I'm a first year beekeeper - got robbed out during our dearth last fall, hoping to catch some swarms this spring. Look forward to looking around the forum. Gypsi
Hello Gypsi: You will find that you have stumbled onto a very helpful and most importantly, friendly forum here. A great wealth of knowledge, a bottomless pit of experience to tap into, and even a few (well, maybe more than a few, some pretty sharp minds here at times )with a sense of humour. Don't hesitate to ask questions, they are usually answered in a timely manner. Contribute when you can. Glad you found us. :mrgreen:
Welcome Gypsi, glad to see you here. You will see some folks you already know and quite afew new friends here enjoy your stay. Jim
Gypsi, welcome, I am just starting myself, no bees until April, read here all you can, world of info. Kebee
Thank you for all your welcomes. Had a lot to do today, and local bee meeting this evening. This spring is going to be FUN.... Gypsi
Hi Gypsi, I'm late, but surely won't be the last to welcome you to the forum. Keep your entrances on weak hives narrowed down and you'll be less like to have them robbed out. I've found a good method to be piling weeds in front of the entrance if a robbery is in progress. It slows down the robbers and lets the home bees get back in control. You can also try turning the hive around to face backwards--that SLIGHTLY slows down the attack. BUT, sometimes there's nothing you can really do. Hope you don't experience those events again.
I think I now have every robber trick in the book, up my sleeve, including wrapping in a sheet and transporting hive 20 miles away. But the drought and dearth of last year are breaking, it's raining. I picked the worst possible year to start beekeeping (2011) in a record-breaking drought. Murphy's law. But I learned a lot, and I'm still here.
Welcome Gypsi,sounds like you've got the stuff to make a beekeeper. Thinking of ways to keep your bees alive. :thumbsup: Jack
Thank you Jack! Kinda closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, I lost 2 hives last year. But the 2nd one I fought EVERYTHING that came along (mites, drought, robbers...) Not everything in bees - no nosema, no shb, no afb. But it was a 2 month daily battle to get them from 2 frames to 7 frames then lost them all. Kinda miss the battle, so I'm going to see just how many swarms I can catch before my nucs show up. Gypsi