>>>A new beekeeper in an urban environment _has_ to take a bit more >>>responsibility than a new beekeeper in the country. The critical point is that the new beekeeper needs to have both guidance and a method for dealing with swarms - especially in an urban environment. As much as a beekeeper thinks a swarm (from someone else's colony) is cool and fun, the general public does not understand and over reacts. The best I can do for my students is (1) give them a means of discouraging inadvertant swarms and (2) a way allowing the bees to exercise their swarming urge in a neighbor friendly way. I am thinking that could be (1) a slatted rack and (2) a Snelgrove board. But I have never tried suggesting these to the beekeeping initiate. Maybe this year. I have talked with new but not first-year beekeepers about these techniques. I don't know of any beginner beekeeping books that do either. Yet, they may work well in an urban environment. I am a country beekeeper trying to help the urban guy. Even though I do not have the urban experience, I can draw from the experience of others. I base my urban bee thinking on an article written by Larry Connor a few years ago. I also suggest that aspiring beekeepers avoid starting a discussion with the city fathers, but very certainly confer with their neighbors. If the neighbors are OK with bees at their bird bath or a swarm in the tree, the city will not want to be involved. >>>So much in beekeeping is learned by making mistakes... True. We have all been there. I would hope that a well developed beginner program would help to ease the learning curve. The reason for my post is that I am a couple of weeks from setting the topics for my upcoming bee classes. Each year improves a bit... I hope. Larry Krengel *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm