> > Hi... > > Does anyone have any recommendations about the best breed of bees > for a novice? I've never kept bees before, but I bought a hive > this winter and have it assembled, painted and waiting in my garage. > I've been reading Gleanings, ABC-XYZ, and the Hive and the Honeybee. > >From what I can tell, if I want a gentle race, I should probably > go for Midnight or Ruckfast, right? > > I've talked to a couple of people in the local beekeepers association, > and they suggested that I might want to buy an established hive from > someone in the area. I was kind of uncomfortable about this, since > I wasn't sure if I would know what race I'd be getting. I figured > that it would be best to deal with someone advertising for the kind of > bees that I want. Am I worrying over nothing? > > Oh, I should probably mention that I live in central Ohio, in the middle > of a rural area. There're lots of woods, corn, soybeans, tomatoes, > pasture, etc. growing nearby. We also have a pond and a stream (the > latter dried up during last years drought, but it's now flowing again). > Jeff: I live out in the country about 10 miles from Lafayette, IN. From your description, I'd say we live in very similar geography (farm country). I started my first bee colony last april (1991) and I went with Buckfast variety which I bought from Weaver's Apiary in Navasota, TX. I've been real pleased thus far. The bees are gentle and I actually harvested two supers full of honey last fall (this really surprised me - everything I had read led me to believe that there wouldn't be much surplus honey during the first season). Hope this helps. Good luck! ==================================================================== Tom Fisher [log in to unmask] | "...if by chance we find each Phone (317) 494-6616 | other, it is beautiful." - F. Perls