Self taught and they survived despite me. Not quite that bad. I was driving past a beekeepers place and he was in the yard so pulled into his driveway and asked what was involved in getting bees? He showed me a hive setup, bottom board, super, frames, entrance block, inner cover, and cover. Feeder pail with holes, smoker, hive tool and bee veil, and how to wire and imbed the foundation in the frames. This was Tuesday after work and he said the next load of packages would be there this coming Saturday and that I could by one if I wanted, $20.00. I said I would take it so he gave me a bottom bar, top bar, end bar, and sold me some frame wire and 20 sheets of foundation. He sent me on my way with a questioning look of are you sure you are going to have the hive and frames built, wired and the foundation installed by Saturday. I answered not a problem.
Saturday arrived and I went and picked up my package and he had an other beekeeper who didn't pick his up so he talked me into getting two. You Know the sales pitch about having 2 for comparison and to provide support if something happens to one queen. He asked if I had managed to build the supers and get the 20 framed assembled. I told him I had and he offered to lend me a bottom board and covers but I assured him I had the wood and I could whip up another set in less time that it would take to return his once I had built mine.
He went over a quick instruction an how to bang down the bees and shake them into the hive and then directly release the queen by pulling the cork and letting her walk down between the frames. (Due to the time it took to truck the bees from California, the queens had spent enough time with the bees to be excepted.)
So at this time I had no smoker, no veil, no gloves, no hive tool, no books, no knowledge, and what many would argue, NO BRAINS! At 5 pm. I took my 2 hives, and 2 packages and thumped and shook the bees into their new home placed the inner covers, feed pail, super and cover, with the entrance block in front. Man Beekeeping is Easy.
Over the following week I welded myself a smoker, hammered out a hive tool, and sewed a veil. Now I was ready, I was a beekeeper. In a months time I went back and bought 60 more sheets of foundation and more frame wire and assembled another 3 supers for each hive with frames to install on the expanding bee colonies. They expanded and the hives grew with the adding of supers, with comb being drawn, cells being laid with brood, and filled with honey. By the middle of July it was obvious that I was going to have honey to extract so I welded up a 2 frame reversible hand cranked extractor, using a galvanized 45 gallon drum for the tub. Constructed a honey gate and welded it in at the bottom, painted it with food grade paint, and used a bread knife in hot water to uncap.
Early the following spring I bought my first book, First Lesson In Beekeeping by C.P. Dadant. The 1980 edition, it was originally published in 1917. Reading through the book explained a lot of what I had observed during the first year of keeping the bees. Or better put, the bees keeping me. It would be another 2 years before I would work with a guy that had just taken a bee course and between him and his brother had just started 3 hives. He informed me of the bee club in the community and the meetings. Who knew there was support for new beekeepers so close. Thru the local bee club meetings I learned the conditions in the area, management techniques, timing, and how they affect the bees in our area. This was some of the most important information I could have received as a beekeeper.
This all happened 6 months after I got married. It was the spring of 1981.
Sorry it is so long. I had better post this before it is time to start a new chapter.
