Hi from Wanna-Bee Beekeeper from Ontario

[Rob]

Hey guys and gals. I have been searching for a great place to hang out and learn stuff and I think I found it! I am a complete newbie at this but have already learnt so much just from hanging out and reading alot of posts. I am hoping to get started this coming spring but that will depend on how fast I can get my land setup where I want to locate my hives.

In the meantime I am busy reading, planning, looking at equipment, ordering catalogs and asking a lot of questions.  I will probably build most of my equipment if my wife gives me a break from building barns and adding more pastures for our horses:)

Again I have to say that I am glad to be here with such a wealth of knowledge and I am looking forward to many interactions.

Cheers!

[iddee]

That's a strange looking hanoverian in your avatar.   

Welcome. You found the friendliest forum on the net. A lot of fellow Canadians here who can help with the climate. All can help with general beekeeping. Just sort through all the different ways and choose the way you think will work best for you.
Hope you like it here. We try to please.

[Perry]

Excellent, another Canadian! 
Iddee is right, this is the friendliest place to hang out. There are a bunch of us from Tundraland on here so you will fit in nicely.
I envy you, you are a heck of a lot closer to bee supply companies than those of us out here in the maritimes. If I ever have to do a big run though I will be sure to look you up. Wait a minute, I better check on the map where in Ontario Brinston is first. 

[Perry]

OK, I just checked, Brinston isn't that bad, I was worried it might be up near Thunder Bay or Timmons or something like that. 

[riverbee]

WELCOME ROB ! ! !

this is a great place to hang out and learn stuff!  we also like to have some fun once in awhile, so join in, and don't be afraid or shy to ask questions!

btw..........great avatar/picture!

[Rob]

That's a strange looking hanoverian in your avatar.   

Welcome. You found the friendliest forum on the net. A lot of fellow Canadians here who can help with the climate. All can help with general beekeeping. Just sort through all the different ways and choose the way you think will work best for you.
Hope you like it here. We try to please.

Thanks Iddee, I have no doubt that this is the friendliest forum on the net. I have been lurking as a guest for the past month and I see a bunch of great people that like helping each other out. I like it! By the way it was hard to get one of our Hanoverians to stand still for a mug shot so one of my better half's other passions, breeding purebred white german shepherds stood at attention.

Excellent, another Canadian! 
Iddee is right, this is the friendliest place to hang out. There are a bunch of us from Tundraland on here so you will fit in nicely.
I envy you, you are a heck of a lot closer to bee supply companies than those of us out here in the maritimes. If I ever have to do a big run though I will be sure to look you up. Wait a minute, I better check on the map where in Ontario Brinston is first. 

Hey Perry, thanks for the great welcome. I am still a maritimer at heart originally from Northern New Brunswick just outside of Bathurst and if I could head east to PEI or Nova Scotia I would die a happy camper. It's always about where the work is. I think I read in one of your posts that you originally worked in City Transit in B.C. I drove City Transit buses in Ottawa for 17 years and the past 12 have been as a Transit Supervisor, 4 more years to go,  . I may be a little closer to bee supply companies but being only 15 minutes from the US border I have to admit that I am very guilty of doing most of my shopping in the US. Running a farm we are always at need of something and I have to be honest, the prices here are at the point where it's becoming unaffordable so most of our purchases are made over the border whether it's a 200. dollar item or a new truck. Pretty sad when you think of it.

Sorry Perry, that enough ranting for now. By all means it your ever heading out this way I hope you will look me up. Cheers

WELCOME ROB ! ! !

this is a great place to hang out and learn stuff!  we also like to have some fun once in awhile, so join in, and don't be afraid or shy to ask questions!

btw..........great avatar/picture!

Thanks Riverbee for the warm welcome. I read your ongoing trials and tribulations with the allergy issue and hope that eventually it will resolve itself. I am getting my long list of questions ready and hoping that I will not wear out my welcome.

That good looking guy to the right in the avatar is our retired stud dog Storm, he's seven and still a pup at heart and one of three white sheps running around on the farm. The guy on the left is just the hired help.........at least that what she tells me. 

[Perry]

12 years as a transit supervisor? My hats off to you. When I worked for BC Transit, a "promotion" to Transit Supervisor often was considered one step out the door!
17 years as an operator wouldn't have been easy either, 11 years almost killed me. Still have all my awards and plaques though, no preventables in all that time.
I quickly discovered though that I preferred working with stinging insects to the general public. Actually, that's not true, 95% of them were great, but it was the other 5% that always seemed to get on my bus. 

[riverbee]

"Thanks Riverbee for the warm welcome. I read your ongoing trials and tribulations with the allergy issue and hope that eventually it will resolve itself. I am getting my long list of questions ready and hoping that I will not wear out my welcome.

That good looking guy to the right in the avatar is our retired stud dog Storm, he's seven and still a pup at heart and one of three white sheps running around on the farm. The guy on the left is just the hired help.........at least that what she tells me.  "

rob, you are welcome! thanks for the kind words, i appreciate it!  you will never 'wear out' your welcome here, like iddee said, we aim to please, and really we enjoy helping out another beek. hired help you say? good looking hired help..........oh and the dog too............. (beautiful dog).

[kebee]

 Welcome Rob to the forum, glad to have you with us.

Ken

[Rob]

Hey Perry, 11 years with no preventables....that's nothing to sneeze at. I tend to agree with you regarding the public, 95% are great but it's always that other 5% that drove me crazy. I was very much like you, 17 years with no preventables but I found after all those years driving a sixty foot bus downtown Ottawa was starting to wear on my nerves so decided to head a little further up the ladder. Funny thing was, I found it easier to deal with the public than now dealing with 1800 plus operators that I use to work with.

