Hi Dave,
I'm back from vacation and am catching up on my email.  This is my first
year of beekeeping which happened somewhat by default.  (To jog the memory
of those kind souls who came to my rescue here on this list, I agreed to have
some hives stored in my backyard by my soon-to-be-ex where he was to take
care of them but then he disappeared).  I've endured 3 swarms, foul broad,
and now up to 13 bee stings and have learned to deal with them all.  My
stepmother has opted to join in with her own bee suit et al which has
been a real blessing as we didn't have much in common before and have been
developing a nice relationship in our comradery over bees.  I was
basically in it for the pollination factor as I'm a gardener at heart but
I've grown quite fond of these little guys and have set up a veiwing post
from my backyard porch where family, friends and neighbors come to my house
to sit and watch the bees and discuss world affairs.  The honey has been a
real bonus as for the first time I'm canning with honey, making bread with
honey, fruit leather with honey, etc.
 
The biggest factor in my learning was joining the local beekeepers
association.   Very helpful folks not to mention a real earthy down home
pleasant attitude they all seem to have.  It's been a real pleasure
acquiring a whole new group of friends at one time.
 
We had a beekeepers potluck a couple of weeks ago at a state bee yard in a
local park where the state apiarist came and worked the hives with a couple
of dozen of us beekeepers (seasoned & wanabees) to watch him in action.  I
learned more then that from all the reading I've done in that last 3 months.
 
Good Luck,
Teri Rhan
$.02
 
 
On Mon, 12 Jul 1993, Dave D. Cawley, a De Leon Socialist wrote:
 
> Hi,
>
>         I'm an aspiring beekeeper, I  plan on getting my first hive and colony
> next spring. I'm reading about 20 back issues of ABJ and GiBC, have read
> Dadant's FIRST LESSONS IN BEEKEEPING and apprenticing with a local keeper for
> the summer.
>         I was wondering if most people jump right in or o some research and
> apprenticing before their first venture in bee keeping.
>         Any other sources of bee info I'm missing that will help me? Thanks.
>
>
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> Dave D. Cawley          |
> University of Scranton  |            SAVE THE SMALL POX VIRUS!!!
> [log in to unmask]    |
> ddc1@SCRANTON           |
>
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