[Twintrades]

Well i dunno if any one has any interest but i started a blog about my wine making and bee keeping adventures. Plus a little family stuff throw in for good measure.

http://www.adventuresinpeterland.blogspot.com/

I just thought some one would like to see how i do things. And if you want you can follow me and you'll get updates as i post new stuff ! Feel free to chime in with advice and criticism.

I can keep track of my wine making with notes ( loose them ) but with the blog im encouraged to update it. Hope to see some one there.

[Hokapsig]

I'd be interested in that blog. Make sure you post a link. Please be detailed as I know nothing about bee keeping (except dont get stung)

[Twintrades]

http://www.adventuresinpeterland.blogspot.com/



Durrrr for the life of me i don't know why i didn't post it in the beginning !

Thanks

[Hokapsig]

I would be interested from the start. How did you get into this. What was the up front cost. How did you site the colony? Where did you get the bees from? How many did you get? Did you construct the hives yourselves? Do you have the plans?

I would like to see the background minutia...

[Twintrades]

How did i get into this ?

I just decided one day that it would be neet to have bee's. So i started looking at online forums. And found a guy in my town that sells package bees. It was to late to start with a package. But i found a lady 1 hr away that had a tree with bees in it. She was either going to let me cut the bees out. or would kill them. SO i did a cut out. And got some bees. It was late in the yr and they didnt have enuf time to make it thru the winter. So at least that got me some experience.
I ordered 2 3lb package's this spring and my uncle wanted some honey so he bought another for me to manage for him. So now i have 3 hive's. And couldn't be happy'r.


Up front cost
Its about 175 per hive for the basics. But i being a carpenter and unemployed thru the winter built all my own supply's. But i would recommend just buying the supply's. And yea i have plans but just google hive plans and youll find them. If you want any other info just pm me !


Siteing the colony
I picked a spot on my property to keep an eye on them the first yr. Next yr i might move them some where else. When you do some reading it will tell you how to pick a good site. I would recommend Bee keeping for dummys book.

[SarahRides]

The blog sounds very interesting! I'd love bees for the honey, except for this terrible fear of being stung! :-P

[Wiz]

There's just one problem here. Beekeeping is like winemaking - it's additive. I was a beekeeper for over 10 years when we lived in the U.S. I also started with 3 hives and 3 years later I had over 50, did pollination for farmers moving bees at night until 12:00 to 1:00 in the morning, made bee hive products and sold them at craft fairs 8 months out of the year. Sold all these products wholesale also. This is in addition to my regular job.

Since I started winemaking I have tried to keep the brakes on and keep it under control. I don't kow if my wife would agree to this though.

Mike

[WVMountaineerJack]

We have been hosting hives for a beekeeper and this year decided to get into ourselves. I have 2 Langs and this morning we got a Top Bar hive to play with. Our goat is to have very nice rich honey, not just clover honey, to make mead with. Since we have been using our local beekeepers tulip poplar and locust honey and his wildflower honeys our meads have just gotten better and better. We have raspberries and blackberries near the hives, when they are blooming the bees fly straight to the berries and straight back to the hive, you can see them from all 10 hives in the Wineyard. Yeah Mike, I can see how it could get worse, I have room for lots more hives, I plan on planting a couple of acres of sweet clover and wildflowers for them in the future! Crackedcork

[WVMountaineerJack]

Being a carpenter guy wouldnt it be cool to be called out on a cutout from an old house, dont forget to bring extra buckets and rubber bands. We just went for a night walk down to the hives, they are out on the front porch fanning as a group. CC

[Twintrades]

Yea i just started working for a pest management co. Im hoping to get a call to do that some day ! Its still coolish here. So there not out as much as id like. But its nice when its warm and sunny out. My neighbor like the bees she walks to the fence and watches them work when it nice. It cool to see her siting there looking at the bees. But maker me wonder about her sanity. Lol shes in her late 70's