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Date: | Sat, 25 Jun 2005 22:00:36 -0700 |
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I am a new beekeeper. I've wanted bees for as long as I can remember...but
we lived in the city and thought beekeeping was totally out of the question.
Then we moved to the mountains in northern California. I never dreamed
life could be like this...sure there are chores and all, but the land is so
beautiful with the pine trees and rivers and I get to have bees and a little
farm. I am lucky in that I can stay at home and work on the land. I am
also an apprentice beekeeper at a large apiary and we do almond pollination,
breed queens, make nucs, etc. etc. I get to take the bees from the
foulbrood colonies. I shake the bees onto foundation in a clean hive. I
burn the old hives which is pretty sad.
My first colony absconded...I think I looked at them too much. I got two
more colonies and one was queenless so I combined them and boy, are they
great bees! I can open up the hive and examine it without smoke or
protective equipment unless it is in the evening and then I wear a veil. I
give them terramycin to make sure the foulbrood is gone for good! I also
feed them special pollen patties that I make to help give them protein for
their brood raising. They also get sugar water and they go through about 10
lbs. of sugar a week...and I thought hummingbirds were "bad" with all the
sugar they consume. LOL
I want to get two more colonies this summer...which I will do this week. I
plan on increasing my number to around 100 or so. I don't know how many I
can handle on my own though (my husband isn't a beekeeper...but he is a
woodworker so hopefully he will teach me how to make hives and such).
I love making things with the "gifts from the hive" such as candles and I
sell honey. I also like learning about queen breeding and want to try that.
I have been enjoying hearing from all the other beekeepers here!
Audrey Bowman
northern California
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