Hi everyone! I would just like to thank everyone that posts here for the wealth of info I've already gained. I can't recall anything else that has captured my interest, and enthusiasm like beekeeping has. I am an "outdoor" person; into everything from birdwatching, sportfishing, to hiking with my whippets, and kayaking, and nothing has piqued my curiosity like this. Since early October, I have spent at least 2 hrs, and sometimes much more, every night or day, reading anything and everything on this awesome site. That says a lot cause I am most def not a computer person. After just about 20 yrs in the commercial, and sportfishing industries, I made a career change, to have a "normal" life with medical benefits, paid holidays, and all the stuff that looked so good from the other side. I was lucky enough to get a great job,(working for some of the finest people I ever met) as a property manager of a small, but growing farm, and assist in growing a firewood business, amongst a multitude of other endeavours ( no exaggeration in multitude-lol). One of those being beekeeping, so the boss' wife got me into the beeking 101 course at Rutgers Agricultural Extension. Not a classroom guy either, but what a well run, and informative course(!!), taught by excellent teachers (state apiarists Tim Schuler and Bob Hughes). And while I gained a wealth of info; this site has been so helpful in assisting me in retaining the basics, and building on a mountain of info. The company sent me out to Brushy Mtn Supply in PA, and paid for a pickup bed full of hives, supplies, etc , on a rainy December day. 3 nucs coming from local beek in late March/early April, and I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas!! Oh yea, I am in northwest NJ (Long Valley), a beautiful, forested area with some light agriculture spread amongst rolling hills- NOT the densely populated, and industrialized turnpike corridor in the northeastern part of the state- that most folks associate with NJ (and the Sopranos). Not much else to post, cuz all the other newbees ask the questions I've contemplated-right down to chicken/bee interaction. But I'm sure there will be some fiascoes that will require me reaching out here. Sorry for long, rambling introduction-Eric