Author Topic: New in Iowa (Read 11864 times)

tedh · « **on:** May 18, 2014, 09:25:18 am »

Hi Everyone,
My name is Ted and I live in Henry County Iowa (southeastern Iowa). I have one Langstroth hive and installed a package of bees on Friday evening. It was cold (52 F) overcast and sprinkling rain. Come 2:30 am Saturday morning I woke up with the sure and certain knowledge that I'd killed all my bees. I lay in bed second guessing every step I made. I should have waited until warmer weather on Saturday, I shouldn't have sprayed them at all, I was way to aggressive with the "thump and dump". Did I position the queen cage correctly? No, I should have placed her closer to the center of the frame. Will I be able to get another package in time? Oh yeah, they're dead for sure. Darn it! I knew I should have....blah, blah, blah. Come Saturday noon the bees were busy buzzing around the hive going in and coming out as bees, I assume, do. Opened the hive about 5:00 Saturday evening and there they were! The queen is almost free, and it looks as though they are drawing comb! What a strange and exhilarating feeling! I mean, it's not as if I've done anything, but boy, I sure was excited! Anyway, just wanted to say hello. Ted

G3farms · « **Reply #1 on:** May 18, 2014, 09:33:15 am »

Welcome to the forum tedh! Good place to learn and ask questions.

Glad to hear your bees are still alive and kicking.

Are you feeding them?

tedh · « **Reply #2 on:** May 18, 2014, 09:49:56 am »

G3farms: Yes, I am feeding them. That was another issue on the endless litany of things that kept me from sleeping. Did I position the feeder correctly? What if it's leaking (I have one of the feeders that uses four quart jars and sits on top of the frames)? Dear Lord! It's not dripping down on the queen is it? Blah, blah, blah. Thanks for the welcome. Ted

Beeboy · « **Reply #3 on:** May 18, 2014, 09:52:29 am »

Welcome Ted! Yes, I remember having bad dreams about my bees when I first got them.

They are a controlling little insect!

blueblood · « **Reply #4 on:** May 18, 2014, 09:58:43 am »

Welcome to the habit we call "bee keeping!" Sounds like you did a fine job and look forward to reading about your progress.

tmrschessie · « **Reply #5 on:** May 18, 2014, 10:07:16 am »

Welcome to a great wealth of knowledge....gotta love the internet and the Wide World of Bee Keeping. Tom

kebee · « **Reply #6 on:** May 18, 2014, 10:16:48 am »

Welcome tedh, to the forum, you will find that the bees are very forgiven in our adventure with us, hope they make you a lot of honey.

Ken

tbonekel · « **Reply #7 on:** May 18, 2014, 10:29:28 am »

Welcome, and it probably won't be the last time you loose sleep. But they are very forgiving creatures.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #8 on:** May 18, 2014, 11:34:05 am »

Hey Ted!!
I'm not far away in Keokuk County. Feel free to drop me a line or stop in any time.
You will find that the folks here understand exactly that excitement your talking about, so you dont have to feel weird saying it.

Did you get your Packages from Tim? If you did I likely met you or talked to you Friday. Good weather is incoming so stand by!

Slowmodem · « **Reply #9 on:** May 18, 2014, 03:07:07 pm »

Welcome and enjoy your stay!

It sounds like you're well on your way to beeing a beeing!

Good luck!

BoilerJim · « **Reply #10 on:** May 18, 2014, 04:56:35 pm »

Welcome, Ted.

iddee · « **Reply #11 on:** May 18, 2014, 05:03:37 pm »

Welcome, Ted. Do you know Josh? He joined just before you, also from Henry county. Thought you may be friends or family.

Perry · « **Reply #12 on:** May 18, 2014, 05:38:36 pm »

Welcome Ted. Lose sleep? It only gets worse with each passing year.

tedh · « **Reply #13 on:** May 18, 2014, 05:43:50 pm »

iddee: Yes I do know him! He's my, gulp, son. Josh is the one who finally convinced me to try my hand at beekeeping. We each have a hive and live within a few miles of each other so we're using the buddy system as it's kind of unnerving to stick your hands in a box with thousands of bees, especially when alone. Oddly enough I'm finding that the freakout level has gone down dramatically just since Friday.

LazyBkpr: We did get our bees from Tim and you and I spoke briefly. I had a few questions and you seemed happy to answer them so when you mentioned this forum I thought I'd give it a try. Thank you for that!

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the warm welcome and words of support. Ted

iddee · « **Reply #14 on:** May 18, 2014, 05:50:30 pm »

Thought it may be something like that. Tell Josh to come on in, there's a hot toddy waiting on him by the hearth.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #15 on:** May 18, 2014, 06:03:14 pm »

Good deal! Glad you made it. Being able to ask questions and not get laughed at is a huge bonus that will often allow you to sleep at night with a clear conscience. These folks won't steer you wrong. JUST don't let Iddee bait you into an argument. He can argue circles around anything

Bsweet · « **Reply #16 on:** May 18, 2014, 08:31:31 pm »

Welcome Ted, you'll get use to losing sleep over bugs in a box, wait until feb. or march. Jim

Riverrat · « **Reply #17 on:** May 18, 2014, 09:02:12 pm »

welcome aboard Ted.

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #18 on:** May 19, 2014, 08:26:23 am »

Quote from: tedh on May 18, 2014, 09:25:18 am

I lay in bed second guessing every step I made.

Been there, done that...still.
Welcome!

CpnObvious · « **Reply #19 on:** May 19, 2014, 08:34:38 am »

Welcome to the forum! I'll be going through what you just went through this coming weekend... Sounds like my pre-hypertension about doing the install right is normal... Strange... I'm not used to "normal".