Hi all, after reading this board for two weeks I figured I'd register and get to asking some questions. I've been interested in beekeeping for about 2 years now ever since my (as of a few weeks ago) fiance's grandfather introduced me to his hives. Ever since I've been reading all I can and I've been trying to get as much knowledge as possible. This last weekend I discovered that you can have all the knowledge in the world but only experience can truly teach you. My fiance's grandfather has gotten too old to manage his hives and has decided to retire from beekeeping as is giving me all of his equipment. including:
5 full hives (two had bees until this past weekend)
1 10 or 20 frame hand cranked extractor
lots of woodenware for frames and supers
a complete bee suit
and everything else bee related he has
Well, he felt that one of the two active hives that he had was africanized and the other was getting very weak from robbing so we decided to euthanize them and start over with fresh packages in the spring. My brother in Austin is going to allow me to keep everything at his house in Austin in for a yearly supply of honey.
After taking two weeks to figure out the best way to euthanize the bees we decided to use soapy water and simply brush the bees into a pan of it with a 5 gallon bucket on hand to refill it. It worked GREAT. The only problem was, we only had one suit and we had africanized bees. So guess who got to do his first opening of a hive all by his self which included a complete take down of two hives and the killing of all those wonderful bees...
It was an amazing experience!
Okay, all that back ground just to ask a few questions...
1) I've heard Mr. Bush and a few others talking alot about natural cell and small cell. I'm very interested in moving in that direction. Is there any advise that you can give about starting packaged bees on it?
2) Is there anyone who can give me information on some good places to get package bees for a good price in Texas?
3) Is there anyone who can tell me about the desease and mite conditions in the Austin area?
4) Is there anyone in the Dallas or Austin areas who would be willing to let a 22 year old come and learn under you?
5) I'm sure there is somthing I'm not thinking about, so I'll continue the questions when I come up with them...
Thank you for all the help and I look forward to conversing with you all soon.
Doug
[ December 09, 2005, 12:01 AM: Message edited by: daknoodle ]
5 full hives (two had bees until this past weekend)
1 10 or 20 frame hand cranked extractor
lots of woodenware for frames and supers
a complete bee suit
and everything else bee related he has
Well, he felt that one of the two active hives that he had was africanized and the other was getting very weak from robbing so we decided to euthanize them and start over with fresh packages in the spring. My brother in Austin is going to allow me to keep everything at his house in Austin in for a yearly supply of honey.
After taking two weeks to figure out the best way to euthanize the bees we decided to use soapy water and simply brush the bees into a pan of it with a 5 gallon bucket on hand to refill it. It worked GREAT. The only problem was, we only had one suit and we had africanized bees. So guess who got to do his first opening of a hive all by his self which included a complete take down of two hives and the killing of all those wonderful bees...
Okay, all that back ground just to ask a few questions...
1) I've heard Mr. Bush and a few others talking alot about natural cell and small cell. I'm very interested in moving in that direction. Is there any advise that you can give about starting packaged bees on it?
2) Is there anyone who can give me information on some good places to get package bees for a good price in Texas?
3) Is there anyone who can tell me about the desease and mite conditions in the Austin area?
4) Is there anyone in the Dallas or Austin areas who would be willing to let a 22 year old come and learn under you?
5) I'm sure there is somthing I'm not thinking about, so I'll continue the questions when I come up with them...
Thank you for all the help and I look forward to conversing with you all soon.
Doug
[ December 09, 2005, 12:01 AM: Message edited by: daknoodle ]