Worldwide Beekeeping
Announcements => Welcome => Topic started by: LindsayBrower1 on January 06, 2014, 09:06:10 pm
-
Hello! My name is Lindsay I am 23 years old and live in Catskill Mountains! I recently had the pleasure of taking a beekeeping class with Rob Overton! I have undeniably caught the bee fever. I have not had any real life experience with beekeeping YET but am very anxious to absorb and much information as possible. How long have you all spent caring for bees? Do any of you consider beekeeping as part of a self sufficient lifestyle ?
Happy New Year!
-
Welcome and enjoy your stay! Lots of good knowledge, good experience, and great people here on this forum! :)
-
Hi Lindsay, and welcome to our friendly part of the beekeeping community here.
I've kept bees for close to 15 years I guess. Yes, if you want to be truly self sufficient, I think bees need to be a part of that.
-
Thank you! I am working towards being as self sufficient as I can possibly be! It's a long term goal of mine, but an important one.. My biggest priority is making this impact on my children! The world needs to get back to it roots.
-
Hey Lindsay, glad you found your way here. You already know my story, but there are lots of folks here who will share their experiences. They will provide you with plenty of input and give you plenty to think about as you decided what beekeeping will be for you. Once you get the fever, it is almost impossible to get rid of it.
-
Welcome, Lindsay
Hope you enjoy it here. We can get serious where bees are concerned, but we like to cut up and play a lot, too. Join in and have fun until warm weather, then make Rob take you into a few hives. Then the REAL fun will begin.
How long have I been playing with the bees?? I think a couple centuries. Since 1976.
-
Welcome to the forum. Enjoy yourself 8)
-
lindsay, greetings and welcome!!! rob is a great guy and very knowledgable, and like he said "bee fever" really never goes away. for me keeping bees has always been a great passion! lot's of experience here, and as iddee said, we are a fun bunch. when it comes to bees, we might fun around but we all are more than willing to help another out and share or 'teach' what each of us have learned.
happy new year to you as well!
-
Usually I don't respond to posts that start with " Young woman looking".... :D
Welcome to the best beekeeping site Lindsay, glad you are learning from Rob.
We need young beekeepers. Enjoy your journey :)
-
Welcome Lindsay,
If you mean self sufficient in a Apocalypse prepper kind of way, then bees are definitely a good ingredient in the mix. My family has gone away from using refined sugar almost entirely. We use about 80 Lbs of honey each year and maybe 10 Lbs of sugar. I think my kids are growing up a little bit healthier for it. As long as you don't mind getting stung once in a while, you will enjoy bee keeping a great deal.
-
welcome aboard post away you couldn't have found a better place to learn about bees and becoming self sufficient Hey Iddee their may be a future group to start on how to be self sufficient since bees play a big part in that ;)
-
Glad to have you on board, Lindsey. I am starting my 4th year in Beekeeping which I still consider myself a pup among the the beekeeping vets on this board. You will find them very helpful and friendly.
-
Welcome Lindsey, glad you are with us on the forum, I am going into my 3 year with the bees and still have a lot to learn, but I am planning to stay with them until I can't anymore. I think you will enjoy the bees.
Ken
-
Hi Linsay welcome into the life of bees, beekeeping, and all the good products of the hives. Your kids look as sweet as the honey your bees will produce. With the years of experience of members on the forum and a mentor like Rob you will have lots of help and direction. May be to much at times, what I am doing with my hives in BC Canada may not be the best to follow but advice from a local mentor who knows the flows, is living thru the weather, has his own hives so he is aware of how the colonies are progressing, is priceless.
-
Hi Lindsay. Welcome. It may sound good, but I don't think beekeeping is an occupation to make one self sufficient---unless you plan on making all your own hives, equipment, bottles, medicines......
You might not have to buy honey (forget sugar, live without it), but beekeeping will put you in mutually beneficial contact with a lot of others and lead toward MUTUAL sufficiency.
If I sound like a nut, it might be because I've been addicted to bees since 1972. The years have taken their toll.
-
Good for you!
I have been HELPING keep bees for many years, but have only had my own hives for a couple.
Keeping bees can be a good part of being self sufficient. Using the honey for sweetener in everything from coffee to baking. Using wax for candles, soaps and balms, and using other hive products for antibiotics for wounds etc all can be made a part of being self sufficient. I am not entirely sur of your reasons to become self sufficient, but in the event the economy crashes, Honey will be in high demand, and will maintain its "trade" value.
I already use my local honey in my morning coffee instead of sugar. I use it for some baking instead of suga, and find it in some cases to be much preferable!!
Also.. with this crowd... DONT be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly. These guys are awesome!!!!
-
I am not entirely sur of your reasons to become self sufficient, but in the event the economy crashes, Honey will be in high demand, and will maintain its "trade" value.
I read a book several years ago that, although fiction, made a big impact on me. There was a lot of truth and a message in that book, Alas Babylon. The bottom line is, if you can't eat it, if it doesn't keep you warm, if it doesn't keep you dry, or you can't drink it, it is basically worthless.
