Wall o' text and other ramblings
Not-So-Quick update:
Hives: We ended up buying new, unassembled Langstroth. With the possibility of relocation in the not-so-far future, I wanted hives that are easily transported. My father is also interested in trying his hand at building some hives. I had some unexpected medical expenses, so we need to be a little more creative. One of our "creative" solutions is going foundationless
. If I can source a drawn comb or two and sandwich foundationless frames, maybe things will get drawn properly (yes, we'll certainly level the hive first!). Just keeping my fingers crossed I don't get too much wonky comb.
Clothing: I bought white scrub bottoms cheap to go with an old Oxford shirt. I've already made several veils using the design posted earlier in the thread for under $5 each. We'll also give kitchen and welding gloves a shot. I have extra elastic to keep glove tops and pant legs securely closed.
Bees: It would've been cheaper to get two packages, or roll the dice with just one, or hope for a swarm. I'm hoping to manage with "soft" treatments, so I didn't really want package Italians, but we'll see how they do. I'm not getting my hopes up. One of the hives will come from a nuc of SKCs . There was a valid reason (in my mind anyway) for going with SKCs, based on my beeyard agreement, which could pose a problem. Splits anyone?
Beeyard: This part isn't going so well. I was hooked up with an awesome suggestion for a place in Haymarket. The person at the property was super enthusiastic when we met in December, but this month it "mysteriously" seems to have fallen through. I have received no response to my email or voicemail from 3 weeks ago letting them know when bees would arrive (per our agreement). This is the second time a yard has fallen through. I won't go into the details of what WAS to be, but this is super disappointing. Not to mention being disabled means you sometimes need something challenging and interesting to look forward to. Too bad I guess. Unfortunately, I personally sold off almost every valuable object I had to make this happen. Our bee and hive purchases were based upon the agreement with this person, so yeah, I'm a bit upset about the whole situation. So now we're in a bind with bees coming and no place to put them. My last option is to put hives in my parents' 1/4 acre backyard 2 hours away, temporarily. I don't think that's a great choice, especially at current gas prices....grrrrrr! Better not to think about that right now. /rant
On a more positive note, we started our out-of-town bee class recently. Yes, we could read free e-books, watch YouTube, and browse Beesource obsessively in lieu of a class, but for us this is money well spent. Not only do you meet other so-to-be beekeepers, there's no substitute for in-person question and answer or being able to see and touch used equipment for an idea of what's normal and what's not. I already knew a lot of basic information, but benefit from locally (regional in our case) relevant answers and information. Our tuition included two reference books and club membership, a major positive in my mind. Even better, since the hives will likely be stashed at my parents', our classmates and instructors will be local. I'm not sure if this is true of all classes in Virginia, but ours counts towards the Master Beekeeper certification should we choose to pursue it in the future.
So all in all, rolling with the positives and making lemonade out of the rest....
:ws: