Dear Bee list readers/contributors:
 
This spring we started our first hive ever in Hayward, California, from a
Dadant kit and a package that didn't arrive until May, as I recall.
While we did not expect any honey, we sure had fun setting up the hive and
watching the bees grow as they guzzled suger water (we had a weird spring)
well into summer.  Soon we had to add a second body, and later this fall as
it filled up, we added a queen excluder and a shallow body super.  And it
is pretty full of capped comb!  We've taken one frame from it and replaced
that one.  This morning I had honey on my toast with coffee -- it was
great.  And the Italian bees are wonderful -- real ladies (unless you're a
bumble bee or a drone in the fall).
 
So Thanks to all the great ideas and comments we've read, and to those
lurkers that just read the list,  get planning for next year!.  We're
already thinking about where to put a second hive (partly base on zoning
regulations).
 
Regards,
 
Richard Foote
Angel Michaels
Hayward, Ca  - one wonderful hive
 
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