-
Welcome Lindsay! It's a wonderful craft to become addicted to and addicted to you will be. Hey, Ef, not to make ya feel old or anything, but I was born in 1972. ;)
-
Thank you all! I have read each of your replies and I am thankful for everyone's input! Very inviting group ;D I'm sure I will have a lot of questions soon! I forced myself to hold off on pre ordering my bees and going too crazy until after I take the second part of my bee keeping class lol! And as far as being self sufficiency , some of the reason I am passionate about this is the quality of health my family has and in case god forbid the economy crashes. Which also got me into canning, gardening, dehydrating , seed saving etc. I'm also a stay at home mom so this is a great way to try to save some expense for my family. Additionally I just love this way of life it makes me feel very accomplished. If I had it my way I would own a huge farm! Thankfully my husband is a very hard working support for us and motivates me to become less dependent on society.
-
HOWDY from Central Texas and welcome.
I have on occasions visited up in the Catskills with in laws and that is quite a pretty landscape you have there. I would suspect where one might one to place hives given the terrain and the bears would be something you do need to consider properly.
I have been keeping bees a bit over 50 year.
-
Thanks Tecumseh! We do have bears here! We actually had one consistently showing up for about a year... Haven't seen it in awhile though... Luckily my husband is an electrician we were thinking about setting up a hot wire to fence the hives in. One hit from that should discourage them :D
-
Welcome aboard Lindsey. As others have stated, this is a friendly group of beekeepers. You look to be a good fit for this group. The boys and you make a beautiful picture, and i'm sure hubby is a nice looking guy. It gladdens my heart to see kids in pictures. Blueblood and some of the other posters also have beautiful children. Those youngsters will be interested in the bees.
Efmesch, one of our more educated and knowledgeable beekeepers, gives good advice about self sufficiency. However, having your own honey, beeswax, and other bee byproducts will certainly assist you in your quest for self sufficiency. April will make me three years with the bees. Initially, my reason for having bees was to give something back to nature. Now the bees make feel so good, that I feel like I am taking something from nature.
Beware that like all things in life, keeping bees is sometimes stressful.
Hey, order you a hive and stay with us.
lazy
-
Lindsey,
Welcome. I think you'll find beekeeping tremendously satisfying and you are really doing something beneficial. I just started last year and I am surprised at how well the outcome has been. Not fully self sufficient but the proceeds from the sale of honey will allow me to double the number of hives I have and still leave enough to purchase feed and other needed supplies with a decent profit remaining. Some of the books will tell you not to expect any honey the first year and that could happen. I am simply an example of just the opposite. Dive right in. I've found that the best teacher as with most things is just doing it. If you can, I suggest you start with at least 2 hives so you can contrast and share between hives if you need to. Great advice on this forum.
Gary
-
We do have bears here!
We will have an in-depth discussion about bears and dealing with them in the next session. Some great pictures too ;D
-
just to add to what robo said lindsay about bears; myself and crofter utilize e fencing . i would get the fence up and running first before you place your hives, and not the other way around.... :D
-
Great Riverbee and Rob! I don't want to have to resort to my BB gun method to get them out of here again haha!!! They can cause quite the havoc !
-
bb gun?........lol! :D
when's lunch?.........or rather WHAT'S for lunch....... :D
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1056.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft373%2Friverbee1%2FWWB%2520Photos%2Fgeneral%2FWhenslunch_zps40f11720.jpg&hash=e0cb04aea7706f71088633803c269d21cb250efb)
-
Oh my he's a big one!!!! Hahaha yes Riverbee my husband was out working a night shift and I heard something flipping around the gang box outside... Sure enough it was the bear trying to make yet another garbage mess so I grabbed the BB gun just to scare him off, I hung out of my bedroom window and 3 shots was enough to get him to leave :D :D I can't even imagine what they would do to a hive :'(
-
Your bear would need a few extra pumps in the old BB gun lol!
-
"Your bear would need a few extra pumps in the old BB gun lol!"
........ :D too funny, i am still giggliing about the bb gun story.....! and yes, i can tell you personally that bears are very destructive on beehives, not to mention the thousands of angry bees that think you look like a bear after you discover what the bear did....
this is one of those circumstance where wearing shorts and no veil is not the prescribed method to salvage what you can.... :D
oh and forgetting the smoker...... :D
-
..... I've found that the best teacher as with most things is just doing it.
I won't say you're completely wrong, but with bees, there is a risk factor, you might just end up doing it wrong. The best teacher is an experienced beek with enthusiasm. Next best is the written word.
-
Welcome to the forum!
-
welcome lindsay. new to this also and having fun doing it. lots of info here.
-
I agree Ef. To have a mentor guiding you as you "dive right in" and to read, read, read is absolutely necessary.
-
""..... I've found that the best teacher as with most things is just doing it""
Also, many times the best teacher charges the most for their instructions. Sometimes it is a thriftier way to go by choosing the next best.
-
I have a pretty good mentor but most of the time when I am examining frames or working in the out yards, I am there alone. I have learned so much just by getting out there and doing the best I can based on guidance from sites like this, books or a call to my mentor. Just takes a lot of experience as you (Idee and Ef) have to learn what is best. And in this rather solitary wonderful endeavor, it takes a while to connect all the dots. I've found that there is so much guidance, so much information, so many different ways to do things that it takes a while to sort through that maze of information to get it right. I'm glad I made the decision to get out there and just do it last year even though I've made more than a few mistakes; thankfully none fatal to very many bees.
