Let's Bee-gin

The first rule in beekeeping is you don't talk about beekeeping.  The second rule in beekeeping is you don't talk about beekeeping.

JUST KIDDING!  As a matter of fact, it should be quite the opposite.

Welcome to my blog.  It is devoted to getting information out there about what is entailed in becoming an amateur (hobby) apiarist (beekeeper). 

A little bit about me...I love flying and sugar!  Mix the sweet with the altitude and what do you have? Apis mellifera L,  or better known as the honeybee.  When people find out that I am taking up the gentle hobby of beekeeping they first ask if I am allergic.  Then they proceed to tell me all about their own allergies and how much they love honey and expect me to inform then when I get my first batch.  I don't think that I am allergic.  I got stung yesterday while picking up the bees.  Did it hurt?  A little.  Poor worker bee gave its life in the defense of her home and way of life.  Now that is admirable.  In all honesty, I just love honey and saving the world.  Once I found out that the first apiarists were Germans, I was sold!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have just picked up my bees!  It was a long process getting here (8 months long!).  First I read a few books about the topic and started to plant the idea in my bee-autiful wife's head that we should keep bees!  Emily is "allergic" to bee stings.  She swells up pretty bad when stung (a pretty normal reaction).  She is worried about multiple stings...understandably.  In short, I am working the hives and she is awaiting the product for bottling and candle-making.  Em and I took a class at the Fairchild Gardens about beekeeping.  The man who taught the class really just got me more excited about beekeeping.  Then I went away to learn how to fly a new plane and I started to work on a new location to keep the bees.  No, we are not keeping them in our backyard...ref Emily's reaction and also look up "really pissed neighbors when they get stung from having bees in close proximity to their house".  So I teamed up with a man named Ben and we are working in partnership with my bees and his organization's garden!

Next I purchased a bunch of equipment from Dadant and Sons.  It was expensive because of shipping costs...but hopefully I will recoup the cost with the sale of honey and other products.  In short, if you have the room and equipment to make your own boxes and equipment...do it!

Now I got the bees.  They are Italians.  I purchased a complete 10 frame medium Langstroth hive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langstroth_hive) and a 5 frame medium Nucleus Hive (NUC) from Brendhan of Bee Barf Apiaries in West Palm Beach.

I will write more about the equipment and why I am doing things this way with all medium hive bodies, but I think this post has been long enough.  Thanks for reading and make sure you bee kind to you neighborhood pollinators!