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DA RAT the Welcome to the forum mat

66K views 110 replies 43 participants last post by  Gypsi 
#1 ·
Please take a minute to introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself and your intrest in bees. Come back often and stay awhile. We are always looking for new as well as old keeps input thanks for stopping in. "Da Rat"
 
#2 ·
daver here. St. louis, MO. metro area
5 hives all made it so far this winter
started with and split it the next year with a new queen.
split those two the following year, new queens added, and bought a package. the package was the one that never developed as fast as the other two splits. They made it so far in a single deep over winter. But here in MO. we know that winter can come roaring back. I did take the the weather break as a good time to add pollen paddies to help out in the long run. I was lucky enough to spot one queen and some fresh brood as well. If all goes as planned I will split all four strong hives and add new queens to the splits, and possibly the grandparent hive.
 
#6 ·
Kirk (a.k.a. Angelwood) here from Central Indiana, USA.
My wife & I are just getting started: have constructed our hive; got our veil, smoker, & hive tool; have inserted the foundations into the first brood boxes; just getting ready to paint 'er all up nicely; and we're waiting for our first nuc to arrive sometime near the end of next month.

I am a biologist and ecologist by education & training and am currently teaching biology & environmental science.
I welcome the exchanges that will happen here and expect to learn a great deal my first time 'round.
 
#7 ·
angelwood welcome to the forum you couldnt have stumbled onto the most family friendly well educated bee folks on the world wide web hope to see ya around and active. And Keep an Eye out on me I will tell it 4 or 5 different ways before I would lie to ya :D
 
#13 ·
I don't suspect the Texas Panhandle is likely to be flooded anytime soon. The excellent thing about the Panhandle is you need not climb tall trees to retrieve swarms and the constant gail force wind don't allow a swarm to fly very far.

however.. watering bees in the Texas Panhandle is not my favorite bee keeping experience.
 
#14 ·
Thought I would bump this back to the top! ;)
I see that there have been quite a few new members signing on over the last few weeks. :D
Feel free to introduce yourselves, yarn a little, let us know where you're from. :wave:
(it makes a difference if you're asking a question, different locations = possible different answers).
This is a friendly forum, no attitudes, lots of respectful opinions, and even a few members with a pretty good sense of humour! :mrgreen:
 
#15 ·
PerryBee said:
<Snip>
This is a friendly forum, no attitudes, lots of respectful opinions, and even a few members with a pretty good sense of humour! :mrgreen:
Just like to say a thank you to the forum and members and put a ditto to PerryBee's words above.

I just got my bees home Mon. night and it sure has been an adrenalin rush to actually go into their home. A newbee like myself has to try to put together all the info we have read and heard and try to mesh it with what is before our eyes. Some of us have to try to get it all in focus through the blur of veil and the sweat running down our tri focal glasses! Eggs? what eggs; I dont see no stinking eggs!

Actually everything did seem in order but the spaced out 9 frames have a lot of burr comb between the top bars and that makes real bee grabbers when sliding them back together. That is not going to be easy to clean up to get proper spacing as there is some drone brood in it. A quick look showed no apparent queen cells but the frames are getting quite full so we put another deep of wax foundation on top of each one along with a frame feeder and closed back up.

Frank
 
#22 ·
Welcome Flannel!
In today's heat your name makes me think of beekeeping in the winter.
Last night, my wife got a bee in her bonnet and decided that we would go with two of our grandsons to visit Massada at the Dead Sea. As it worked out , one of the boys came down with a fever and we had to cancel. I'm not glad he turned sick, but I'm glad we stayed home where it was relatively cool (just under 90 F.) and not something like 110F.
 
#23 ·
Efmesch,

I envy you Massada. I wouldn't envy you the climb in your temps.

The temps are a bit much for me but can you direct some of that heat northwards. We are having a long, cold, wet Spring. The bees are just marking time and there hasn't been a flow yet.

"A frustrated beekeeper" .... :sad: :roll:
 
#24 ·
Hello all!! Here from Brookfield, Ct. My wife pleasantly surprised me when she said she wanted to keep honey bees. Can't wait to get started, total noob!!

I will be reading for the next few days to figure out what type of hive to build and any other particulars I need to know before jumping in. Looking forward to this new journey and reading/contributing/asking for advice.

Bear
 
#25 ·
Welcome to the forum Blackbear.
I hope you read fast, 'cause if you get bogged down reading too much of the forum, you'll miss the bee season.
Actually, things are starting to wake up now-- for the past few months we beeks have been passing the time with a lot of "non-essentials". But if you enjoy joking around, go through those winter posts.

My advice: even though it will cost you more and start off with more time invested, you're better off with Langstroth hives. If you're young and strong, go for deeps. If you want to plan for the days when you'll be an old beekeeper, give some thought to mediums. But you're best off if all your boxes and frames are the same size for the sake of interchangeability.
 
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