Woohoo! Birthday presents ** Updated **

[cookinmom]

My husband is getting my beehive for my birthday!!! I'm getting so excited about this. I'm taking the plunge, too - decided I want to get it unassembled so I can assemble it myself because I need to learn that kind of stuff. We found a supplier in Moultrie, but I have to find out where that is, and we're gonna take a little trip up there and get stuff. Yay!!!

My birthday is not yet though, so I have to wait a little longer.

 

[justusnak]

Wheeeee, Congrats! I would love to have fresh hone, but the whole beehive thing scares the dickens outta me. Besides...DH is very allergic to bees.

 

[cookinmom]

I'm not freaked out by the bees, I just am a little bit nervous that I might screw up and wipe out the whole colony. I've never actually been close to a real beehive, so I hope I don't get nervous and drop anything. When I was a kid though we had lots of citrus trees and they would be humming with bees and I liked to stand real close (like head in the branches, within sniffing distance of the flowers) and watch them doing their thing. I'm kind of klutzy though, so I can just see me spilling half a bucket of sugar syrup or something and causing some kind of problem!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Ooooh! I'm jealous!
... and Happy Birthday!
When I was in high school, I helped a few times at an apiary --- thought it was the coolest and have wanted bees ever since

Lisa

 

[Southern28Chick]

Let me know when you have some beeswax! I use that for lip balm and solid lotion bars. I would keep bees but I have a cat that is allergic. Imagine that. I once spent $300 for him to spend the night in the animal hospital because he got stung on his head and almost died. It was a good thing I was outside when it happened, the vet said he would have died within 30 minutes of the sting.

But he's fine now.

 

[eggzettera]

Southern chick with a cat blind in one eye and a chicken totally blind I think you need to reinforce the rule of no running with scissors......or did something else occur.....did they not listen when you told them they needed to quit doing that or they would go........

 

[joebwe25]

Happy Bee - day
Get it? B-day!

 

[Southern28Chick]

Quote:
My chicken was born blind and my cat had an ulcer and I had to pay $600 to have that eye removed. Sucks huh.

 

[cheeptrick]

I'm jealous too...I've been thinking about beekeeping also! I've got 1/2 acre of wild raspberry vines and they'd do well there! There is a great beekeepers club near here at Stonewall Farm...they have classes and all! I was thinking about taking one!

 

[sgtmom52]

Congratulations on your birthday and your new hive!

We are "Newbees" too. We got our first hive the beginning of June and are having a great time with it. Your main goal the first year is increasing the number of bees then getting them through the winter. This late in the year means you will probably have to feed them so they can build up enough honey suppy to get them through the winter.

Check into joining your local bee club (you can find it through your county extension agent). We started out with a Russian Queen and about 3,000 bees. Three months later we estimate they have increased to about 30,000 bees - our queen has been very busy! We were assigned a mentor and have spent time with him and his 7 hives. Last week we helped him harvest about 45 gallons of honey! It was a great learning experience and we got some honey in exchange for our labor. You might want to invest in a copy of "Beekeeping for Dummies" it is a great book for beginners.

If you have any questions I would be happy to help if I can!

Our first hive. The white box on the top is a sugar water feeder.

A frame full of capped honey and brood. You can actually see our Russian Queen near the center of the photo - she is marked with a white dot on her back...