Greetings from Snowy Wisconsin

[greif]

Someone else mentioned the Appleton area. This past weekend, Dadant held its annual seminar/workshop down in Kenosha. One of the teachers, a very knowledgeable hobby beekeeper and good fella, was from the Fox Valley. His name is Dean Zaretzke, and he has taught many beginning classes at Fox Valley Tech College. Might be good to know for a newbee.

David

if you run across classes at fvtc please let us know

thanks
gary

[Tappert]

My dad just got the M and manure spreader stuck in the snow bank along a ditch and couldn't back out. He sat there a second, then down through the ditch, up the far side, U turn in the field and back down, through to the road. Reminded me of the joke about being buried with it just in case you went to hell...

dcross...you've got some real pretty farmland up there around Kiel. Lots of open, rolling ground for the snow to blow in on and drift. I have a tractor buddy who lives up there near Valders. Lot of red up there. We seem to have a lot of green down here. We also have a German Shorthair that we rescued, Emma, and the gal who runs that rescue organization lives up there too. You go up Hwy 57.

David

[Mtn. Bee]

Welcome fellow Cheesehead!
Yes, I used to be in your ranks back in the Bart Starr days!
Don't forget about the Lombardi days, they were awesome!
Have fun with the family and bees, that is what it is all about!

[Jesse]

My family still farms with their old farmall tractors. I think they are mostly from the 50's. They have an M with a front-end loader, 2 MD's and a H. My uncle sold the "A" I think it was, it had a mower deck on it. He still has a couple others that are mostly for parts. Great fun!

I have also bought bees from Lee in Watertown and experienced first-hand the chaos of picking up bees at the old barn.

Good to have another Wisconsin beekeeper on beesource, can't have too much of a good thing! Welcome to the forum.

[emptyenergy]

Jesse,
Where are you at on the island...my wife's family has had property up there for probably 60 years...spend quite a bit of time up there in the summer.

John

[Jesse]

Sort of all over when I'm there. I am in Madison now finishing up my degree at UW. My family owns KK Fiske and we grow the wheat for Capitol Brewery's Island Wheat Ale. My mom has a home on Rangeline and Michigan rd. The rest of the family is mostly on the west side.

If you have been coming up there that long, I'm sure my grandma knows you - she knows everyone associated to the island I think .

[emptyenergy]

Jesse,
I've only been going up since I met my wife. Their cabin is the one just north of the Jacobsen museum. We get up there a few times a summer. My wife's great grandfather owned a gift shop that is now Northstar reality...across from the Albatros ...Chet Hubbard was his name.

John

[Tappert]

My family still farms with their old farmall tractors. I think they are mostly from the 50's. They have an M with a front-end loader, 2 MD's and a H. My uncle sold the "A" I think it was, it had a mower deck on it. He still has a couple others that are mostly for parts. Great fun!

I have also bought bees from Lee in Watertown and experienced first-hand the chaos of picking up bees at the old barn.

Good to have another Wisconsin beekeeper on beesource, can't have too much of a good thing! Welcome to the forum.

Jesse...took the ferry to Washington Island about a million years ago. Neat place. We used to have a doctor down here in Lake Geneva, named Britt Kolar, who I think grew up on the island. He retired a few years ago. Does your grandma remember that family?

David

[Barry]

Welcome David! Another cheeshead we can handle, don't know about another Packer fan though!

Are you near the lake? I'll be putting a few hives on a property just off the lake shore on the south side this spring. Lots of good forage around there. Perhaps we can meet when I'm up there.

[Jesse]

Jesse,
I've only been going up since I met my wife. Their cabin is the one just north of the Jacobsen museum. We get up there a few times a summer. My wife's great grandfather owned a gift shop that is now Northstar reality...across from the Albatros ...Chet Hubbard was his name.

John

Masker? something like that? The cabin by the Gau's? she knew chet hubbard "he was a very nice man" - jeweler?

I don't know anything about them personally, but Grandma still is sharp as a tack

[Jesse]

Jesse...took the ferry to Washington Island about a million years ago. Neat place. We used to have a doctor down here in Lake Geneva, named Britt Kolar, who I think grew up on the island. He retired a few years ago. Does your grandma remember that family?

David

We are farming some land - I thought the name was kohler - but i could be wrong on the spelling - the farm is on the SE side of the island. They sold 20 acres off of it a couple of years ago. Rae(?) is the matriarch of the family, they aren't on the island very much at all anymore.

[hoodswoods]

It's neat to realize that bees can pretty much live anywhere (I believe that in Wisconsin, they just survive) - greetings from 70 degree Georgia (later this week), just don't inquire of me late July.

[emptyenergy]

Yep, a jeweler...and yep, the cabin next to the Gau's.

[Tappert]

Welcome David! Another cheeshead we can handle, don't know about another Packer fan though!

Are you near the lake? I'll be putting a few hives on a property just off the lake shore on the south side this spring. Lots of good forage around there. Perhaps we can meet when I'm up there.

Barry...small world. I live on the south shore, about 1/4 mile away from the lake. I'm just off of Linn Road, which ends at the part of the lake called "The Narrows." It's about the center, east to west.

It would be great to get together with you. What's the best way to get in touch?

David

[Barry]

David -

That is close! I'll be just off Wooddale Dr. to the West.
PM me your phone number and I'll call you when I know I'll be heading up that way. Spent most of last year working there. My cell is 630-440-5708.

[emptyenergy]

David...we've been pretty close to that on our yearly hikes around the lake.

John

[Tappert]

David -

That is close! I'll be just off Wooddale Dr. to the West.
PM me your phone number and I'll call you when I know I'll be heading up that way. Spent most of last year working there.

I'll do that. Good old Wooddale. A lot of that area was developed back in the 50s and 60s by an old-time builder/developer named John Syver, a Norwegian, whose own home is on Linn Road. It's a Scandinavian log home, and his son lives there now.

If you see homes there with a flagstone-like siding and every so often there's a design element with small pieces of flagstone set edge-out, that's a Syver home. He also did some of the log cabins over there.

The horse farm that stretches up to Southshore Drive? As a highschool student working on farms in the summer, I used to rake hay for that farmer, Vernon Niles.

Small world.

David

[Tappert]

David...we've been pretty close to that on our yearly hikes around the lake.

John

John...ahh yes, that's a hike, isn't it? As you know, it's a 26-mile trek along the lake shore. If you walk the road, it's 23 miles.

I did both--when I was a bit younger. Once with my dog.

It's a great Geneva Lake tradition. I love the signs you see along the way, and the many styes of houses. I remember one on the north shore that said something like, "Welcome to our property. If a big black dog runs toward you from our home, do not be alarmed. He is friendly. His name is Charley. Just pat him on the head and he will be fine."

David