I'm a beekeeper

[Shapleigh's Bees]

Well, sort of. I mean I have years to go before I gain the experience that I need to truly wear that title. But I have gone from a hive builder to a houser of bees.

Installed three packages today in my top bar hives. The gloves are worthless, never bought any. But I can't even drive in gloves, so I can't imagine doing something new wearing them.

My hive tool is a 99 cent paint scraper. Thought it was too flimsy to yank the staples on my package until I used the pointy edge.

So far, what the bees have taught me:

They are unlikely to sting;
I need to find a way to cover my plumber's butt;
They will teach the dogs to stay away;
Patience.

Good luck with your bees guys, and keep us posted of your progress.

[TheCheatOSX]

I'm so close to the hive builder to bee keeper transition, I can taste it. I can pick my bees up Tuesday at the earliest.

So this weekend I put the legs on the hives and leveled them. I made some nice long stakes out of rebar and secured the legs to the ground. The hives survived a nice thunderstorm and are ready to go. Hers's a Pic. (http://chris.norrick.com/bees/Norrick_Apiary/Bee_Blog/Entries/2008/4/12_Setting_up_the_hives_files/IMG_0790.jpg)

These were supposed to be located at the University where I work, but those plans fell through so I decided to keep them at my house. Small backyard, but lots of sun! We'll see how the neighbors react. I did have one come up that I've never even met from a few houses down that thought they were very cool. He has a friend that keeps bees. So I guess I have one won over. The only thing I'm worried about is the guy that weedeats the alley. I've the got the hives about 25 feet back from it but I just don't know if that is far enough. How close can you get with a weedeater before they attack?

[Hoss]

Congratulations! I will be following your progress closely as I'm a couple weeks behind you in my venture...most importantly though, make sure to let us know your solution for the "plumber's butt" :eek:

[Shapleigh's Bees]

Um, I'm supposed to lose some weight (Doctor's, Wife's, Mother's orders), but until then, maybe just learn to deal with wandering bees. It tickles a little. Or Ass Spackle. Wonder if that'll get edited.

CheatOSX, you've gotten me through some of this (blog is awesome, designs very nice.). Hoss, you are the "right" kind for this.

[EngineeringBeek]

I'm so close to the hive builder to bee keeper transition, I can taste it. I can pick my bees up Tuesday at the earliest.

So this weekend I put the legs on the hives and leveled them. I made some nice long stakes out of rebar and secured the legs to the ground. The hives survived a nice thunderstorm and are ready to go. Hers's a Pic. (http://chris.norrick.com/bees/Norrick_Apiary/Bee_Blog/Entries/2008/4/12_Setting_up_the_hives_files/IMG_0790.jpg)

These were supposed to be located at the University where I work, but those plans fell through so I decided to keep them at my house. Small backyard, but lots of sun! We'll see how the neighbors react. I did have one come up that I've never even met from a few houses down that thought they were very cool. He has a friend that keeps bees. So I guess I have one won over. The only thing I'm worried about is the guy that weedeats the alley. I've the got the hives about 25 feet back from it but I just don't know if that is far enough. How close can you get with a weedeater before they attack?
You may want to find a better way to level them (if the pic is showing them in their final placing). It seems to me that as the season wears on those stacked plywood blocks may pose a problem with stability. I'd hate to see them get bumped off the blocks and have something disastrous happen.

[TheCheatOSX]

Right now each piece is glued to form one big block and then a hole is drilled through the leg and through the block with a 2' piece of rebar (with a 90 deg bend at one end to from a tent stake like shape) hammered through the whole mess. I just worried how the plywood will hold up. Probably not very well. :(