Back in my days as a driver we hired drivers for their skills as a driver but unfortunately today they hire operators for their customer service skills and to heck if they can drive or not...... :'(

Not good on a snowy day with a sixty foot bus or worse, a double decker loaded with people.

Oh oh.....starting to rant again.

[LazyBkpr]

heh, well you said you had horses, I thought you had one of them beside you in the picture!!
   Sounds like your already on the right track, learning what you can before you GET the bees. Well done!

[Rob]

"Thanks Riverbee for the warm welcome. I read your ongoing trials and tribulations with the allergy issue and hope that eventually it will resolve itself. I am getting my long list of questions ready and hoping that I will not wear out my welcome.

That good looking guy to the right in the avatar is our retired stud dog Storm, he's seven and still a pup at heart and one of three white sheps running around on the farm. The guy on the left is just the hired help.........at least that what she tells me.  "

rob, you are welcome! thanks for the kind words, i appreciate it!  you will never 'wear out' your welcome here, like iddee said, we aim to please, and really we enjoy helping out another beek. hired help you say? good looking hired help..........oh and the dog too............. (beautiful dog).

Awww...... Thanks

[Rob]

Welcome Rob to the forum, glad to have you with us.

Ken

Thanks Kebee, glad to be here and looking forward to some great education and let's not forget fun.

[Rob]

heh, well you said you had horses, I thought you had one of them beside you in the picture!!
   Sounds like your already on the right track, learning what you can before you GET the bees. Well done!

Thanks LazyBkpr, any bigger and I might be able to pass him off as one of our horses.....heh heh.

I like to know what I am getting into so I tend to do a lot of research before I dive in head first. For example I was told that horses and bees don't mix. Since my better half breeds and rides high end horses I want to make sure that there will be no conflict.

I have to say I enjoy your website and the videos are going to help a great deal when it comes to building time. Cheers

[pistolpete]

welcome to the forum Rob.   If you haven't already, you should order a couple of Nucs now.  Not sure about ontario, but in B.C., most suppliers are sold out by February.  Then Nucs wont' actually be ready till mid to end May.

[iddee]

The biggest problem with bees and livestock is the livestock scratching on the hive corners and tipping them over. Then the bees get upset. If the stock can't get to the hives, there shouldn't be a problem.

Nucs in the US are normally booked up by Feb. also. You order in Jan. and receive when they are ready, depending on the weather where they are coming from, along with where they are going.

[LazyBkpr]

As Iddee said, dont put your hives in the pasture and you will be fine.  Our horses have fence about 6 feet from 20 hives. I have NEVER seen a bee bother the horses, but I do keep bees that are gentle. I mow right past the hives as well with no problems.

[Slowmodem]

Welcome and enjoy your stay! 

It looks like you're not too far from Massena, NY.  Back when I drove a truck, I hauled some aluminum up to Massena to Alcoa there.  That's a long way from here!

[Rob]

welcome to the forum Rob.   If you haven't already, you should order a couple of Nucs now.  Not sure about ontario, but in B.C., most suppliers are sold out by February.  Then Nucs wont' actually be ready till mid to end May.

Thanks for the welcome PistolPete, looking at my options in this area for nucs and deciding which way to go. Quite a difference in price between different beekeepers and which breed of bee to go with. Cheers

The biggest problem with bees and livestock is the livestock scratching on the hive corners and tipping them over. Then the bees get upset. If the stock can't get to the hives, there shouldn't be a problem.

Nucs in the US are normally booked up by Feb. also. You order in Jan. and receive when they are ready, depending on the weather where they are coming from, along with where they are going.

Thanks Iddee, that was my first though and there would be a distance of at least 150 to 200 feet between the closest pasture and the hives. The situation would not arise where my horses would have access to the hives. Cheers

As Iddee said, dont put your hives in the pasture and you will be fine.  Our horses have fence about 6 feet from 20 hives. I have NEVER seen a bee bother the horses, but I do keep bees that are gentle. I mow right past the hives as well with no problems.

Hey LazyBkpr, that's what I would have though but the response I got was regarding the smell of horse on the beekeeper and the fact that bees did not approve of that..... :eusa_think: guess i'll have to wash before heading out to the bees.......
Glad that you cleared that up for me, the better half will rest a little easier. BTW what breed of bee are you raising. Cheers

Welcome and enjoy your stay! 

It looks like you're not too far from Massena, NY.  Back when I drove a truck, I hauled some aluminum up to Massena to Alcoa there.  That's a long way from here!

Thanks for the welcome Slowmodem. Your right, I'm only 15 minutes from the border at Ogdensburg and only a stones throw away from Massena and yes it is a long way from there to Tennessee. My tractor trailer days as well have taken me all over the US and Canada but these days I like staying put. Cheers

[LazyBkpr]

Mostly local mutt's.. I Import queens every year.  I got VSH GOld queens from Mike Haney last year, this year I should be in line for Old SOl and hopefully a queen or two from Tates.  I have installed packages, and nucs, and replaced many of the queens voluntarily or through supersedure.  Tha vast majority of my hives are from previous swarm boxes or cut outs, with remnants of my mentors bees somewhere in the mix..   Some pictures of my queens on the queens page, go to the bottom of the page and scroll up a wee bit for the slide show;

http://outyard.weebly.com/queens.html

   you can see the electric wire we use to keep the horses away from the hives here. I am standing in the pasture taking the picture;



   and, my wife on MY horse in the town square on memorial day. HER horse bucked her off so now she thinks we are going to trade;