Thyme,
Dewey Caron spoke to the Maine State beekeepers recently about training people
in Central America to manage so called killer bees. He said that he could train
someone who never kept bees to easily handle killer bees but not so with a
bekeeper use to the old ways.
I have seen that here in Maine with the management of bees with varroa and
tracheal mites. I started beekeeping when both were in the US and lost some
hives from T-mite. I learned to cope and have not lost a hive to them or varroa
in the last three years.  I did not have to re-learn anything. I just did as
the books said and followed the latest guidance from Gleanings and the ABJ. I
also did a lot of experimenting on my own.
To put it all into perspective. If you have a cat or dog, do you treat them for
ticks and fleas? That is all that you are doing with your bees but on a less
intensive schedule. No one thinks much of taking care of their pets-daily-, but
for some reason, think it a chore to treat their bees a couple of times a year.
 
You will enjoy beekeeping. You will meet some of the finest people in the
world.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME
 
Thyme Smith wrote:
 
>   given he
> has so much experience, how could i hope to as a novice to embark on such a
> hopeless hobby?
> any words of encouragement would be appreciated!
>
> thyme