-
Hey Gary. A great piece of beekeeping advice I read on one of the forums was this: When in doubt........do nothing!
There have been a few times where I did just that. I reached a point where I really couldn't seem to make up my mind as to what to do, and decided the bees probably did. :D
-
Gary, I don't think I could disagree with you. No matter who mentors you and how much you may have read, as you stand there behind the open hive with the bees doing their thing (whatever it may be at the time of day, season of year, etc.) YOU are the one who has to make the final decision and, as you make more and more over the years (both good and bad decisions) you'll learn the art and become a "real" beekeeper.
It's all a matter of getting the right blend of advice, demonstrations, reading and doing. As long as you keep with it, you'll keep learning and improving
-
Thanks Ef. At 71 I pray that I will have enough time to learn sufficiently to help lots of troubled soldiers with PTSD learn how to keep bees. I've read everything I can get my hands on, watched so many videos that I am beginning to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, bothered too many other beekeepers with questions, and spent as much time inside the hives as I can without meddling too much. In the process I've discovered that I am absolutely smitten by bees and have a greater appreciation for this creation we are blessed to live as a part of.
-
Thank you guys! I went to my first bee club on Monday and it was amazing! A lot of great feedback and so many ways people do things! It's really giving me the opportunity to find my own personal path. I also became so fascinated by reading the backyard bee keeper I could hardly bring myself to put it down. I've got some great support here ( thank goodness!!!) and I'm looking forward to this springs journey. I've also found that some people are willing to help from the heart and some are looking for profit ( I understand). I will take my knowledge one day and "pay it forward" the way it has come to me. C:-)
-
Thanks Ef. At 71 I pray that I will have enough time to learn sufficiently to help lots of troubled soldiers with PTSD learn how to keep bees. I've read everything I can get my hands on, watched so many videos that I am beginning to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, bothered too many other beekeepers with questions, and spent as much time inside the hives as I can without meddling too much. In the process I've discovered that I am absolutely smitten by bees and have a greater appreciation for this creation we are blessed to live as a part of.
:agree:
-
Thanks Ef. At 71 I pray that I will have enough time to learn sufficiently to help lots of troubled soldiers with PTSD learn how to keep bees....... I've discovered that I am absolutely smitten by bees and have a greater appreciation for this creation we are blessed to live as a part of.
Gary, at 71 you're just warming up. As a man with such altruistic ideals, you're bound to merit God's blessings for a long and healthy life.
In Hebrew the expression says "Ahd meiy'ah v'esrim" which means [May you live] till one hundred and twenty".
Lindsay, you got involved in a forum that's for profit---here we enjoy the profit of mutually sharing knowledge about a worthwhile activity.
BTW, By posting that avatar with your little ones, I feel as if you paid me a few hundred. They are beautiful and inspiring.
-
A wealth of knowledge it is! Great people!!! And that is very sweet, I have two children the little boy in the middle is my nephew. I have a girl named Brooke and a boy named Tanner ;D.
-
Setting aside all the altruism and selfless ideals, have you older members noticed that pretty ladies get more replies than do others. Hmmmm, setting aside the beekeeping, back to nature thing, we are still men. Hey, that's OK with me. O:-)
-
Welcome to the forum
-
welcome I have been keeping bees for 5 years now and find, the more I know there's more I have to learn. But ain't that true for life in general. Dive in have fun do not give up we all have been there. ;D
-
Setting aside all the altruism and selfless ideals, have you older members noticed that pretty ladies get more replies than do others. Hmmmm, setting aside the beekeeping, back to nature thing, we are still men. Hey, that's OK with me. O:-)
LOL!!! Shooter, it is a matter of politeness! See, we dont care if we ignore Perry, or G, but when a Lady enters the room, you stand, and if you havent removed your hat, you do so. You pull her chair back, and when she is ready, you slide it in for her. THEN you can resume your seat and reply to her questions. It is a matter of manners, has nothing to do with gender of the fact they are pretty..... or wearing a tank top thats too tight, no.. REALLY!!! :-[
-
Setting aside all the altruism and selfless ideals, have you older members noticed that pretty ladies get more replies than do others. Hmmmm, setting aside the beekeeping, back to nature thing, we are still men. Hey, that's OK with me. O:-)
LOL!!! Shooter, it is a matter of politeness! See, we dont care if we ignore Perry, or G, but when a Lady enters the room, you stand, and if you havent removed your hat, you do so. You pull her chair back, and when she is ready, you slide it in for her. THEN you can resume your seat and reply to her questions. It is a matter of manners, has nothing to do with gender of the fact they are pretty..... or wearing a tank top thats too tight, no.. REALLY!!! :-[
:laugh: hahaha too funny! :-[ LazyBkpr I like that! I've never experienced that in the real world but I sure did have a nice, warm welcome here! Sorry I was away for so long , I gave a small update though in a post I published yesterday 8)