New Beekeeper in Central Texas

[blain1976]

Howdy,

I'm new to beekeeping (about 3 months now).

I started with a 5 frame Nuc and now have 2, 5 Frame Nucs that are doing great.

My interest is to grow my hive count and hopefully start producing Queens and Nucs as well as Honey.

I seem to tend to get held back by the laws because I can't find answers and err on the side of caution.

For instance right now I have an email to the Texas Department of Agriculture that hasn't been answered in regards to selling Eggs and the proper labels required....

So in regards to bees, I'm not exactly sure what I can and can't do as far as producing Queens and selling Nucs, so if there are any Texas area beekeepers that have experience in this area and don't mind helping someone out, please send me a message.

I have been watching bee videos non stop since I got into beekeeping. Well, actually a couple of months before. I've watched almost every bee video on You Tube and have read countless web sites just soaking in all the information I can about these fascinating creatures.

I've been stung once in the forehead and still have a fear of the bees stinging me, however I refuse to wear gloves or a suit unless they just really seem to be in a bad mood.

I currently have my bees on 5 acres with a pretty good amount of trees and there is a lot of space around with few houses and a lot of land, so I think I can handle quite a few hives.

Some of my other hobbies are woodworking (this should help me keep up with building new hives), related to woodworking I also build acoustic guitars and built a CNC router to help build guitars, but once I got it built I have been doing all kinds of side projects with it and really haven't used it much at all for guitars (yet). I also enjoy photography and if I can get a picture posted I will post one that I took today while in my hives.

As I mentioned earlier, we also have chickens but I try to let that be my wife's hobby more than mine.

For work I am a CAD Designer and have been doing this for 20+ years.

Look forward to chatting with you all.

Best Regards,
Blain
bee.jpg

[rwlaw]

Welcome Blain, it will be wise to go back to your profile and add your location. Texas is a mighty big state with differing landscapes. Copy your question about the laws and post in the main forum or 101, you’ll have better luck getting an answer there.
Good luck with the bees!

[JWPalmer]

Howdy back Blain. Do let us know a little more specifically which part of Texas you are in as the climate changes considerably across the state.

I approved your photo but wanted say that the watermark is a bit distracting. Perhaps future pictures won't be so encumbered?

Many states require an apiary to be inspected by a state beekeeper and issued a health certificate in order to sell bees. Almost a requirement if they will be crossing state lines. We have a link to the state by state bee laws here on Beesource. This is the link to the Texas statutes.

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format...m%2FAG.131.htm

You will want to buy a beesuit and veil. You live in AHB territory and there is a really good chance those docile bees you have now in nucs will become a little warmer as your apiary grows. I worked my first hive for about three months sans protective clothing. Then, not knowing about summer dearth and attitude changes, I took six stings in rapid succession. Did not touch the hive again until I was suited up. Even with a suit I still get stung, and sometimes quite a few times in a single day. But I am not nearly as nervous working them as I once was.

[GaryG74]

Welcome to Bee Source and best of luck with your bees.