Sunday, April 18, 2010

In the beginning...

So here it is. My blog. About bees.

Where to start... I have been interested in bees for a number of years now, but never knew where to start. A few introductions to Erin and Phil and I was off and running. You'll hear their names in here every so often. Erin is a master beekeeper here in Maine. Phil is a neighbor and has had bees for over 2 years now. Erin just taught the intro class I took in March.

Anyway, back to me and the bees... Bees are fascinating. And oh so important for agriculture. So many of the fruits and vegetables we eat are pollinated by bees. Much of the meat we eat is fed with feed (corn) that is pollinated by bees. Without bees we would be in trouble. And bees are not doing well.

So I decided it was time to jump in and learn about bees, and contribute in my own little way. Erin has said that a few small bee keepers won't make much of a difference, but I'd like to think I'm part of the solution. It makes me feel better.

So I am a novice bee keeper. I know enough to be dangerous. There is a TON I don't know, but hopefully will learn with out making too many mistakes. And I know I will make mistakes. And I will post them all here for you to read about. So what I am going to do: start from the beginning of experience with bees. And post all the details, boring and otherwise. I welcome your comments.

3 comments:

  1. I'm really looking forward to this! I'm curious about how large the hive is- not the physical size, but how many workers did you start with? Of course there is only 1 queen...

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  2. Paul,

    Best of luck with this--may you have happy, healthy, hard-working but laid back bees!!

    I'm fascinated by this. Did you worry about your neighbors' reaction? Did you have to think through the available nectar for them throughout the season, or do they just cope? How do you know how much honey you can harvest in the first year?

    Best, Steve (stivusik@gmail.com)

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  3. Way cool! Looking forward to reading about you and your bees!

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