> and forty years of making every possible mistake several times over, I
don't wish that on anyone else.

Ditto here.  I was a hobby beekeeper for 20 years, with the usual attitude
of "I'm a lot smarter than the old guys."  I eschewed feeding syrup for
idealistic reasons.

Things changed as I slowly built up a bee business over the next 20 years.
 I found that I had better have a damn good reason to question proven
commercial practices.  The key word being "proven."

Now that my bee business needs to support three families, I find the old
timers like Allen and Bob to be incredible resources for practical
knowledge as to how to practice the sort of animal husbandry that can make
beekeeping profitable.

If only I had some sort of in with Murphy, whose Law applies to every
aspect of a beekeeping business.  One accident can eat up an entire year's
profits.  Even more so, I find that I am largely dependent upon the
weather, and often need to decide whether I wish to be a truck driver
hauling bees to better pasture, or a feedlot beekeeper keeping them alive
in place.

--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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