have 4 colonies.

I did very much what it sounds like you did before you got started. I have a friend (who used to be the music director at our church years ago) who is the head entomologist at UGA and he recommended a guy who became my mentor. I went out and worked in his bee yard with him for a couple of hours and was hooked. I absolutely love it!

Actually the entomologist guy might be somebody you've read or seen--his name is Keith Delaplane. He has a book called Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary. And there are segments of his PBS show that are airing on RFDtv late on Friday nights if you've got that channel.

So when you bottle your honey is it under the label "The Byrds and the Bees?" I think I'm going to call mine "Hummble Beeginnings."
Godsgapeach