I've managed to maintain 2 hives now for 2 years, so far so good.  They
have mites and I've been using the standard treatments. This year I got 5
gallons of honey in the spring and 8 gallons in sept.  I 'm still new at
this and I don't know if this quantity of honey is good or bad but I'm
happy with it. I checked my bees last weekend and the hives were still
stocked with a similar quantity of bees that I saw this time last year.
 
My hives are located in a residentual area in the middle of a big city.
There are 2 more hives 1 block away belonging to another member of this
list and we share equipment, suit, tasks etc. The most labor intensive
part seems to be in the summer checking for swarms.  Other than that,
work is an assortment of 10-20 min tasks, several per week if that.
Besides the advantage of having honey to use and give for holiday gifts,
I've had a bumper crop of tomatoes and peppers these last 2 years and the
leftover wax (cappings etc) was recently melted into chistmas ornaments
from some molds I got at the bee supply place.  If you want my vote, I'd
say go for it.
 
Teri
 
On Wed, 9 Nov 1994, Mick Youther wrote:
 
> I joined Bee-L because I planned to buy some equipment this winter
> and start keeping bees next spring.  After following the discussions
> the past 3 mos. or so, I have started having seconds thoughts.  I had
> never heard of varolla or tracheal mites before and it seems that
> the prescribed treatments leave something to be desired.  It sounds like
> if the mites don't get your bees and the winter doesn't kill them, they
> may just all decide to leave one day anyway.
>
>      I guess my question is: Can a person just have a hive or two,
> get a little honey, and keep his sanity without having to constantly
> restock the hives?
>
> Mick Youther
> in the beautiful Shawnee Hills
> of Southern Illinois
> <[log in to unmask]>
>