Oh you're in trouble now! Beekeeping has more rabbit holes than actual rabbit farming.
Wow! Never heard of that one. I've burned myself too many times with the smoker to ever do it. Usually it has happened because I was wearing shorts and tried to hold the smoker between my knees.Oh you're in trouble now! Beekeeping has more rabbit holes than actual rabbit farming.
I'm sad to say there isn't much info out there for beekeeping in drier climates. Probably because it's not very profitable/rewarding I guess. Most of the Texas stuff I find is well east of the dry line. I was extremely lucky to get a new trainee at work who was a commercial beek at 15 years old! He sold everything off to pay for college, but his remaining hives are about 40 miles west of me, so he's been a great resource. I have cousins that have run a commercial apiary in OK for my whole life, so they're good to call too. You'll find some people, it just takes a little time.
You can do it without an on-site mentor, just go slow at the hive and make sure to at least cover everything up if you get nervous and have to walk away. And don't go in there more than once a week. I almost had a new hive abscond because I got anxious and messed around with some queen cells three days in a row - because I had internet information overload. Plan an operation, give it 7 days, if it didn't stick, new plan, 7 more days. Turns out bees are not fond of fussy humans.
You don't need to pay anyone $600 a month, if you're going to do that, work on your Master Beekeeper Certificate from Cornell University. I don't know what he charges, but David Burns (YouTube) has a thing called BeeTeam6, where you can subscribe to pay a fee to call him anytime. (I just looked it up, it's $30 a month. Beekeeping Mentor) Watch his videos, I find most of them useful (some are just long advertisements for his courses, but he's got to pay the bills somehow). I think there's a recent one specifically on doing hive inspections. David is geared toward new beekeepers, Fred Dunn is a bit more scientific, Kamon and Bob Binnie are more commercial, and The Bee Supply is a mix of new beekeeper and general info/good reminders for advanced beekeepers. Their monthly livestream is basically a video version of their monthly magazine, which is free on their website. (They are more expensive, but have top notch service and include nice informational material in each order, like a printed pocket version of all the monthly beekeeping tips on their website.)
Here are some other great resources:
Texas Beekeeping 101
texasbeekeeping101.com
Oh, and for stings - if I can safely walk away with my smoker and get to the bare skin where the sting is, I've found that basically touching it to the smoker a few times, just shy of burning but overcoming the leidenfrost effect, is amazing at stopping the swelling and itching. They sell sting wand things on Amazon that do the same thing, or you can use a bic lighter, but hey, the smoker is there, it's hot, the sting is fresh, and the bees obviously need a little break from me.
I was pretty skeptical too, and my stings are weird so I never really needed to try it. I'll get a sting and not really feel or see it for a day, although sometimes there's a very concerning bullseye ring like a spider bite (same with fire ant bites), then late on day two it will start itching and maybe swell a bit, itch for a week and it's over. (I am far from having enough stings to claim that I'm immune.) That Amazon device popped up in my recommendations after I bought some sting kill, and I checked the reviews, but still wasn't convinced. Then I got a sting on my wrist; on day two it started swelling, by day three my hand looked cartoonish and I couldn't close it (that was new and unusual for me). I tried hitting it with a lighter on day 2 and didn't get any relief (I think by the time it swells it's too late). A few days later, I got a sting on my ring finger and I wear a really thick class ring. I knew if I didn't rip off that glove and get that ring off I could lose my finger, so I touched it on the smoker as many times as I could stand while I was at it. It worked amazingly, no swelling, very little itching and I didn't have a problem wearing my ring for the rest of the week (I kept it off for a few days just in case). With fire ants and bird-sized mosquitoes around here too, it's now my go to for relief. It's a bit awkward when a co-worker catches you doing what appears to be burning yourself with a lighter though, so tell everyone up front so they don't get worried about your mental health.
Oregon State has a certificate program that I was looking into. They have several levels to choose from, so maybe I will go that direction. And I will check out BeeTeam6, sounds likeI'm the target audience.Oh you're in trouble now! Beekeeping has more rabbit holes than actual rabbit farming.
I'm sad to say there isn't much info out there for beekeeping in drier climates. Probably because it's not very profitable/rewarding I guess. Most of the Texas stuff I find is well east of the dry line. I was extremely lucky to get a new trainee at work who was a commercial beek at 15 years old! He sold everything off to pay for college, but his remaining hives are about 40 miles west of me, so he's been a great resource. I have cousins that have run a commercial apiary in OK for my whole life, so they're good to call too. You'll find some people, it just takes a little time.
You can do it without an on-site mentor, just go slow at the hive and make sure to at least cover everything up if you get nervous and have to walk away. And don't go in there more than once a week. I almost had a new hive abscond because I got anxious and messed around with some queen cells three days in a row - because I had internet information overload. Plan an operation, give it 7 days, if it didn't stick, new plan, 7 more days. Turns out bees are not fond of fussy humans.
You don't need to pay anyone $600 a month, if you're going to do that, work on your Master Beekeeper Certificate from Cornell University. I don't know what he charges, but David Burns (YouTube) has a thing called BeeTeam6, where you can subscribe to pay a fee to call him anytime. (I just looked it up, it's $30 a month. Beekeeping Mentor) Watch his videos, I find most of them useful (some are just long advertisements for his courses, but he's got to pay the bills somehow). I think there's a recent one specifically on doing hive inspections. David is geared toward new beekeepers, Fred Dunn is a bit more scientific, Kamon and Bob Binnie are more commercial, and The Bee Supply is a mix of new beekeeper and general info/good reminders for advanced beekeepers. Their monthly livestream is basically a video version of their monthly magazine, which is free on their website. (They are more expensive, but have top notch service and include nice informational material in each order, like a printed pocket version of all the monthly beekeeping tips on their website.)
Here are some other great resources:
Texas Beekeeping 101
Oh, and for stings - if I can safely walk away with my smoker and get to the bare skin where the sting is, I've found that basically touching it to the smoker a few times, just shy of burning but overcoming the leidenfrost effect, is amazing at stopping the swelling and itching. They sell sting wand things on Amazon that do the same thing, or you can use a bic lighter, but hey, the smoker is there, it's hot, the sting is fresh, and the bees obviously need a little break from me.
